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Low cost airlines and tourism: analysis of the case of Easyjet from the
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Edited By
Francisco-José Sáez-Martínez, José-Luis Sánchez-Ollero,
Alejandro García-Pozo and Esteban Pérez-Calderón
Managing the
Environment:
Sustainability and Economic
Development of Tourism
Managing the Environment
Managing the Environment
Sustainability and
Economic Development of Tourism
Edited by
Francisco-José Sáez-Martínez,
José-Luis Sánchez-Ollero,
Alejandro García-Pozo and
Esteban Pérez-Calderón
Chartridge Books Oxford
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First published in 2016 by Chartridge Books Oxford
ISBN print: 978-1-911033-14-1

ISBN ebook: 978-1-911033-15-8
© The editors and the contributors, 2016
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Printed in the UK and USA
'Managing the environment. Sustainability
and economic development of tourism'
PREFACE
This book contains some contribution made at the VI International Conference on

Tourism, Economics and Environment that took place on Malaga, Spain, on April 2015.
The editors present a collection of case studies and best practices linking sustainability to
tourism. The topics addressed represent an overview of the most contemporary problems
affecting the tourism sector.
The use of old castles and the old city for adding value to the tourism experience is present
in two chapters of this book together with the concern about the consequences of the
impact of indirect taxes on tourism and the impact of direct taxes on environmentally
harmful activities. Both issues mark endpoints of the content of this work.
The tourist exploitation of natural areas and the traditional uses of the territories, the
management of natural parks and an analysis of new ways for the rural tourism make a
comprehensive overview of the latest trends in sustainable tourism management of
natural areas and rural areas. A very popular topic currently in Spanish politics, honesty
of politicians, is present in the analysis of the influence of their decisions on touristic
dwelling prices.
The current boom of social media in practically all consumption areas and habits is
undeniable. A chapter illustrates how social media can be used as first-hand tools to
analyze the tourist demand of a destination taken Flickr as object of analysis.
Transport is essential in the tourism market because without them it would not be possible
this industry. The development of high-speed trains, in which Spain is a power and its
impact on regional development through its impact on the environment and on touristic
revenue, occupies one of the chapters of this book as well as the phenomenon of the low-
cost airlines, which have replaced quickly traditional airlines becoming a real revolution
for the industry, is analyzed too.
We are confident that the reading of this work contributes positively to better understand
the present and the future of the tourism industry.
The editors.
Table of contents
Low cost airlines and tourism: analysis of the case of Easyjet from the 5
perspective of complex networks and its management implications
Plumed-Lasarte, Marta, Latorre-Martínez, María Pilar, Íñiguez-Berrozpe,
Tatiana and Modrego-Martínez, Jesús
Flickr: tool for a market analysis of tourism consumption 20
Íñiguez-Berrozpe, Tatiana, Plumed-Lasarte, Marta and Latorre-Martínez,
María Pilar
New tourism uses for defence heritage: tourism enhancement of 35
historic castles and fortresses
Viñals, María José, Alonso-Monasterio, Pau, Martínez-Sanchís, Inmaculada
and Morant, Maryland
Application of the concept "tourism cluster" in urban planning. A 49
proposal for Calp Old Town
Peñín-Llobell, Blanca, Peñín-Ibáñez, Alberto, Quintana-Seguí, Elisabet and
Miret-Pastor, Lluís
Tourism development and high-speed railway in Andalusia 55
Sánchez-Ollero, José Luis, García-Pozo, Alejandro and Del Cubo-Arroyo,
Elisa
Sustainable tourism and management of national parks in Spain: 66
unfinished business
Prieto-Ballester, Jorge Manuel and Pérez-Calderón, Esteban
The tourist explotation of natural areas observed under law 30/2014, of 73
3 december, regarding national parks
Zurilla-Cariñana, Mª Ángeles and Domínguez-Martínez, Pilar
Carbon footprint management as an opportunity for differentiation for 82
the rural accommodation sector
Pérez-Calderón, Esteban and Pache-Durán, María
2
Tear down that green fence: traditional uses of the territory standing up 86
against natural protection and ecotourism in the Spanish Pyrenees
Carrascosa-López, Conrado, Lobera-Serrano, Josep and Segarra-Oña,
María del Val
Design of an input-output table for the touristic supply chain in Spain 95
Pérez-Mesa, Juan Carlos, Jiménez-Guerrero, José Felipe and Cordente-
Rodríguez, María
Aanalysis of the ethical behavior of local politicians in Spain through its 107
influence on holiday dwelling prices
García-Pozo, Alejandro, Sánchez-Ollero, José Luis and Marchante-Mera,
Andrés
Theoretical identification of drivers and barriers for setting up EMS in 119
SMES in China
Li, C. Segarra-Oña, María del Val and Peiró-Signes, Ángel
VAT and the Tourism sector 131
Álamos-Cerillo, Raquel
Feed-in tariff policies and their impact on development of the European 142
photovoltaic sector
Milanés-Montero, Patricia, Arroyo-Farrona, Alberto and Pérez-Calderón,
Esteban
3
4
Low cost airlines and tourism: analysis of
the case of Easyjet from the perspective of
complex of networks and
its management implications
Plumed-Lasarte, M.
University of Zaragoza, University School of Tourism of Zaragoza, Spain
Latorre-Martínez, M.P.
University of Zaragoza, Faculty of Social and Labour Sciences, Spain
Íñiguez-Berrozpe, T.
Modrego-Martínez, J.
University of Zaragoza, School of Engineering and Architechture, Spain
ABSTRACT
The great development of low cost carriers (LCCs) in air transport has change the tourist
sector in a few years. In this sense, we consider it necessary to study LCC connectivity in
order to define the relationships between tourist issuing and host cities and their weight.
Thus, we propose an innovative exploratory study by developing an analysis of Easyjet
in Europe as a paradigmatic case study of LCCs by using the complex networks technique
(CNT). This relatively new methodological approach can provide fundamental
information for four different perspectives: (1) airports (destinations), (2) national
tourism institutions, (3) the own firm and (4) the airlines’ sector in general.
Keywords: Transport, low-cost, tourism, Easyjet, complex networks.
1 INTRODUCTION
Tourism, as a moderating agent of the economic and territorial systems of tourists’ places
of origin and destination, has transport as one of its fundamental components. Tourism
and transport create an inseparable coupling that, especially in the case of international
trips, has the plane as the major means of mobility for people travelling for both leisure
and recreation purposes [1].
In this sector, the development of low cost carriers (LCCs) in Europe has represented an
actual revolution in relation to tourist movements [2], especially since the liberalisation
of air transport in the European Union and the new open-skies policy in 1997 [3]. This
revolution has achieved a market share superior to that of full-service network carriers
(FSNCs), since in not little more than 10 years, low cost carriers became the dominant
force with a market share of 69% [4]. covering for example around 57% of international
5
arrivals in Spanish airports in 2011 and having an annual growth twice that of traditional
airlines (4.9% compared with 2.9% in 2011) [5]. Thanks to the market power that these
companies have acquired they have developed an aggressive behaviour towards rivals,
either FSNCs or other LCCs [6].
In Europe, the aviation sector remains the most active one for LCCs business [7],
becoming the main airlines on both high and low occupancy routes [8] as well as the only
travel sector that is not experiencing the devastating effects of the current economic crisis
(indeed, FSNCs are thriving) [9].
This information allows us to establish a relevant conclusion: the democratisation of

international trips thanks to LCCs [10] has made it possible for a great part of the
population, who due to their socio-economic situations could not travel abroad, to travel.
This increase in the volume of international tourist flows favours an increase in the social
and economic benefits in the principal LCC destinations [11], growing tourist incomes in
the area and creating new jobs associated with tourist activities [12].
However, by analysing the LCC tourist profile and taking into account that this transport
system focuses on international flights, several studies such as those by Hosteltur [13] for
the Spanish case or by Graham and Dennis [14] for Malta (two destinations with a similar
quandary) have shown that this type of tourism does not help solve some of the most
pressing difficulties of the sector. These include seasonality, the precariousness of tourist
employment, the low profitability of tourist activities for the local population, or the mass
use of resources, mainly in coastal destinations. This situation is forcing quantitative and
qualitative changes in tourist policies in the destinations that receive most of these LCC
travellers. These changes will also affect the planning policies of the territory and tourist
infrastructures [15]. For example, in the Spanish case, tourism real-state specialisation on
the Mediterranean coast (hotels, second homes, airports, etc.) as a result of the need to
meet the transport and accommodation demand of the great number of foreign tourists is
increasing every year due to LCC development [15].
The air passenger transport industry has a great impact on the economy. In particular, as
explained, LCCs are a major strength for international and non-traditional tourism, i.e.
the middle and middle-low classes, which until the creation of these companies focused
their tourist flows domestically, without thinking of travelling abroad because of its high
cost. That has contributed to the spectacular increase in tourists who travel across Europe
[13].
For these reasons, it can be concluded that, currently, international tourism cannot be
understood without taking into account the great development in LCCs, which is decisive
to define for both the issuing markets and tourist destinations [13]. The influence of LCCs
in international mobility is so important that several theorists are using LCCs as
determining factors to understand migratory tendencies, such as the migratory network
between Poland and the UK [16]. In this sense, we consider it necessary to study LCC
connectivity in order to define the relationships between tourist issuing and host cities
and their weight, which can state quantitatively those cities with a higher connectivity
with other origins and destinations and how those connections are. Categorising and
characterising the network provided by LCCs in Europe can facilitate a better
comprehension of tourist mobility flows in the continent. This could be used as the basis
6
of the development of international tourist policy and as a first attempt of researching
more geographically enclosed or focused phenomena such as the mentioned migratory
flow [16].
Some studies have already analysed connectivity networks in Europe [17], [18], including
the role played by LCCs in the development of these networks [19], [20]. However, the
implication of these networks in tourism is still a very lightly analysed subject by the
international scientific community, in which we contribute with the results of the present
research.
We propose a novel perspective of this subject by developing an analysis of Easyjet in

Europe as a paradigmatic case study of LCCs by using the complex networks technique
(CNT). Thus, we take Easyjet as a case study to analyse how its nodes (airports)
interrelate (link) to determine the weight of each one with respect to the rest, the density
of the existing connectivity among European cities, and the kind of connectivity they
have.
The aim of this study is to develop a deep analysis of Easyjet’s networks as a

representative example of LCC’ connexions in Europe. The information obtained thanks
to the CNT can be used as a basis for management in:
-Individual airports: analysing LCC’s networks using the CNT allows the different
airports to know how important is each connection and its weight not only in its
own country but also abroad.
-National tourism institutions: due the CNT analyzes every country’s network, the
obtained results are very interesting to monitor how LCCs are influencing the
different tourist flows and if they are improving tourist statistics in some
destinations.
-The own LCC: it is clear that a in-depth study of any firm is useful to check its
evolution and make well founded decisions.
-The airlines sector: the present study proves that the CNT is a useful tool to
analyze which nodes are key in the own firm and in the competition.
Therefore, our purpose is to present a novel tool to analyze air connectivity as a network
generated from the link between airports, which allows the study of the density, the
centrality and the betweeness of every country’s network, as explained in following
sections.
2 LOW COST CARRIERS (LCCs): THE CASE OF EASYJET
LCCs can reduce fares by minimising the costs that these enterprises consider superfluous
to customers [10]. At this respect, some core characteristics are common to the majority
of the low-cost models: high aircraft utilization; internet booking; use of secondary
airports; minimum cabin crew; lower wage scales; lower rates of unionization among
employees; one class of seating; short ground turn-around times; no cargo carried; very
simple fare structures and price strategies; adoption of strict yield management
techniques; e-ticketing; often no seat allocation (for faster boarding); no frills, etc. [21].
However, not every low-cost airline implements all of the points mentioned, some try to
7
position themselves by focusing on bigger markets and primary airports like the case
analyzed in this paper, Easyjet. Apart from these characteristics, which explain the high
popularity that LCCs have achieved with normal tourists [22], another aspect positively
valued by customers is the direct connectivity between the origin and the destination, that
is flights without stopovers [23-24].
LCC use is not just another variable in tourist transport analysis. Owing to its current
development compared with FSNCs, it is being studied by the scientific community as a
determining aspect to define the profile of the tourists that usually use them for their
leisure trips [25], [26]. Evidence of this situation is that even the official organisations in
charge of analysing tourist activity have begun to issue reports in which the main variable
of the study is the use of LCCs in tourism (Turismo, Tráfico Aéreo y Compañías Aéreas
de Bajo Coste en el Año 2011 -Tourism, Air Traffic and LCCs in 2011- [5]; The
consequences of the growing European low-cost airline sector [21]; The development of
the low cost model in the European civil aviation industry [27].
The LCC travellers identified in several studies, in contrast to travellers of FSNCs, are as
follows:
•People aged between 15 and 24 years old or older than 64.

