Spain joins celebration of World Tourism Day by renewing commitment to accessible tourism

Tourism and leisure are basic aspects of daily life in modern society. They represent a right that many people unfortunately either cannot access for a multitude of reasons, or have to overcome major obstacles due to infrastructures, equipment or the availability of information (digital accessibility) fail to meet their needs.

This is one of the main reasons why the Government of Spain has developed the Smart Tourism Destinations Plan, given that destinations must tackle and overcome this type of scenario via proposals and actions that offer maximum accessibility to all potential visitors, both to the destinations themselves and the products and services offered there.

Hence the need to adapt to the needs of all people by eliminating architectural or mobility barriers, facilitating access to all sorts of cultural assets, nature, leisure activities, etc.

Furthermore, physical accessibility is not only a core aspect in our perception of the quality of products and services at a destination but it also represents a significant business opportunity.

It should not be forgotten that it can affect four million potential customers in Spain and 500 million around the world. Accessibility also offers a response to people's right to free access to goods and services, fosters deseasonalisation and improves the image of a destination as it improves its socially responsible status.

Spain, leading position

Tourism is one of the most important socio-economic activities in Spain, and is a major asset for the creation of wealth and jobs, having demonstrated itself to be highly dynamic even in times of economic crisis, with a strong capacity to underpin other productive sectors.

Hence, the contribution by the tourism sector to the Spanish economy has been constantly growing in recent years to reach almost 11% of Gross Domestic Product (Tourism Satellite Account of Spain 2014 - National Statistics Institute) and it generated almost 2.4 million jobs in 2015 (13% of total employment - Labour Force Survey 2015).

These figures highlight Spain's leading position worldwide in terms of tourism, which the World Tourism Organisation has repeatedly recognised and recently confirmed by stating that Spain held third position in 2015 in terms of both the number of inbound tourists (68.2 million) and revenue from tourism (50.90 billion euros), in the rankings drawn up by this organisation.

Spain is expected to maintain these positions in 2016 given that record figures have been posted again in both areas for the first seven months of the year - with 42.36 million inbound tourists and tourist spending of 42.94 billion euros, representing increases of 11% and 8%, respectively, on the same period last year (FRONTUR and EGATUR - National Statistics Institute).

Spain's leadership in tourism has also been recognised by the World Economic Forum, which believes that - among the 141 countries assessed - Spain is the most competitive destination in the world according to the tourism competitiveness index drawn up by this body. Spanish cultural and historic-cultural heritage assets, transport infrastructures, tourism services and adaptation to the digital world, as well as the priority given to tourism by the Government of Spain, have been key to obtaining this recognition.

There is no question that, among other factors, this leadership in tourism competitiveness has been significantly boosted by the policies aimed at fostering accessibility being developed by the State Tourist Board, with essential support and assistance from the private sector.

Promotion of World Tourism Day on the social media networks

In order to promote World Tourism Day on the social media networks, the second edition of Spain in Detail will be launched during the course of Tuesday. Its goal is to promote iconic places in Spain via a challenge given to followers of the official Spain profile on Facebook. The challenge consists of trying to guess the name of the city being shown in a video. The films were made using a drone, and start with a close-up of a detail and pan out to reveal an aerial view of the location.

Promotional activities will also be carried out via the official profiles on Twitter and Instagram, making the most of the fact that #DíaMundialdelTurismo will be a trending topic.