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The previous 2 News stories reported on Tumbit 'may suggest' that Spain is slowly evolving into nothing more than a destination for Tourists.
On one hand, the first article cites data from the INE which reports how the number of Foreign and Spanish residents in Spain declined through 2012 , as the recession is forcing people overseas to seek employment opportunities.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Tourism reported increasing numbers of tourists . Tumbit calculated that the reported 58 Million tourists visiting Spain last year was roughly comparable to the population of Italy.
Few people need reminding that the economy of Spain has seen better days, and that employment opportunities are thin on the ground at the moment. Even fewer are deluding themselves that things are likely to take a turn for the better in the near future.
With empty airports such as Castellon's White Elephant , and the 'Soon-to-open' Corvera Airport to fill, and with theme parks such as Paramount Murcia yet to open, it can only be assumed that the success of these projects is entirely reliant on visitor number continuing to increase.
With this in mind, and with Tourism seemingly being the only growth industry in Spain at the moment, is Spain becoming nothing more than Europe's playground ?
And if it is, is this a bad thing or not ?
Should the Government being doing more to encourage and develop Tourism as the one glimmer of hope that can save the Spanish economy in the short term, or turn its attention to matter of Banking and Industry ? Can it successfully do both ?
If tourism is to become one of Spainīs major industries there are some changes that need to be made :
1) All those wanting to run bars and restaurants in mass tourism areas eg "primera Linea" should be obliged to attend courses on customer relations etc... These should be for the owners to educate their staff further down the chain of command.These new rules could be trumpeted to the world at large via the tourism fairs.
2) Rural tourism needs to be seen as an growth industry that could be exploited in an ecological and nature protective way which would attract a specific type of tourist which can then be catered for. Just look at the amount of cycling tourism thatīs occured over the last few years. (Dan,cyclists might be an interesting subject to highlight on this blog in the future-everyone has a view)!
3) Tourism needs to attract the best and most creative thinkers and planners if it is to be an industry of the future for Spain, all the people to do that job are right here in Spain.