•Medium to low income level.
•Travel for leisure purposes.
•Stay period and tourist expenses in the destination are lower than FSNC
travellers.
•Chosen tourist products are both urban and sun and sand tourism.
•Quite loyal to the destination, repeating the visit several times.
•Use the Internet to look for information and buy trips without tourist packages.
•Come mainly from Germany, the UK, Spain, France and Italy.
•Principal destinations are the UK and Spain [5], [25], [26], [28].
As mentioned, LCCs are often thought of as a group competing solely on price. Yet,
EasyJet has taken a quite different approach in building a route network- focusing on
primary airports, competing directly against FSNCs on established routes [29].
Easyjet was launched in 1995 and it is considered the biggest British LCC [30], [31]. This
airline operates on 633 routes across 138 airports, getting in 2013 over 60 million
passengers [29]. Its net profit margin has markedly improved, increasing from 2.67% in
2009 to 9.35% in 2013, as shown in Figure 1 (see Anex).
Thanks to its great development since its creation, it is considered as one of the most
successful low-cost airlines in Europe [30]. Easyjet’s route network is primarily focused
on Western Europe together with selected holiday destinations in the Canary Islands,
Turkey and North Africa, which reflects its strategy of building positions in key primary
airport markets, as explained [29].
In the present study, we consider that the analysis of the connectivity among European
cities facilitated by Easyjet can be the key factor to understanding the international tourist
flows on the continent. To confirm our proposal, we analyze Easyjet’s connexions by
using CNT, technique explained in the following section.
8
3 METHOD
The CNT is grounded in the theory of graphs, which are mathematical structures used to
model pairwise relations between objects. A "graph" in this context is made up of
"vertices" or "nodes" and lines called edges that connect them. In the context of network
theory, a complex network is a graph (network) with non-trivial topological features, with
patterns of connection between their elements that are neither purely regular nor purely
random. The mathematical abstraction of a complex network is a graph G comprising a
set of N nodes (or vertices) connected by a set of M links (or edges), being ki the degree
(number of links) of node i [32-37]. This graph is represented by the adjacency matrix A,
with entries aij = 1 if a directed link from j to i exists, and 0 otherwise (Figure 2, see
Anex).
In the more general case of a weighted network, the graph is characterised by a weights
matrix W, with entries wij representing the strength (or weight) of the link from j to i
(Figure 3, see Anex).
In the first part of this study, we determine properties in order to categorise them. To
achieve this, we use the most widely used network analysis program, UCINET [38].
3.1 Network analysis developed for the case of Easyjet

Firstly, an analysis of Easyjet’s destinations was developed. When the study was carried
out (2013), the company operated with 124 destinations in 28 countries, whose
connections were analysed.
Once all the nodes of the network had been identified, a database with every country was
developed, assigning a weight (number of flights per week) to the links among those
nodes, thus creating the connections between the networks of the 28 countries analyzed
(i.e., the matrix of adjacency A and weights matrix W were created for each country).
Table 1 (see anex) displays a simple example of the weights matrix developed for Turkey.
On the other hand, in the graphic of the networks developed for every country, each node
represents an airport, with the linking line the route from an airport to another, which is
thicker as the number of connections per week increases (weight). According to the
mentioned example, Figure 4 (see Anex) displays the network generated for Turkey.
Thanks to the generated matrix we observe that, in Turkey, Easyjet has weekly flights
among 8 airports, excelling the airport London Gatwick which gets 8 flights from this
country every week. London Luton and Bristol airports also have 4 weekly flights,
making the United Kingdom the most connected country to Turkey.
Following this system, the 28 matrixes and networks of the 28 countries were created and
analysed, allowing us to know the number of connections of every country, as displayed
in Figure 5 (see Anex).
9
4 RESULTS
This section analyses the structural properties of every country’s network with the aim of
obtaining different results related to the tourist sector. Specifically, we analyse the
properties of network density, centrality, and betweenness. These properties provide a
better comprehension of the functioning of Europe’s complex networks from the
perspective of the airline Easyjet and thus the implications of these different flows on
tourism.
4.1 Density
The density of the different networks is defined as the percentage of connections given in
a network (country) with respect to all the possible connections. This ratio indicates the
proportion of links among airports in the network of a country related to the total possible
links it could have: (see Table 2 in Anex).
The networks with the highest density percentage are Slovenia, Estonia, Romania and
Sweden, meaning that all the nodes (airports) of each network are connected. To illustrate
this kind of network, Figure 6 presents Slovenia’s network, with just two airports
connected. On the other hand, the lowest density percentage is Switzerland (Figure 7, see
Anex), with 3.6%, due to it has two main airports (Geneva and Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg)
which are origin or destination of almost every connection of the country, being the rest
of airports not connected to any other. See Figure 6 in Anex.
The analysis of this property can provide interesting results in relation to the potentiality
of one country’s connections in both their own cities and with other countries. For
example, if the airports of a country have many connections among its own cities,
travellers will find more facilities to link flights and have more available destinations,
nationally and internationally. Thus, following the example of Switzerland, such
connections do not facilitate domestic tourism because there are no direct flights among
the different airports of the country, meaning that travellers are forced to stop over in
Geneva or Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg for any trip among other Swiss cities using Easyjet.
On the contrary, international tourism is promoted since those cities -being most of them
connected to those two main airports- have all the destinations that they offer; therefore,
although they depend on making one stop, their international connections are multiplied.
4.2 Centrality
In this case, the centrality rate refers to the special condition in which an airport plays a
main role because it is connected to all the nodes (destinations) of the network. Thus,
100% means being connected to all the airports (i.e. a star network) and 0% means a mesh
network. In the present research, this analysis determines whether the Easyjet airports in
every country have an important network of connections without a central point or
whether one main airport issues and receives most flights in the country. It is calculated
as follows:
In this formula, ni is the number of connections between nodes closer to node i and ki is
the degree. Table 3 presents the degree centrality for each country (see Table 3 in Anex).
10
As displayed in Table 3, half of the countries have a centrality rate of 100%. These are
countries with a star network, namely the network is centralised to just one node (airport),
as we can see in the case of Belgium (Figure 8, see Anex).
On the other hand, low centrality rates are found, like the case of Spain, with 20.14%
(Figure 9, see Anex), where there isn’t a main airport centralizing the connections.
The study of this property is relevant since it indicates the degree of the dependency of a
country on just one airport, implying that if that main node fails, the damage in the whole
network is bigger. On the contrary, in countries with a mesh network, where there is no
central airport, not only is that possible damage minimised but also domestic tourism is
favoured, since there is more connectivity among the cities of the country.
4.3 Betweenness
The last analysed property is mediation, one of the centrality indicators most used in the
physics literature. This represents the number of short routes between any pair of nodes
in the network. This concept is related to the frequency of an airport being on the shortest
route between other two airports, i.e. the geodesic path. Regarding the present study, this
index allows us to discover, in every country, what airport serves as the main mediator
among the other connected airports in Europe. Although this normally coincides with the
airport or node with more Easyjet flights in the country, on some occasions the mediator
airport may not belong to that country. For example, the mediator airport of Spain is
London Gatwick (Table 4) with a centralization of 20.14%, as mentioned previously. The
formula that describes this property is the following:
In this formula, v is the studied node (v) is the number of paths from s to t going through
v, and is the number of paths from s to t. See Table 4 in Anex.
By taking into account the results of the analysis of these different properties, we ascertain
very interesting information. For example, by combining the centrality rate and the
mediation data, we can now see in detail which airport concentrates on which connections
and how this affects tourism in the country. Thus, in countries where the mediator airport
belongs to a different country, we understand that this LCC benefits from international
tourism more than domestic, which is useful information for tourism management.
5 DISCUSSION
The analysis of Easyjet as a complex network can provide a number of conclusions

because the perspectives of the study of just one network can vary. For example, we can
analyse every country or every airport separately, focus our attention on certain tourist
flows in detail, or determine the consequences of the density, centrality and mediation
results of each network. The purpose of this paper was to open a new line of research
linking tourist flows with airport connectivity based on complex network analysis,
focusing in this case on LCCs and Easyjet specifically. Its eminently exploratory and
broad nature makes the conclusions general and therefore we cannot focus attention on
particular cases except for examples to show the mentioned phenomena. Based on the
foregoing, we can draw the following conclusions:
11
•In general, we find that the density indexes are low –with exceptions of a few
countries with a 100% (see Table 2 in Anex)-, which indicates that Easyjet’s
network is not very strong, i.e. the different nodes (airports) tend to be very
diversified in the same country and offer unconnected destinations. Thus, if the
airline closes one of its nodes, it is more complicated to go there by any other
route with Easyjet. All this implies, in tourist terms, that mid-sized cities’ airports
have a strong dependency on those in big cities, where the major connectivity of
Easyjet is focused. An example of this situation is the described case of
Switzerland, where the airports of Geneva and Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg
centralize the connections of the network.
•Centrality rates are mostly high, meaning that in many networks just one airport
plays the main role. We find the lowest centrality rates in Spain, Greece and
Turkey, where the most important origins and destinations are diversified, which
makes these countries have a great variety of tourist flows. On the other hand,
places with a 100% of centrality show a star network, where tourist flows just
have one city as the main origin and destination and the risk of dependency on just
one airport is extremely high.
• Betweenness determines the airport that has the shortest path between any pair
of nodes. This information can be very useful for tourists as the mediator airport
offers the shortest routes to their destinations. In most of Easyjet’s networks, the
mediator airport belongs to the analyzed country. It is important to excel that the
mediator airports are primary airports, which is more common in FSNCs than in
LCCs, as mentioned in the introduction.
A summary of all these observations is displayed in Table 5 (see Anex), where the
following data are given for every country (the airports can be origin or destination):
airport with the highest number of connections, the most connected airport/s of other
countries, and the total number of offered destinations.
From the network analysis and previous table, the obtained result is that the best
connected city by Easyjet is London, mainly through Gatwick Airport, as 22 of the 28
analysed countries have London as the main destination.
The two countries with the highest number of Easyjet destinations in Europe are the
United Kingdom with 104 destinations and Switzerland with 76. This may respond to the
leadership strategy of Easyjet based on reducing costs, focusing on specific market targets
(Porter, 2008), like the case of Switzerland. In addition, Easyjet responds to market
demand, being the United Kingdom key in the European tourist market.
The highest connectivity of Gatwick Airport also makes, among other factors, the capital
of the United Kingdom the most important for international tourists, exceeding Paris,
which was first place until recently [39].
We also appreciate the existence of an important European tourist flow among the big
cities. This could be explained because the airports of those relevant tourism issuers are
the most connected airports through LCCs. At this respect, it is important to excel how
12
LCCs’ activity produces positive effects in the regions where they operate, being tourism
the main economic sector to benefit. LCCs’ business model generally chooses regional
airports, which are usually located in commonly unknown regions, and by flying to them
and advertising them on their websites LCCs improve regions’ visibility [21].
Despite Easyjet doesn’t operate in secondary airports like others LCCs like Ryanair, it
also introduces benefits in emerging regions. According to the World Tourism
Organization (2012), one of the remarkable examples of regional airport development
thanks to LCCs has taken place in Poland, where LCCs like Easyjet have found
opportunities in a market traditionally constrained where Warsaw was the dominant
airport (Easyjet’s main and mediator airport in Poland is Cracow, as displayed in Tables
4 and 5). As a consequence, while Warsaw Airport’s passenger number rise saw a 53%
from 2004 to 2011, the regional airports had growth of 352% [4]. This context –agreeing
the results of the present analysis- demonstrates the contribution of LCCs to the
consolidation of emerging tourist destinations, giving them visibility and invigorating
elements for their connectivity and their economy [1].
Apart from the mentioned results, we can also find relevant implications for tourism
management. Understanding the transport network of LCCs is crucial for the efficacy not
only of the analysed airline, but also of the competing LCC and even regular airlines,
which notice that LCCs are great competitors nowadays. Using the CNT allows us to
know what airports are the best connected and what connections are more frequent among
the different countries, among other data. This information can be very useful for the
airlines working in those countries and for those thinking of opening new markets and
working in new countries.
On the other hand, regarding these implications for airline management, it is important to
consider that the failure of one or several nodes can affect the development and
connectivity of the whole system [40], [32]. As previously showed, in some countries,
most connections depend on just one airport, which increases the risk for the whole
network in the case, for example, of climate problems or the closure of the airport caused
by terrorist threat, which is more common in big cities’ airports. Thus, the closure of one
route supposes the cancelation of those that depend on it in the same country and even in
international connections, increasing the damage. Therefore, network analysis also allows
us to know the most important node of every country and whether the centrality rate is
too high, which can be helpful to avoid possible problems in this respect.
The main purpose of this paper is to open a new line of research linking air connectivity
with the CNT, focusing on LCCs and Easyjet specifically. From the point of view of
resource based theory [41], companies carry out an internal analysis and base their
potential in the identification and assessment of current and potential resources and skills
in order to establish their competitive advantages. Considering this concept, by studying
the features of air connectivity it is possible to get important estimations to establish
competitive advantages for airports and destinations, national tourism institutions, the
LCC (Easyjet) and the whole sector of airlines (competitors, suppliers, new entrants…)
for further management.
13
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14
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15
[40] Crucitti, P., Latora, V., Marchiori, M., and Rapisarda, A. (2004), ‘Error and attack
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performance. Simon and Schuster.
ANEX
Figures
Figure 1 EasyJet net income progression 2008-2013

Source: [29]
Figure 2 Example of an Adjacency Matrix (A)

Source: [42]
Figure 3 Example of aWeights Matrix (W)
16
Source: [42]
Figure 4 Complex network of Turkey’s flights

Source: [43]. Elaborate by the authors
Figure 5 Number of connections of every country

Figure 6 Slovenia’s network

17
Figure 7 Switzerland’s network
Figure 9 Belgium’s network

Figure 9 Spain’s network

18
Tables
Table 1 Weights matrix W with origin in Turkey per week

Origin airport Bodrum Dalaman Izmir Istanbul – Sabiha Gökcen
Destination airport
Basel- Mulhouse- Freiburg 0 0 0 1

Bristol 2 2 0 0
Edinburgh 2 1 0 0
Liverpool 2 0 0 0
London Gatwick 2 4 2 0
London Luton 0 0 0 3
London Stansted 2 2 0 0
Manchester 0 2 0 0
Table 2 Density index of every country

Country Density Country Density Country Density Country Density
Germany 4.5% Slovenia 100% Switzerland 3.6% Netherlands 9.1%
Austria 25% Spain 16.2% Italy 4.2% Poland 22.2%
Belgium 18.2% Estonia 100% Iceland 33.3% Portugal 10.5%
Bulgaria 40% Egypt 28.6% Israel 22.2% United Kingdom 3.9%
Cyprus 20% France 8.2% Malta 25% Czech Republic 18.2%
Croatia 15% Greece 17.4% Morocco 13.2% Romania 100%
Denmark 14.3% Hungary 28.6% Turkey 19.7% Sweden 100%
Table 3 Degree centrality of every country’s networks

Country Centrality Country Centrality Country Centrality Country Centrality
Germany 87.12% Slovenia 100% Switzerland 56.58% Netherlands 100%
Austria 82.31% Spain 20.14% Italy 37.05% Poland 100%
Belgium 100% Estonia 100% Iceland 100% Portugal 61.22%
Bulgaria 100% Egypt 84.35% Israel 100% United Kingdom 66.78%
Cyprus 59.57% France 39.96% Malta 100% Czech Republic 100%
Croatia 65.59% Greece 26.91% Morocco 88.15% Romania 100%
Denmark 100% Hungary 100% Turkey 17.02% Sweden 100%
Table 4 Mediator airports in every country

Country Mediator Country Mediator Country Mediator Country Mediator
Airport Airport Airport Airport
Germany Berlin Slovenia Ljubljana Switzerland Geneva Netherlands Amsterdam
Schoenefeld
Austria Salzburg Spain London Italy Milan Malpensa Poland Cracow
Gatwick
Belgium Brussels Estonia Tallinn Iceland Reikiavic Portugal Lisbon
(Keflavik)
Bulgaria Sofia Egypt Sharm El Israel Tel Aviv United London
Sheikh Kingdom Gatwick
Cyprus Cyprus France Paris Malta Malta Czech Prague
(Paphos) Charles de Republic
Gaulle
Croatia Split Greece London Morocco Marrakesh Romania Bucharest
Gatwick
Denmark Copenhagen Hungary Budapest Turkey Dalaman Sweden Stockholm
19
Flickr: tool for a market analysis of tourism
consumption
Íñiguez-Berrozpe, T.
Plumed-Lasarte, M.
International University of La Rioja, Spain
Latorre-Martínez, M.P.
University of Zaragoza, Faculty of Social and Labour Sciences, Spain
ABSTRACT
One of the basic supports that tourism is based upon is image, both at a consumption level
and at a production level. In this study, based on the city of Zaragoza, we have selected
image-focused social media (Flickr) due to the significance of photographs in the tourist
imagination, and due to the fact that these media provide a series of tools using the GUI
(Graphical User Interface). Results confirm that image-focused social media may
represent a reliable means to carry out a market study of a tourist destination, either used
as a resource or a service.
Keyword: Flickr, market study, social media, tourism.
1 INTRODUCTION
The current boom of social media in practically all consumption areas and habits is
undeniable. The information society has reached its highest peak with this type of
applications, where the premises of multidirectional and online communication that the
Web 2.0 is based upon, are totally fulfilled, reaching all kinds of users. As Longueville
[1] argues the Web 2.0 has evolved into a new way of communication and information
sharing, based on three basic principles: it allows users to create their own content, the
close connection between different systems, and the social context of the user.
Longueville [1] concludes that the main and most important characteristic of the Web 2.0
is precisely its availabity to almost everyone nowadays, offering the opportunity to add
and create original contents. More specifically, Goodchild [2] pointed out that the Web
2.0 is “a straightforward and user-friendly channel to create networks of ‘human sensors’,
that generate original databases of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI)”. As a
result, the VGI stands as a particular dataset where users create new contents together
with spatial references [3].
If this environment, social media has caused a real revolution in communication between
and among individuals [4] and its effect on consumption has also been significant,
changing the way potential consumers access information about different goods and
services, as well as in the way the companies reach those same consumers [5]. Thus, we
20
can say that the social media have become the keystone and the clearest example of the
way society is nowadays defined: The Information Society [6] and the Consumption
Society [7].
In this consumer society, tourism is one of the main activities due to a higher need of
leisure that, as a matter of fact, has become a primary need in developed countries [8].
Furthermore, tourists no longer just consume tourist services and goods, as they also seek
the consumption of experiences [9, 10] and the further away these experiences are from
those of their daily lives, the more value they will have [11]. However, tourists not only
strive to enjoy those experiences, they also want to keep a memory, and, more than ever,
share it. This link between tourism and the need to share experiences makes media and
tourism getting more and more closely intertwined [12]. At this point is where the Web
2.0 provides tourists with a series of instruments to do so: websites, blogs, social media,
mobile applications, etc. In fact, 96% of the people travelling in Spain in 2010 had
previously consulted the Internet [13], a fact which shapes a new type of traveller: The
Tourist 2.0 [14].
All those data that can be found on the Internet and can be useful for a market analysis if
we apply a descriptive statistical data analysis. In this study, we have selected image-
focused social media due to the significance of photographs in the tourist imagination,
and due to the fact that these media provide a series of tools using the GUI (Graphical
User Interface) that give very valuable quantitative and also qualitative information. To
illustrate how social media can be used as first-hand tools to analyse the tourist demand
of a destination, where users create information with spatial reference, we have taken
Flickr as our object of analysis. In section 2 we describe the phenomenon of M-tourism,
Digital Photography and Social media, and how they can be used for market studies
according to what scientific literature says. Section 3 describes the method used for our
analysis. Sections 4 and 5 explain the results and the discussion of this issue, providing
examples of the possibilities offered by Flickr as a tool for a tourist market study based
on a specific case study: the city of Zaragoza, in Spain. Finally, Section 6 addresses the
limitations of the study and the perspectives for future research.
2 M-TOURISM, DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY ANS SOCIAL MEDIA
Tourism has been always linked to photography because one of the basic supports that
tourism is based upon is image, both at a consumption level (leaflets, websites, posters)
and at a production level (own photographs that the tourist takes on his trips).
Photography provides an opportunity for tourists to document and share with others their
travel experiences [16-18], [10], transforming an intangible experience into something
[19]. In that sense, this image is based on the basic characteristics of the tourist
destination. This is what scientific literature has called "tourist destination symbol" [20],
that is, visual tourist landmarks that are distributed by public administrations and private
entities to attract tourists, and the ones that have an iconic meaning: the must “see, check,
locate and touch” [21].
Nowadays, thanks to interactive Web 2.0, photosharing media, have transformed this
practice widening its influence by putting it into the public domain through blogs, online
photo albums, and social network sites [22-24]. The social media appear, once again, as
21
an essential application both to preserve and express these experiences through images
and comments [25], and, especially, as a way to share them, not only with family and
friends, but also with strangers [26] showing the users’ perceptions of a destination [27].
Geographic data, metadata, and distributed geoprocessing services can be seen as
resource items consumed through geoportal using the GUI (Graphical User Interface)
tools. Such information can be named a ‘meta-resource’, where four types of meta-
resources can be defined: Activity, Ratings, Tags, and Comments [1]. In turn, and in
response to the multi-directionality in communication previously mentioned, other users
can comment on these publications, share them, score them, tag them, and disseminate
their own images and comments, creating an emerging network of communication and
information about the tourist products consumed and the destinations visited [28].
On the other hand, over the last few years, technological development has allowed for
this exchange of information to be freer, thanks to the appearance of different smart
mobile devices [29]. As a matter of fact, the freedom of communication made possible
by the Web 2.0 was conditioned by the non-portability of personal computers. As a
consequence, the popularisation of smart phones, tablets, and netbooks has allowed,
among other things, the mobility of the tourist 2.0, who no longer just seeks information
and contracts trips online, but also shares the experiences of those trips in the social media
[16, 30]. Thus, these media fulfil the need for connectivity, opinion, participation, and
relationship that this new type of tourist seeks [29]. The appearance of these new
technological supports makes their mobility possible as well as they give the option of
sharing the experiences they enjoy during their trips at the very same moment they are
enjoying them [31]. Therefore, due to the incorporation of new mobile technologies into
tourist practice, new options have also appeared in this respect [32]. As a result, not just
a new type of tourist emerges, but also a new practice within this activity: m-tourism
(mobile tourism) [33, 34].
In m-tourism Digital photography is integrated into these devices, giving tourists the
possibility of sharing visual references through the social media, apart from just storing
them [34]. In turn, they will have the opportunity to materialise the social representation
of a specific space in an image that will be later distributed providing feedback to the
collective imagination of a destination [33]. Digital photography and the social media
thus become technological mediators in the creation and dissemination of the image of a
tourist destination [26]. This fact, among others, has revolutionised tourist marketing and
management [35-37]. Tourist destinations and companies use the images on these media
as top quality promotional material [38], normally referring to the already mentioned
collective imagination that exists in relation to a destination and that attracts potential
tourists. It is precisely the use of social media to promote tourism the issue that has raised
more interest among the international scientific community engaged in the research of
these new technologies in tourism [22-24]. It is not only possible but a reality that users
upload and share images on normal social media like Facebook, Twitter, Tuenti, and
Myspace, among others; however, it is the emergence of other kinds of social media
focused exclusively on images what has contributed to highlight the relevance of digital
photography as a means of expression and communication, not only among friends and
family, but also with “geographically dispersed” strangers [39]. In this sense, Lo,
McKercher, Lo, Cheung, & Law [40] carried out on of the first studies focused on the
analysis of tourists’ use of online photography. In this work, they take as a point of
departure the use of image-focused social media by Hong Kong tourists in order to
22
conclude that 76.1% of the people that post their photographs during their travels do it on
Flickr, Instagram or other similar web services. This shows the current importance of this
practice. Another point of interest in this sense is the great influence that images shared
on the social media have on the rest of users as potential visitors of those destinations [41,
10], due to the fact that, as reflected by these studies, tourists trust more in the images and
opinions of other tourists than in those provided by the actual companies and destinations.
Thus, it is reasonable to say that a democratisation of information on destinations through
image has been developed [40]. Up to this point, we have observed that there is a certain
tendency in research on tourism to analyse the interaction on social media that goes from
the as transmitters, to the tourist as receiver (basically due to promotional reasons). A
second line that has recently emerged focuses on tourist-tourist interactions, although this
is a more theoretical and less empirical development. And finally, we have observed a
third line that has scarcely been formulated and to which we aim to contribute with this
study: the transfer of information between tourists as transmitters and the company or
destination as receivers, i.e. the market study through social media. In other words, users
can be important external sources of information that can promote corporate innovation
[42, 43]. Figure 1 displays the cycle of interactions explained, excelling in blue the novel
interaction we propose in this work.
Figure 1 Cycle of interactions
In this study, we have selected image-focused social media due to the previously
mentioned significance of photographs in the tourist imagination, and due to the fact that
these media provide a series of tools using the GUI (Graphical User Interface), as we will
see later on, that give very valuable quantitative and also qualitative information.
Following this latter line, and as immediate precedents of our study, we have found
previous interesting research: on one hand, the study by Ruiz [44] identified the profile
and preferences of tourists who visited the province of Málaga analysing 150,000
photographs posted on Flickr. Similarly, Girardin et al. [45] used the longitude and
latitude values assigned by Flickr to the georeferenced photos to analyze the behavior of
tourists in Rome through the study of 144,501 photos. On the other hand, the work of
Popescu et al. [46] used the information provided by Flickr to discover the characteristics
of different types of trips in several cities. More recently Mamei, Rosi, and Zambonelli
[47] develop a technique for the automatic analysis of geotagged photos for Intelligent
Tourist Services. Rugna, Chareyron, and Branchet [48] could identify the country of
origin of a tourist based based on the photos they post online. Zheng, Zha & Chua [49,
50] or Lee Cai & Lee [51] discovered travel patterns, through this VGI, such as main
tourist attractions or flow between different destinations. Huang, Basu, and Hsu [52]
identified the motives for sharing travel-related information via social networks:
obtaining travel information, disseminating information, and documenting personal
23
experiences. Liu, Norman, Pennington-Gray, Backer, & Hay [53] made also this
motivation analysis but focusing on culinary tourism and food photos shared on Flickr.
Stepchenkova & Zhan [27] and Manosso, Bizinelli, & Gândara [54] analized tourists
perceived images of a city, Peru and Curitiba respectively, through the photos they posted
on Flickr. Donaire, Camprubí, & Galí [55] used Flickr anlaysis to identify diferent types
of tourist photographers. And, finally, Vu et al. [56] identified travel behaviors in Hong
Kong through a new method for constructing a travel dataset from geotagged photos on
Flickr. This kind of work is plausible thanks to the possibility offered by this image-
focused social media, that allows to analyse the number of photos and photographers by
months of the year, country of origin of the photographers, and the most common topics
and photographed destinations: hashtags and geolocation. The conclusion of all those
works was that insight into tourist travel behaviours is essential to manage strategic
planning and decision for a sustainable tourism, and the analysis of Flickr and other social
networks can be an efficient method of comprehensively capturing the travel those travel
patterns.
Thus, broadening the view of the previous analysis, this study defends the use of these
image-focused social media as a first-hand source to discover the amount and type of
tourists, the most visited places and the frequency of such visits, or the months of the year
with the greatest tourist influx. This analysis can be carried out thanks to the quantitative
and qualitative instruments offered to us by Flickr, as well as through external tools, that
will be exemplified in this article. Thus, an entire new research line appears where social
media become fundamental sources of knowledge for tourist companies and institutions
[40, 57].
3 METHOD
To illustrate with examples how the social media can be used as first-hand tools to analyse
the tourist demand of the destination, we have taken a Flickr as our object of study. First,
we have made an exploratory analysis of the available web tools that contain information
about images uploaded by tourists through hashtags and geolocation. However, a
descriptive analysis has been carried out, as the actual web application allows to include
first-hand data without having to use other tools.
Flickr is an image-focused social media that allows storing, sorting, searching, selling and
sharing photographs and videos online. It houses 5 billion images and has 86 million
visitors. The hashtags with which users identify the images that they upload to the
platform and their geolocation service allows collecting data depending on what we are
interested in analyze. In our study, we have provided examples of the possibilities offered
by Flickr as a tool for a tourist market study based on a specific case study: the city of
Zaragoza, in Spain. This choice responds to three main reasons: Firstly, this city has been
selected in different types of studies due to its midsize makes it a perfect city for a case
study, as the IE Business School1 explained when it chose Zaragoza for an analysis about
the image and the brand of the city [58]. Secondly, Zaragoza has one of the most active
municipal departments of tourism statistics in Spain [59], so we can have plenty
information about its tourists, tourist attractions and tourism characteristics to compare
1
http://www.ie.edu/business-school/
24
them to Flickr’s data. Moreover, Zaragoza is one of the most photographed cities in the
world (it ranks number 146 according to Sightsmap [60]) And finally, we consider that
taking a place which is not internationally known in the tourist sector but it is one of the
biggest and most important cities in Spain can give interesting results. However, this
analysis can be applied to any other destination (local, regional or national), resource (a
monument or a specific beach) or tourist service (a hotel, a restaurant, etc).
Therefore, for this research we have taken the following steps:
1. We have registered as users of Flickr.

2. Using the Search tool: “Zaragoza”, we have accessed to the number of tagged
photos in the city, providing information about the user that has uploaded them.
3. On the other hand, using the Explore tool, we have selected World Map, where
we have placed “Zaragoza”, and the number of geolocated photos has appeared,
as well as access to each one of them.
4. In addition, a dual entry search can be made on the main menu, that is: “city
name” and “tourist spot” with every tourist spots of the city. Thus, it is possible
to classify the places with the most geolocated photos of a city.
5. For the information collection process, we have created a database where the
following information about each user is analysed: origin, gender, camera make,
number of photos of the city, number of photos of a specific place (we have
selected El Pilar, the main tourist point of Zaragoza), and the date when the photos
were taken.
6. After collecting the data, a statistical-descriptive analysis has been performed
on them.
4 RESULTS
4.1 Descriptive analysis of tourism in Zaragoza

Flickr provides the possibility of making an analysis of the images of a specific element
(e.g., a tourist destination), without using external tools, as previously mentioned. Thus,
in this article we have carried out an example of a descriptive analysis of the Spanish city
Zaragoza as a tourist destination based on Flickr. As a first result we can observe the
number of photos tagged as “Zaragoza” and “Zaragoza” + “tourist spot”, and also the
geolocated photos. In relation to the tourist spots, we have selected some of the most
visited places in the city: El Pilar (the most popular monument), Ebro (one of the rivers
of the city, which is the greatest river of Spain), Expo (the area where the International
Exposition was located in 2008), Aljafería (another monument which is an important
attraction of the city), Casco (old historical area of the city) and Parque grande –Big park-
(one of the most visited parks). Thus, thanks to the tools offered by Flickr we can know
the number of photos tagged with those words, showing that from out of 444,000 photos
of the city of Zaragoza, 259,000 are geolocated, as displayed in Table 1 (data updated in
April 2013).
25
Table 1 No of photos classified by hashtags
Hashtag No. of photos No. of photos geolocated
Zaragoza 444,741 259,000
Zaragoza + El Pilar 14,394 7,446
Zaragoza + Ebro 12,899 5,023
Zaragoza + Expo 43,679 15,654
Zaragoza + Aljafería 4,734 1,454
Zaragoza + Casco 2,475 937
Zaragoza + Parque Grande 2,070 768
Source: Flickr, 2013. Own elaboration
The data displayed in Table 1 shows that the place of Zaragoza with the highest number
of photos is the Expo. However, we have not consider that site due to most of those
pictures were taken during the International Exposition in 2008, i.e. during just three
months. In order to develop a more reliable analysis we have taken El Pilar, considered
the hottest tourist spot of the city.
For the analysis of the user profile, we have taken 4,788 photos out of a total of 7,446
geolocated photos in El Pilar corresponding to 392 users. According to the characteristics
of those users –omitting those from the same autonomous community of Zaragoza- we
can describe the profile of tourists of Zaragoza as followed:
People that uploaded photos with the hashtag El Pilar are mostly male as displayed in
Figure 2: more than 80%.
Figure 2 Percentage distribution by Gender
In relation to the foreign tourists, visitors in Zaragoza are mostly Italians, followed by
tourists from the UK (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Percentage distribution of foreign tourists by country of
26
At a national level, considering the autonomous communities, Catalonia is the community
that provides the largest number of national tourists, followed by Madrid and Castile Leon
(Figure 4).
Figure 4 Percentage of distribution of national tourists by autonomous community
October is the month with the highest number of tourists in Zaragoza, due to the main
festival of the city dedicate to the Virgin of Pilar. Apart from that, the dates with the
greatest influx of tourists are Christmas, the Easter Week (March or April, depending on
the year) and the summer months. (Figure 5).
Figure 5 Percentage distribution of tourists by months of the year
Figure 6 displays how the percentage of photos of El Pilar progressively increases,

experiencing a very significant increase in 2012, which may depend to the increase of
popularity of the social media, more than an increase of tourists. The effect of the
International Exposition in 2008, which flows over into 2009, is also observed.
27
Figure 6 Percentage distribution of photos by year in Zaragoza
4.2 Camera use and tourist profile

Another very interesting piece of information that can be analysed thanks to the results
of our study is the percentage distribution of cameras used. The camera brands most
commonly used by tourists are: Canon with 42 %, Nikon with 26%, Olympus 9% and
Sony with 8% (Figure 7).
Figure 7 Percentage distribution of camera makes
5 DISCUSSION
The social media, as well as other sites and web applications, have represented a real
revolution in tourist communication, as it has progressively managed to replace
traditional intermediaries (mainly travel agencies and other holiday retailers). The reason
for this is the fact that for the consumer this way is more transparent and dynamic than
the traditional way [29, 52]. The possibility of sharing experiences about trips with other
users at that same moment and of consulting the opinions of other tourists about
destinations and specific tourist products has revolutionised the idea of organising trips
[57]. The evidence can be found in the numerous studies that have appeared about web
28
2.0 and social media and their influence in tourism very recently [61-63], [38], [35], [30],
[25], [52], [29], [14], [57]. Those authors stated that web 2.0 and social media are of
maximum relevance as a source of information and tourist-tourist recommendation.
On the other hand, photography related to trips as a mean of sharing experiences has more
and more supporters [56], increasing even more today given the possibilities of discussion
and exchange of social media [40]. The researchers found in this respect [64], [41], [10]
have illustrated that pictures that are uploaded to webs, blogs and social media by users
are considered by tourists as a totally reliable source to choose, organise and plan their
holidays, giving the case of Flickr as a paradigmatic example [65], [41], [45], [46], [47],
[52], [67], [48], [49-50], [51], [27], [54-56]. According to those authors that have
analyzed this issue, this kind of pictures and images on websites and social media have a
decisive influence on tourists when they choose a specific tourist product, due to the fact
that users are more likely to follow the recommendations or criticism of other individuals
than those of organisations and/or companies [66].
We should bear in mind that on Flickr the "trip" or “holidays” hashtags provide around 9
million photographs [41] which results in the fact that this and other image-focused social
media become extremely important tools to discover the tendencies of a specific tourist
product or destination [49-50]. Moreover, these photos generate original databases of
VGI, which stands as a particular dataset where users create new contents together with
spatial references [3]. Soit becomes an instrument which, as defined in this article, can be
basic for both public and private organizations to be able to perform market studies either
in a general or specific manner, willing them to promote innovations to adapt their
products to potential consumers [40, 57]. In this sense, platforms such as Flickr allow us
to discover, in a simple, quick and low-cost way, a series of data which would be difficult
or complicated to access using other means. Furthermore, it is a type of tourist market
analysis that totally adapts to the type of product we require: from extensive geographical
areas (countries, Autonomous Communities) to smaller areas (towns, historical centres),
and from an entire and diverse sectorial range that makes up the tourist sector
(accommodation, restaurants and catering, leisure, services, amenities, etc.).
However, there is a problem closely related to the use of these image-focused social
media: their reliability as a source of information for a market study. Nonetheless, through
the analysis carried out on Zaragoza in this study, we do find consistency between the
data provided (in this case through Flickr) and the tourist reality of the city. This is clearly
exemplified in the analysis of tagged and/or geolocated photographs in Zaragoza, from
which it can be deduced that, despite the slight recession in 2010, the number of tourists
in the city has progressively increased since 2008 (Figure 6). Evidences of these
conclusions can be found in official sources: according to the annual report by Zaragoza
Tourism of 2012, it is confirmed that the increasing number of foreign tourists to the city
has added an interannual 2% since 2009, whilst the number of national visitors remains
unchanged. In relation to their origin, Spanish visitors mainly come from the Autonomous
Communities of Aragon (32%) –omitted in this study in order to be able of differing
between tourists and residents-, Catalonia (16%), and Madrid (14%). In the case of
foreign tourists, Italians (14%) have the greatest presence (25%) [59]. Based on these data
we can see that, in general terms, the results provided by Flickr regarding the origin of
the tourists (Figures 3 and 4) are consistent with official statistics. What is even more
consistent, and closely connected with the previously mentioned report, this analysis has
29
illustrated that the majority of tourists (57%) visit Zaragoza for its culture and its
monuments, which will also correspond to the most photographed places according to
data analysed in Flickr (table 1).
To conclude, if in tourism the consumption of experiences collected by digital

photography in mobile devices, and the share of all of them through web 2.0, we can
consider that, although it is necessary to bear in mind existing exceptions, image-focused
social media may represent a reliable means to carry out a market study of a tourist
destination.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The present paper is born thanks to the inquisitiveness of the authors about the innovation
that social media applications can contribute in consumption studies. From our experience
as researchers and teachers in different areas, our ambition with this paper is to take the
advantage of an interesting case we know well, Zaragoza’s tourism, to propose a novel
method of analysis using the possibilities that a tool like Flickr offers. This interest we
share has given place to a great team work, in which each of us has contributed with a
different perspective thanks to the different academic formation we have. We would like
to thank the University School of Tourism of Zaragoza and Zaragoza Turismo for the
help along the process of this research.
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34
New tourism uses for defence heritage:
tourism enhancement of historic castle and
fortresses
Viñals, M.J.
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
Alonso-Monasterio, P.
Martínez-Sanchis, I.
Morant, M.
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of the enhancement projects and reuse of three historic
buildings addressed by this research group: the Spanish Fort of Santiago (16th century),
located on Chikly Island (Northern Lagoon of Tunis), where the preliminary studies
(recreational carrying capacity, visitors’ touring pattern, etc.) were conducted in order for
it to be visited; the Ottoman Fort (17th century) of El Loutani in Ghar el Melh (also in
Tunisia), which has been adapted to host an interpretation centre devoted to the wetlands
(the Tunisian Wetland Centre); and the Templar Castle of Monzón (Spain), built in the
11th century by the Knights Templar, which is currently being prepared as a venue where
tourism activities can be carried out.
Keywords: Defence Heritage, Historic Buildings, Adaptive Reuse, Interpretative

Tourism.
1 INTRODUCTION
Built heritage has an intrinsic value in its own right as part of the fabric of human
realization in the arts, design and construction. It is essential to the spiritual and cultural
well-being of a nation, and also provides a wide range of public functions, including
education, economic development, urban and rural regeneration, and cultural
development, as well as facilities, local identity and a sense of place, while of course also
attracting visitors and thus encouraging tourism activities. These values are usually
enshrined in national laws and in many international charters and conventions [1], [2].
Heritage elements have close historical links to the places where they are located, and
local communities feel strongly about their heritage. Historic places are part of the
evolving cultural heritage and they reflect the nature and history of the communities that
created them. As Cannon [3] defines, historic places add distinctiveness, meaning and
35
quality to the places in which we live, providing a sense of continuity and identity. Yet,
in the case of defence heritage (towers, castles, walls, fortresses, etc.) and despite being
protected, they are closed, even administratively abandoned, and the passage of time has
caused their deterioration.
Moreover, modern conservation is characterized by the fundamental change of values in

contemporary society [4]. Thus, the adaptive reuse of historic buildings could be
considered the best way to conserve them, as suggested by many authors and institutions
such as English Heritage [5] and Canada’s Historic Places [6]. These viable and
compatible new uses allow historic buildings to retain their historic character, conserve
significant fabric and keep them in good repair into the future.
The adaptive reuse of historic buildings aims at changing their capacity, function or
performance to adjust, reuse or upgrade a building to suit new conditions or requirements
[7]. This concept is linked to sustainable development and includes four components:
social, economic, environmental and political-institutional [8], [9]. Then, behind the
conservation of historic buildings in terms of sustainable development, there are issues
related to social cohesion [10], attachment to place and a sense of place [11], and the
sense of cultural identity [12]. The economic component refers to the number of jobs and
the tourism revenue created by the new use, which contribute to the local and national
economies [13], [14]. In the environmental dimension, adaptive reuse bypasses the
process of demolition and reconstruction. This environmental benefit, combined with the
energy savings, reduction in carbon emissions, reuse of materials [15], and the
preservation of the urban pattern and the character of the area [2], [16] contributes to
environmental care. On the other hand, the political-institutional framework calls for
government policies and strategies at the local level [17], [18] to promote community
participation in the conservation efforts [19].
Furthermore, both the design and construction of new buildings started to decrease at the
end of the second millennium, and interventions to existing buildings are becoming more
important [20]. In Central Europe, 40% of construction involves the adaptation of historic
buildings rather than demolishing them and constructing new ones [21]. Therefore, the
challenge is to find new uses that adapt perfectly to historic buildings, following the
principles established by international charters such as the Burra Charter, which states
that the “new use of a place should involve minimal change to significant fabric and use;
should respect associations and meanings; and where appropriate should provide for
continuation of activities and practices which contribute to the cultural significance of
the place” (The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, 2013).
Moreover, finding a new use for heritage buildings means addressing questions associated
with retaining their historical character, conserving their significant fabric elements and,
of course, keeping them in good condition for future generations, among others. Hence,
it is obvious that this new use will arise from very different processes, depending on each
case. The key therefore seems to lie in applying a method to guide the process which is
capable of following the principles mentioned in addressing the different components.
Furthermore, the rise of cultural tourism in recent years has provided many towns and
villages with an opportunity to diversify their offer and economies. However, the
presence of outstanding cultural heritage elements alone does not guarantee the presence
36
of visitors, so tourism enhancement must be planned. Juan [22] defined a cultural heritage
product as those cultural resources that can be developed for certain activities, primarily
visits open to the public. Hence, to become a marketable opportunity, a heritage element
must first be transformed into a cultural heritage tourism product, which requires
addressing issues such as accessibility, complementary offerings, signage systems, and
hospitality services, among others. Robb [23] agrees with Juan [22] that it can be
profitable, but adds that it requires packaging and promotion.
In the realm of cultural tourism, defence heritage tourism has become a specific trend in
which the historic building is at the core of the visitor’s motivation. López and Gómez
[24] define this segment as a tourism that makes it possible for visitors to admire and
establish contact with a complex monument of a military or defence nature, to engage
with the past, and to experience artistic, folkloric, gastronomic and cultural
demonstrations. Stojsavljevic et al. [25] identify numerous examples of well-documented
medieval cultural resources throughout Europe, including castles in England (e.g.
Windsor, Lincoln and Dover), in Scotland (e.g. Bothwell, Caerlaverock and Edinburgh),
in Ireland (e.g. Blarney and Dublin), in Wales (e.g. Caerphilly and Conwy), in France
(e.g. Avignon, Foix and Mont-Saint-Michel), in Italy (e.g. Bari, San Gimigniano, Fenis
and Sacra di San Michele), in Germany (e.g. Neuschwanstein) and in Eastern Europe (e.g.
Ciechanow in Poland; Karlstein in the Czech Republic; Bran in Romania and
Kalemegdan, Smederevo and Golubac in Serbia). Many visitors travel to these
fortifications every year, for example, the 10,000 to 12,000 visitors registered in Golubac
and from 26,000 to 30,000 in Smederevo. In the case of well-documented medieval
heritage sites visited by international travellers, Windsor Castle is probably the most
visited site, with 7.3 million visitors to the Royal Borough [26], followed by Carcassonne,
with more than 4 million visitors [27] and Brand Castle, with more than 500,000 visitors
[28].
This paper addresses the application of technical tools for heritage enhancement that
allow the adaptive reuse of three historic buildings, where the original use no longer
exists. These three buildings are: The Spanish Fort of Santiago on the Island of Chikly
(Tunisia), The Ghar El Melh Fort (Tunisia) and the Templar Castle of Monzón (Spain).
2 METHODOLOGY: THE ADAPTIVE REUSE PROCESS
Heritage enhancement requires action leading to revalorization, and to do so it is

necessary to use mechanisms that rescue, exalt and strengthen the heritage values. Built
heritage reveals its cultural significance in many ways: in its tangible values, its location,
its fabric, etc. as well as in intangible ways like historic or artistic ones. Therefore, it is
necessary to address a strategy to convert a historic building into a cultural and economic
resource without losing its values while, at the same time, satisfying visitors’
expectations. This research applies a process that makes it possible to know, survey,
diagnose, intervene in, enhance and communicate built heritage resources.
There are many methods on how to decide actions to conserve and adapt historic
buildings. The above mentioned Burra Character [16] suggests a sequence consisting in
three phases: understanding cultural significance (defining history, use, associations,
fabric, etc. and assessing all values using relevant criteria); then development of policy
(identifying obligations arising from significance, considering future needs, resources,
opportunities and constraints, preparing a management plan); and finally, the
37
management of the place in accordance with the policy (implementing the management
plan, monitoring results and reviewing the plan). Historic England [29], on the other hand,
presents four stages: site summary (identifying the historic character of the site in its
setting and issues such as access, services and designations); assessment of the
significance of the heritage (assessing its contribution to local distinctiveness and the
significance of individual buildings); capacity for change (site access, the impact on
neighbours and opportunities to enhance habitats, landscape character and improving
energy efficiency); and siting and design uses (using the understanding gained to inform
the design and process development, including opportunities to conserve and enhance the
historic character and significance of the whole site in its setting).
This research proposes heritage enhancement following a three-stage process by

developing technical tools (programmes), actions and activities. Firstly, a heritage
protection programme is considered in order to guarantee the conservation of resources
(restoration/rehabilitation, integrity and significance considerations, physical protection
measures, etc.); secondly, a heritage public use programme (architectural adaptation,
zoning, recreational carrying capacity, visitors’ touring pattern, interpretation
programme, visitors’ safety programme, etc.); and finally, a socio-economic
dynamization programme, focused mainly on the performance of marketable tourism
products.
In relation to historic building conservation, English Heritage [30] indicates that, as a

general rule, it is better to keep as much original fabric and design as possible, repair
features where necessary and only replace where there is absolutely no alternative.
Preserving authentic and original features helps enhance the significance of a site.
Regarding the adaptive reuse of military establishments, it should be recalled that they
were mainly constructed as defence sites, thus being inaccessible by nature. In
consequence, difficulties tend to arise when it comes to adapting them for tourism uses.
3 THE SPANISH FORT OF SANTIAGO (16TH CENTURY) ON THE ISLAND

OF CHIKLY (TUNISIA)
The Island of Chikly is located in the Northern Lagoon of Tunis and covers an area of 3.5
ha. The lagoon is a wetland declared as a Ramsar site (International Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands) in 2013, and the island has been classified as a Nature Reserve since 1993,
and an Important Bird Area (Birdlife IBA Programme) due to its large colony of little
egrets (Egretta garzetta). Moreover, this small island holds Phoenician, Punic, Roman,
Byzantine, Arab, Spanish and Turkish archaeological remains that evidence the
historically close relation between Tunis and its lagoon. Nevertheless, the most
significant cultural heritage of the island is the defensive Spanish Fort of Santiago (Fig.
1).
38
Figure 1 The Spanish Fort of Santiago on the Island of Chikly (Tunisia)
The Fort of Santiago, declared a historical monument in 1992, was built in 1535-40 by
the Emperor Charles I of Spain as a defensive bastion when Spain took the coasts of
Tunis. In 1574, it fell into Turkish hands and was used for military purposes during
different governances. The Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, who took part in the
expedition of Don Juan de Austria, narrated the fall of Tunis in his book “Don Quixote”,
with reference being made to Chikly. Afterwards, in the 18th century, it became a
quarantine hospital, and in the 19th century the Fort was abandoned on a permanent basis.
At the end of the 20th century, the Tunisian Republic and the Government of Spain signed
a protocol for the restoration of the Fort, which ended in 2010 without having defined the
new use the building will be put to.
In the study of the reuse of the Fort of Santiago, the first step was to perform an inventory
and assessment of the resources included on the site and the island. Thus, natural (birds,
vegetation, etc.) and cultural assets were analysed, together with the scenic resources
surrounding the lagoon. This analysis provided information about the high potential of
the site for its enhancement. The Island of Chikly and the Fort have proved to be carriers
of important ecological, historical and artistic interpretative themes or messages. Later
on, the island was zoned to identify the interesting vegetation and nesting areas.
Regarding the Fort of Santiago, the zoning analysis was performed with the visitors’
safety in mind.
Considering the different existing spaces, the fragility, vulnerability and availability of
resources, and also taking into account the administrative feasibility of carrying them out,
three different activities have been suggested: an interpretative route on Chikly Island, an
interpretative tour of the Fort of Santiago, and birdwatching from the shoreline of the
Northern Lagoon.
A visitors’ touring pattern was designed for each activity. In the case of Chikly Island
(Fig. 2), a circular one-way itinerary that starts in the quay and goes around the island
was designed. Different interpretation stations were selected where visitors can follow
the explanations of the guide.
39
Figure 2 Interpretation Route on Chikly Island. 1. Roman remains; 2. Salt
Marshes; 3. Dyke; 4. Fort Facade
The interpretative tour around the Fort of Santiago (Fig.3) takes place in the interior of
the Fort, specifically in the artillery rooms, for reasons of access, solar lighting and safety
measures according to the zoning that was carried out. The main courtyard will function
as a passage space, and the terrace of the main tower will provide panoramic views.
Figure 3 Artillery rooms suggested as interpretation stations in the Spanish Fort of

Santiago
In this case study, a recreational carrying capacity study was also conducted to set the
limits of the established and desired site conditions, according to the foreseeable level of
visiting use and conservation goals [31].
40
The recreational carrying capacity analysis was applied to the circular trail running
around the island, to the artillery rooms and to the terrace of the tower. This was done
taking into account the needs for individual space to carry out activities in physically and
psychologically comfortable conditions
and applying the necessary limitations due to ecological, architectural conservation and
visual reasons. The results therefore suggest that each artillery room can accommodate 6
visitors, the terrace 14, but the maximum number of people that the island could host is a
10-person group. The reason for this restriction is that the space available for use for
visitors is scarce and the number of groups encountered per day must be 0 because visitors
should themselves be considered intrusive elements in the natural landscape, and also
because the impact on birds could be high.
Finally, the management capacity of the corresponding site administration (managerial
limiting factor) was analysed in order to assess the feasibility of the project. To manage
the proposed numerical estimates adequately in accordance with both the conservation
management objectives and the visitor quality experience, some preventive and
protection measures have been suggested, such as establishing public access restrictions
during periods in which birds are nesting, the physical protection of the Roman remains
by fences in order to avoid theft and plundering, and controlling access to the inaccessible
rooms of the Fort in order to guarantee the safety of the visitors.
A code of ethics in which the attitudes and expected behaviours of the public are
suggested should also be drafted. Furthermore, a suggestion was put forward to prepare
a Public Use Plan to regulate new uses in the Nature Reserve and Fort, and a heritage
interpretation programme (including a signage system) to facilitate the intellectual and
emotional visitor connection in order to offer a high quality visitor experience.
4 THE OTTOMAN FORT OF BORJ EL LOUTANI (GHAR EL MELH,

TUNISIA)
The Fort Borj El Loutani (Fig. 4) was built in 1659 and is strategically located in Ghar El
Melh (60 km from Tunis), on the north-western side of the Gulf of Tunis, on the shore of
the lagoon with the same name and close to the old harbour. This area has a long history
linked to the maritime civilisations that date back to the Phoenicians, who founded the
town of Rusucmona and the Utica port. During Carthaginian and Roman times, the area
was known as Porto Farina. In the 13th century, the town started to decline and suffered
ups and downs due to Berber and Byzantine pirates until the occupation by the Vandals
in the 16th century, it then becoming a stronghold for Saracen pirates. Later, also in the
16th century, the Spanish Emperor Charles I conquered Ghar El Melh and ordered the
construction of a fortress that would be destroyed in the 17th century by the English navy
led by Admiral Robert Blake.
After this episode, Ghar El Melh became once again a base for pirates. Some years later,
Ottoman Empire troops reached this coast. During this period, the town had a sort of
architectural renaissance, and, in a very short period of time, the area became a very
cosmopolitan centre with a good number of Turkish and Levantine colonists, who came
to establish trading and commercial activities. Nevertheless, the pirates continued
harassing the coast, and the Turks decided to build a defensive fortress system, which
Fort Borj El Loutani is part of.
41
Figure 4 Fort Borj El Loutani (Ghar El Melh, Tunisia)
Borj El Loutani has a 3,000 m2 square floor plan with four crenellated towers placed at
the four corners and a central open courtyard of 900 m 2. The perimeter consists of low
strong walls on the sides. The entrance is in an arched doorway located between a tower
and a wing that was once the guardhouse. This Borj was used as a military base by an
artillery division and also as a prison. The Fort, together with the other two fortresses and
the arsenal ‘El Kishla’, were declared a Historic Monument of Tunisia in 1922.
Due to the different uses given to the Fort, it has undergone important transformations
and strong degradation, mainly because of its use as a civil prison and its abandonment
from the end of the sixties until 1990, when the Tunisian government launched an
extensive programme of enhancement and restoration of national monuments and, in the
first decade of this millennium, it was decided that the Tunisian Wetlands Centre should
be housed there.
The work carried out in this case was the implementation of a new educational use for the
Fort El Loutani, consisting in an interpretation centre devoted to the wetlands (Fig. 5),
particularly those of Ghar el Melh, because its environment contributes to the
enhancement of its heritage significance. Hence, part of the work has been devoted to
establishing the conceptual bases of the interpretation programme (objectives, themes and
messages, etc.), and another part was focused on the musealization of the Fort to host a
permanent exhibition that includes: the design of the exhibit (exhibition features, basic
infrastructure, facilities and services, interpretation displays, visitors’ touring pattern,
etc.) and the construction and completion of the exhibit.
42
Figure 5 National Wetland Centre of Tunisia (Fort Borj El Loutani, Ghar El
Melh)
The interpretive objective of this centre addressed the protection of the Fort and wetland
resources in order to make the history of this site visible and tangible, to increase heritage
appreciation and to raise awareness for local people and tourists, as well as to enhance
visitors’ experience by creating learning opportunities. These objectives were turned into
themes, as Ham [32] suggested in the development of interpretation programmes.
The project developed three interpretative themes for this exhibition: “Wetlands are a
home for Nature”, “Wetlands are a home for People” and “Wetlands are a home for
Nature and People”, sub-themes being developed for each one.
In relation to the design of the artistic exhibition, the purpose was to consume local
materials as far as possible, especially those related to the original construction, avoiding
exotic materials in order to maintain the heritage features. Furthermore, certain principles
of sustainable development have also been taken into consideration, such as the use of
recyclable and biodegradable low-impact materials in order to eliminate negative
environmental impacts. Another aspect considered was the use of inexpensive manual
devices that are easy to maintain and replace.
The artistic style was also applied to the graphic design, taking into account during the
design process the use of colours, typography, the size and length of the titles and the
text, the use of logos and graphic materials [33].
The interpretation centre is located in the tower opposite the main entrance. The total
available area for the exhibition is 227m 2, divided into 2 main rooms (‘Tunisian Wetlands
Room’ and the ‘Ghar El Melh Room’) plus a small space that hosts the visitor information
point. There is also a ‘Hall of Pirates’, which traces the history of piracy in the region. A
very easy sequential visitors’ touring pattern has been established to avoid crowding and
a minimal number of groups encountered.
The results of the project implementation were the transformation of the Fort into a
respectful tourist attraction, adding both cultural and tourist value to the town of Ghar el
Melh.
43
5 THE TEMPLAS CASTLE OF MONZÓN (HUESCA, SPAIN)
The Templar Castle of Monzón (Fig. 6) is a medieval defence structure located in the
province of Huesca in the region of Aragón (northeast Spain). Since 1089, the year in
which the Muslim village of Monzón was conquered by Christians, this Castle has
witnessed many outstanding events over its long and intricate history.
From an architectural perspective, the Castle of Monzón is a heterogeneously constructed

defensive fortress. Despite various refurbishments and restoration works, the irregular
polyhedral plan retains its original structure and integrity, which led to its designation as
a National Monument in 1949.
Figure 6 The Templar Castle of Monzón (Huesca, Spain)
This Castle was entrusted to the Knights Templar in 1143, and it then flourished as the
most important Templar castle in the Kingdom of Aragón. Under the management of ‘The
Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon’ (a religious order famous
not only in battle but also as skilful administrators), the Castle of Monzón was a major
administrative centre [34], and the dormitories, the chapel, the refectory and the King
James I Tower were added. The King James I Tower owes its name to the widespread
belief that King James I ‘the Conqueror’ was educated at this Castle.
With respect to current tourism activities, the Castle received 10,000 visitors per year on
average from 2003 to 2010 [35], [36], [37], [38], and the number of visitors has increased
further in recent years. In 2013, there were more than 13,000 visitors due to the addition
of dramatizations for visitors in collaboration with local hotels and hostels offering a
castle entrance to guests for the symbolic fee of 1€, the availability of audio-guides in
four languages and other communication initiatives [39], [40], [41].
The work carried out in this case was to prepare the tourist enhancement of the Castle
within the framework of its Master Plan. The process began with the gathering of
information, including an inventory of the current and potential attractions, facilities and
44
services. Later on, in-depth interviews with stakeholders and tourism service providers
were carried out, as they are critical to be able to establish marketable tourism products.
The second stage addressed a recreational potential evaluation of the different elements.
Hence, the assessment of the intrinsic value and of the attractions and resources, both of
the Castle and its surroundings (Cinca Medio County and river), was carried out following
the criteria of significance, representativeness and uniqueness. Their recreational value
was also taken into account, based upon the criteria of fragility, availability, feasibility
and educational suitability.
The analysis of the tourism potential of the Monzón and Cinca Medio region revealed the
site’s ability to attract tourists, to fulfil the needs of tourism activity, thereby ensuring
heritage conservation and also visitors’ satisfaction, and made it possible to put forward
a proposal to guide future investments addressed to increase the number of visitors and
achieve greater economic profits for tourism dynamization plans. Nevertheless, some
weaknesses have been identified, such as a fragile tourism model detected from the
absence of a strategic vision, a lack of product concept, and a poor utilization of natural
and cultural resources on the part of the corresponding administrations. Some suggestions
emerge from this work, such as the promotion of local gastronomy, the inclusion of a
tourism complementary offer linked to agri-food products and crafts, the improvement
and increasing number of accommodation facilities on offer, the need for the human
resources working in the tourism sector to be more qualified, and the engagement in the
tourism channels of communication, promotion and market. Additionally, a participative
process, involving local community and public-private partnerships was suggested.
6 CONCLUSIONS
The adaptation of historic buildings to novel uses, especially defence heritage buildings,
is a tailored process that needs different technical tools. The three historic buildings
presented in this paper have been devoted to tourism purposes (public visitation and
permanent exhibition).
The method suggested to accommodate these new uses in those historic buildings has
followed several stages. Firstly, it was necessary to guarantee heritage conservation and
protection and, later on, an enhancement process could be implemented in order to
develop public use and new tourism uses. This last process started with the necessary
architectural adaptations, and the resource attractiveness analysis, recreational carrying
capacity assessment, visitors’ touring pattern, etc. in order to avoid impacts on the
heritage resources and also to offer visitors a quality tourism experience. Intellectual and
emotional access has been carried out by implementing thematic interpretation
programmes.
In the Spanish Fort of Santiago, the project focused on the recreational carrying capacity
and visitors’ touring pattern. The results indicate that the Fort is the most robust site,
whilst the Island is a very fragile space. The consideration of both resources (the nature
45
reserve and the historic building) as a whole reduced the carrying capacity not only for
the Island of Chikly but also for the Fort, as the ecological and spatial standards of the
island command the limiting factors. The numerical estimate suggests 20 people-at-one-
time, divided into two groups of 10 visitors, because on the Island, the maximum number
of groups encountered per day is 0 due to its small size and its significant avifauna. A
total of 10 visitors for the Fort is below its people-at-one-time. Thus, it is not at risk if
people adopt ethical behaviours when visiting the site.
The development of the interpretation centre for Tunisian Wetlands in the Fort of Borj El
Loutani has proven the success derived from the wise use of a historic building; firstly,
because the building adds value itself, and secondly because it is a wonderful container
for this educational and interpretative purpose. From the point of view of the Fort, the
interpretation centre was suitable because it was a low impact modern use that did not
threaten the integrity of the building fabric or its aesthetic values, and moreover it
contributes to the enhancement of its significance and also to its maintenance.
The Templar Castle of Monzón has been considered a valuable cultural resource for the
development of tourism in the region. Some suggestions to improve the tourism model
have been identified in this work, such as combined promotion together with the local
gastronomy, agri-food products and crafts, and the improvement and/or increase in the
accommodation facilities on offer, as well as improving the qualifications of the human
resources. Finally, efforts in communication, promotion and marketing have been pointed
out.
As a final thought, it is worth noting that the adaptive reuse of heritage is desirable
because it ensures its survival over time. However, it should be remembered that this
process cannot be improvised, but must be properly planned and implemented with the
highest technical rigour while thinking about presenting the heritage to the public in a
way that is as attractive as possible, especially if it is to be devoted to tourism purposes.
In this way, the social dimension of conservation makes sense, and heritage remains close
to local communities and is regarded as a common and public legacy.
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Calp Old town. An urban planning proposal
based on the “tourism cluster” concept
Peñín-LLobel, B.
Architect urban planner
Peñín-Ibáñez, A.
Architect urban planner
Quintana-Seguí, E.
Universitat Politècnica de València, Urban Planning Department, Spain
Miret-Pastos, L.
Universitat Politècnica de València, Economy and Social Sciences Department, Spain
ABSTRACT
Urban planning in tourist municipalities, requires a global approach encompassing

tourism, economic, social and architectonic aspects. The concept "Tourism Cluster"
includes several of these aspects and can be considered a new and valid starting point in
urban planning. This multidisciplinary work is based on a renewing proposal for Calp
Old Town, third most important destination in Costa Blanca.
Keywords: Urban planning, mass tourism, tourism cluster.
1 INTRODUCTION
Calp is an international significance tourist destination. In fact, it is considered, the third

most popular destination (behind Benidorm and Alicante) in Costa Blanca [1]. However,
its old city, despite its potential, went into an evident, commercial and demographic
decline. This area has been tried to be revitalized through different actions, but till now,
they haven't worked as expected.
This work, proposed by Peñín Arquitectos, with the collaboration of different professors
and researchers of Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, proposes an urban planning action
focused on the rehabilitation of this urban space. Doing that on the basis that it belongs
to a great importance tourist destination, and therefore, any proposal must find its place
in this context.
In this regard, economic papers in general, and tourism analysis in particular, are recently
using the concept "tourism cluster". This concept implies significant changes in
understanding tourist destinations and, fundamentally, economic and social relationships
between different agents interacting in them. That is why, a specific urban planning model
is proposed for a mature tourist destination as Calp. With urban planning actions but also
economic and social revitalization actions. Always searching economic, social and
49
environmental sustainability, looking for a new tourism model, towards to which must
necessarily advance the traditional sun and beach destinations.
In this introductory paragraph we have proposed the objective we want to achieve with
our work, in a second paragraph we will develop the "tourism cluster" concept and relate
it to the new tourism emerging model; in a third one, we will make our proposals and
finally, main conclusions of the work will be drawn in the fourth paragraph.
2 “TOURIST CLUSTER” AND CONSOLIDATED TOURISM DESTINATIONS
Spain is a leading country in terms of tourism, in great measure thanks to the so-called
mass tourism destinations [2], [3]. However, tourism is in a period of changes [4], which
are especially significant in the traditional tourism model [5].
Those sun and beach destinations are characterized by offering a standardized product,
controlled by big tour operators, in fact some authors have compared them with Fordism
production models [6]. According to the tourist destinations life cycle theory [7] they
could be considered paradigmatic mature destinations belonging to a second generation
tourism, considered by most of the authors unsustainable and in decline [8]. Nowadays
we find a well-informed tourist who consumes and exchanges information on the internet,
blogs, social networks...and therefore looks for a competitive prize and a high quality
product. This product is not anymore the closed offer of hotel and beach booked in a
travel agency. New technologies allow an increasing number of people designing their
own custom-made trip, and they do so looking for new, attractive and unique sensations.
Feelings that can be related to gastronomy, shopping or culture.
In this context, traditional tourist destinations are making great efforts to reposition and
diversify themselves [9,10]. In recent years’ different works have appeared analyzing
repositioning in destinations as Costa Blanca [11], Balearic Islands [12] or the Canarian
Islands [13]. These analyses stress that the strategy has to take into account a promotional
effort [14] but also increasing the quality of the tourist offer. The tourist satisfaction is
becoming less and less dependent on traditional factors such as good weather or beaches
quality [15] because the client is becoming increasingly sophisticated and places greater
emphasis on environmental care and quality [16], [17], as well as local and socio-
economic factors [18].
In the current context, great part of the competitive and reaction capacity of these tourist
mass destinations come from their capacity to behave as real tourism clusters. That is to
say, to take advantage of the clustering of businesses and institutions related to tourism,
and their capacity to create specialized products or services and to offer skilled labour,
infrastructures and services adapted to the requirements of tourism, generating
externalities in a synergistic manner [19], [20]. Adaptation capacity of a tourist
destination, depends on creativity and interaction of different local agents [21] as well as
the geographical externalities produced [22]. Ultimately, it depends on utilization of
agglomeration economies produced by tourism clusters that allow them to compete
globally acting locally [23].
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3 PROPOSAL
The overall aim proposed:" Integration of Calp Old Town in Calp's tourism cluster", has
been resolved in four specific objectives, the so-called core ideas are as follows:
 Visualize and single out OT (Old Town)

 Energize urban life and employment in the OT
 Improve public space and housing quality in the OT
 Attracting cultural tourism, consolidating it in favor of the whole city.
In order to meet these objectives, we propose 4 plans, 12 programs and 48 specific

actions. The plans are as follows:
PLAN 1- ECONOMIC DINAMIZATION OF CALP OLD TOWN
This plan groups the economical actions trying to generate activity, employment and
entrepreneurship. It's composed by 4 programs:
Program 1: An active and entrepreneur Old Town.

Program 2: Image and promotion.
Program 3: Gastronomic tourism.
Program 4: Tourism of feelings.
This plan and 4 programs find concrete form in 27 actions related directly with two core
ideas: Core idea 2: Energize urban life and employment in the OT, and 4: Attracting
cultural tourism, consolidating it in favor of the hole Calp.
PLAN 2- SOCIAL AND CULTURAL REVITALIZATION IN CALP OLD TOWN
This plan groups social and cultural actions even though it also contains social and
economic revitalization crossed contents, as well as commitment by energetic and
sustainability improvements. It consists in three programs:
Program 1: A modern and quality residential area.

Program 2: A neighbourhood with its own cultural activity.
Program 3: Well managed and participatory neighbourhood.
This plan and three programs are developed by 48 actions. Which are directly related to
core ideas 1: Visualize and single out OT (Old Town) and 2: Energize urban life and
employment in the OT.
PLAN 3- URBAN REDEVELOPMENT, REGENERATION AND RENOVATION IN

CALP OLD TOWN
This plan is in line with de new Spanish Law: " Urban Redevelopment, Regeneration and
Renovation 8/2013", and is far away from the usual contents for traditional edification or
protection urban plans. This plan is focused on public space and on improving living
conditions and comfort in edification and open public spaces, for the benefit of its
residents. It counts with 3 programs:
51
Program 1: An ancient, not old town, alive, pleasant and singular.
Program 2: Seeing and being seen. a memorable urban landscape.
Program 3: An open and accessible Old Town.
This plan with the tree programs are developed by 12 actions. Its directly related to core
ideas 1 and 3.
1. "Visualize and single out OT (Old Town)."

3. "Improve public space and housing quality in the OT."
PLAN 4- IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL

SUSTAINABILITY IN THE OLD TOWN
This plan would group all the actions proposed with the aim to make the Old Town an
advanced technological area and an energy efficiency referent. It has two programs.
Program 1.: A sustainable and technologically advanced neighbourhood.

Program 2: A committed municipality to sustainability.
This plan with the two programs are developed by 6 actions. Its directly related to core
idea 3 "Improve public space and housing quality in the OT."
4 CONCLUSIONS
Without going into detail concerning specific actions that make up the proposal for the
urban regeneration of Calp Old town, in this work we wanted to show an urban planning
proposal based on the tourism cluster concept.
A tourist destination is much more than a physical location. A destination is made up of

its people, companies and associations, as well as its natural, gastronomic, social or
cultural heritage. All of these things have to be strengthened, enhanced and maintained
especially ensuring sustainable development. That's why we have produced an urban
planning proposal, not only based on architectural or urban aspects, but multidisciplinary,
with specific plans based on economic, social, and cultural revitalization. As well as a
plan to improve energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, together with the
urban redevelopment, regeneration and renovation.
This proposal has been adapted to the Urban Redevelopment, Regeneration and
Renovation 8/2013 Law, known as the 3R Law, which has been recently passed by the
Cortes Generales, in the 26th of June.
Its object, first of all, is to offer a legal framework, that makes possible urban
redevelopment, regeneration and renovation both individually for housing and
collectively for sets of several buildings.
This law acknowledges the low percentage o redevelopment in Spain (in Europe is around
41%, in Spain 28%) and creates new intervention mechanisms, both public and private.
52
All the actions proposed comprise the common economic, social, cultural and
environmental objectives, that is to say, sustainability, meeting the factors of the
sustainable development at international level: The Triple Bottom Line.
We propose an improvement in the quality of the relation spaces, to benefit the city
inhabitant, worker or visitor, following Jan Gehl's proposal "Places For People" [24]
implemented with great success in European cities as Copenhagen or Barcelona. The
main idea is to broaden this concept to sun and beach touristic destinations, using new
economic approaches as "tourism cluster".
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54
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND HIGH-
SPEED RAILWAY IN ANDALUSIA
Sánchez-Ollero, J.L.
University of Malaga, Department of Applied Economics, Spain
García-Pozo, A.
University of Malaga, Department of Applied Economics, Spain
Del Cubo-Arroyo, E.
University of Malaga, IAC, Spain
ABSTRACT
Many researchers have questioned the vast investments in high-speed railway in Spain
(over 40,000 million Euros from public funds in the last twenty years) its high
maintenance costs and its supposed benefits in terms of territorial and social cohesion and
its indirect effects on the development of some economic sectors. Based on the available
data and experience with high-speed lines already in service, this paper analyses the
validity of the arguments for and against the HSR in Andalusia (southern Spain) and its
alleged positive effects on tourism, an economic sector which is key for this region. Our
findings do not support the claims of the Spanish authorities regarding the benefits
derived from the HSR.
Keywords: High-speed Railway, Regional Development, Tourism.
1 INTRODUCTION
The first high-speed railway (HSR) that operated in Spain was launched in 1992, with
Andalusia as the destination (Madrid-Cordoba-Seville); in December 2007, another line
(Córdoba-Antequera-Malaga) was completed in the region. Both lines form what is
known as the “Southern route”. Two further routes, the Seville-Antequera-Malaga line
and the called Transversal Axis (linking Seville-Malaga-Granada-Almeria and having
several branch lines running from Seville to Cadiz, the port of Algeciras and Huelva)
were planned, but budget difficulties due to the economic crisis delay their completion
and finally both lines were abandoned. At the moment, the political capital of Andalusia,
Seville, and the economic and tourist capital of the region, Malaga, are linked via Cordoba
using AVANT trains, which run on high-speed rails.
From both a political and social standpoint, the Spanish HSR (known as AVE) has been
heavily promoted and its potential to develop the productive output of the region and
become a key element for territorial cohesion in Spain has been emphasised. In addition,
we have been informed that its implementation would place Spanish companies at the
forefront of world railway technology. However, rigorous studies do not support these
opinions, stressing dissonance between the high investment costs involved and the need
55
for or usefulness of the project. These studies highlight the following points: 1) in most
cases, no previous cost-benefit analysis has been carried out; 2) the operating lines have
low occupancy rates; 3) the reduction in travelling times over other modes of transport is
not sufficiently attractive to potential users; 4) its impact on the economic development
of the region has not been made sufficiently clear; 5) the net environmental impact cost
may be poor or even bad if emission costs during construction are taken into account; 6)
the strategic objective of territorial cohesion and equal access to infrastructures in many
cases is questionable; and finally 7) the model of construction chosen is the most
expensive — because it involves constructing a network separate from the conventional
railway, is the least productive — because it leaves out freight transport, and has the least
carry-over effect on the economy — because it mainly uses foreign technology, thus
generating more employment and technological innovation in other countries.
The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of conflicting claims regarding the
HSR in Andalusia. This region represents a special case within Spain, not only because
of its large size and population, but because it was the first region linked to Madrid via
the HSR (Madrid-Seville line). Bearing in mind the importance of tourism to Andalusia,
and within this sector, the growing relevance of the environmental impact on
competitiveness, our study focuses on the effect of the HSR on these two variables.
The paper is organized as follows. The next section describes the theoretical framework
and state of arts; in section 3 outlines some issues regarding the investments and economic
profitability of the HSR in Andalusia. Section 4 discusses the factors that may have a
greater impact on the tourism sector in Andalusia. The final section includes the
conclusions drawn from the study.
2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND STATE OF ARTS
Numerous academic studies have attempted to verify whether public infrastructures can
be understood as a productive factor, and if so, whether their effects on the productive
economy can be quantified. In Spain, such studies have revealed four issues: 1) regardless
of the methodological approach used in the study, the macroeconomic impact of investing
in infrastructures is greater in Spain than in neighbouring countries; 2) nevertheless, there
is no agreement on the magnitude of the impact, given the extreme diversity of the results;
3) regional analyses show that the greatest, and strictly economic, returns from public
infrastructures occur in those regions with a higher level of productive private capital;
and 4) the most recent studies report that such positive effects show a downward trend
over time.
56
Table 1 Studies highlighted and classified according to their main approach
Main approach Authors
Martin [1]; Sichelschmidt [2]; Van Exel et al. [3]; Short
General economic evaluation and Kopp [4]; Laird et al. [5]; Givoni [6]; Albalate and Bel
[7]; RACC, 2012.
De Rus and Inglada [8]; Levinson et al. [9]; Marti-
Economic profitability of specific
Henneberg [10]; De Rus and Roman [11]; Sánchez-Ollero
railways
et al. [12].
Bonnafous [13]; Vickerman [14]; Haynes [15]; Gutiérrez
Analysis of regional and spatial effects
[16]; Bellet et al. [17].
Social returns Nash [18]; De Rus and Nombela [19].
Froidh [20]; Gutiérrez et al. [21]; Martín and Nombela
Studies on accessibility and mobility
[22]; Martin et al. [23].
Competition analysis between the Combes and Linnemer [24]; Gonzalez-Savignat [25-26];
different means of transport Givoni [27]; Román [28].
Environmental impact of railway
Van Wee et al. [29]; Kato et al. [30]; Kageson, [31].
activities
Source: Authors
The issue of investment in the HSR has been studied in depth by many researchers. The
impact of investment in high-speed trains can be analyzed from different perspectives,
thereby determining the nature of the studies and their results (see Table 1). The main
opinion voiced in empirical studies regarding the basis for the decisions to invest in high-
speed trains rather than in other modes of transport, and in some lines rather than in others,
leaves no doubt that political reasons have prevailed and that priorities have been set
leaving aside considerations of benefits and profitability. This conclusion was already
drawn by De Rus and Inglada [8] for the HSR line in Spain (Madrid-Seville), and many
authors have continued to demonstrate the inaccuracy and overestimation of the positive
impact officially reported for these infrastructures [11], [29], [32], [33], [7].
3 INVESTMENTS AND ECONOMIC PROFITABILITY OF THE HSR IN

ANDALUSIA
The investment in the HSR for the whole of Spain is substantial: over 40,000 million
Euros in the last 20 years. As result, currently over 2,000 km of HSRs lines are in service
and over 2,400 km are under construction (RACC, 2012). In the 2012 Spanish National
Budget, despite the economic crisis, the investment has been 4,187 million Euros. The
2013 Spanish National Budget was planned 3,308 million Euros more, which 7.58% is
invested in Andalusia, and 4,600 million Euros more will be invested in 2014 and 2015.
At present, the Southern routes are in full operation. The cost per km built was around 9
million Euros in the line Madrid-Seville and 13.5 million Euros in the line Madrid-Malaga
[12]. These figures match the estimates of Campos et al. [32], who calculated that the cost
per km of the HSR built in Spain was between 7.8 million and 20 million Euros.
The far from negligible cost of yearly maintenance to ensure the proper functioning of
the service must be added to this figure. Whereas Campos et al. [32] estimated that the
cost of maintaining the infrastructure was, on average, 33,457 Euros per kilometre of
single track (2002 values); the former Minister of Public Infrastructures, Mr. Blanco,
57
estimated the cost at 100,000 Euros per kilometre per year, and 200,000 Euros per
kilometre per year for tunnel maintenance (El País, 2014/04/10).
In the light of these figures, it seems obvious that the HSR is a priority in the local
government's transport policy and also in that of the current and previous central
governments, despite their being on the different side of the political spectrum. However,
it seems reasonable to raise some doubts regarding their decisions. Although the objective
data provided cannot be questioned, additional data is required to estimate more than just
the benefits and to be able to include the environmental and financial costs of creating
and maintaining this infrastructure. In other words, if the expected social benefits
outweigh the social costs the investment is good, but if the costs outweigh the benefits it
would be better to invest public funds in other projects [34].
Table 2 HSR Passengers by main routes in Spain (2007-2013). Data per thousands
of travelers
PERIOD TOTAL NORTHEAST SOUTH MEDITERRANEAN NORTH CROSS
2007 18,892 3,170 5,482 5,520 2,430 2,290
2008 23,256 5,620 6,628 5,467 3,659 1,882
2009 23,098 5,651 6,228 5,209 3,735 2,275
2010 22,194 5,421 5,892 4,992 3,604 2,285
2011 22,832 5,199 5,853 6,055 3,302 2,423
2012 22,349 5,143 5,559 5,845 3,192 2,610
(1)
2013 25,596 4,723(2) (1)
2,290 2,310
Note: (1) Data cannot be directly compared before and after December 2012 because the
passengers between different brokers are distributed differently: the passengers of the
Mediterranean Corridor and from the lines Madrid-Navarra and Madrid-Logroño
(formerly North) are attributed from that date in the Northeast Corridor. (2) Only HSR
passengers Madrid-Seville and Madrid-Malaga are included
Source: Ministerio de Fomento (Government of Spain) and www.ferropedia.es
In this sense, the European Commission [35] established that an HSR with a passenger
load less than 9 million passengers per year could be justified only under special
circumstances. De Rus and Nombela [19] estimated a similar figure for lines of 500 km.
Under this criterion, no one of the HSRs routes in Spain might be profitable (see Table
2).
In Andalusia (see Table 5) the Madrid-Seville line reached a peak of 3.6 million
passengers in 2006 and then declined; the Madrid-Malaga did not reach 2 million
passengers in 2012 (see Table 3). Both lines are the Southern route in Table 2. In addition,
the forecasts for the future Seville-Malaga HSR line are 2.5 million passengers for the
first year.
De Rus and Inglada [8] point out that p. 28 "the fundamental problem of high-speed
railways in low-density traffic networks is their total cost: very high and insensitive to the
volume of demand (...) in this way, population density largely determines the average cost
per passenger”. However, the Spanish HSR line that leads more passengers per km is
Madrid-Seville with 14,000 passengers per km; compared, Cologne-Frankfurt line
transports 51,000; Paris-Lyon, 59,000 and Tokyo-Osaka, 235,000. This Japanese line
58
transported in 2011 more travellers that all the Spanish lines together. Obviously, it is
impossible to justify the economic viability of high-speed trains in Spain, except in very
specific cases.
Table 3 and Table 4 shows the evolution of passengers by HSR and plane respectively in
the period 2005-2012 in Andalusia. Due to economic crisis, the number of travellers
decreased in both transports in 2009 and 2010. However, in 2011 and 2012 traffic at
Andalusian airports increases but travellers on HSR trains continue to decrease.
4 THE HIGH- SPEED RAIL AND TOURISM IN ANDALUSIA
Tourism is a key sector in Andalusia. In the case of tourism, there are two contrasting
factors that could strongly influence the impact of the HSR on this sector. On the one
hand, increased mobility would potentially allow a greater influx of tourists; on the other
hand, although this increase would foster more travelling, there would be fewer overnight
stays in a particular destination [13], and so its influence on tourist spending, which is at
the heart of true profitability, is not a priori positive or negative.
When obtaining estimations for HSRs, there has been a tendency to associate the number
of visitors (passengers) with the success or failure of the infrastructure. However, for an
optimal assessment of the impact of the HSR on tourism, other important variables should
be taken into account. Firstly, how many tourists would not have gone to a given
destination had the HSR not existed? Secondly, does visitor spending justify the returns
on investment? As a previous step, we need to know what kind of tourist visit the
destination and what is their normal means of transport.
Table 3 Evolution of passenger traffic by HSR in Andalusia 2005-2013. Data per

thousands of travellers.
Line/year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
AVE Madrid-Seville 3,677 3,571 3,408 3,200 3,002 2,900 2,574 2,791
AVE Madrid-Malaga 2,017 1,939 1,795 1,770 1,661 1,939
% variation
AVE Madrid-Seville 3,677 3,571 3,408 -6.1 -6.2 -3.4 -11.2 8.43
AVE Madrid-Malaga 2,017 -3.9 -7.4 -1.4 -6.2 16.74
Source: Authors using data collected from RENFE (the Spanish national railway
company)
Table 4 Evolution of passenger traffic by plane in airports of Andalusia 2005-2013.

Data per thousands of travellers and percentage of yearly variation
Nº 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Malaga 13,013 13,544 12,753 11,571 11,996 12,823 12,582 12,922
Seville 3,840 4,480 4,366 4,038 4,212 4,959 4,292 3,687
% variation
Malaga 10.16 4.08 -5.84 -9.27 3.67 6.89 -1,88 2.7
Seville 10.47 16.67 -2.54 -7.51 4.31 17.74 -13,45 -14.1
Source: Authors using data collected from INE (the Spanish National Institute of
statistics) and AENA (the Spanish airports management company)
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Despite economic crisis, these data suggest the existence of others reasons that justify the
tourist´s behaviour when decides the mode of transport between the plane and the train.
Four reasons have been considered for justifying the low rate of use of HSRs lines in
Spain: 1) RENFE sell tickets in just two months in advance but tourists can buy plane
tickets throughout the year. With this commercial policy, neither travel agencies nor
consumers may include the train in the vacation planning, that it is usually done in
advance looking for lowest prices. 2) RENFE has been using an obsolete pricing scheme
that takes no account the modern methods for online sales –like yield management- 3)
RENFE has its own sales network and its remains separate from the modern Global
Distribution System like AMADEUS so it doesn´t has access to the international market
and 4) RENFE doesn´t has train stations into the airports. The set of all these measures
prevent company the access to 60 million foreign tourists that visit Spain yearly.
Table 5 presents some striking figures related to the objectives of our study. Seville and
Malaga are the largest cities in Andalusia and are connected via the HSR to Madrid, the
Spanish capital. Sánchez-Ollero et al. [12] points out that the HSR does not influence
foreign tourism but may promote domestic tourism and in the sun and beach tourism that
predominates in Andalusia, travel time is a cost that has to be reduced. This observation
is linked to the concept of generalised transport costs, i.e., the cost of transportation must
be computed not only in terms of fares and time, but also in terms of waiting times and
access to each mode of transport. The conclusions of large body of literature on the
subject are that railway transport is probably the most competitive over medium distances
(300 km to 600 km), the car is the best mode of transport over short distances (due to the
fares involved in other forms of transport), and flying is the best alternative over long
distances, mainly due of time-saving.
Table 5 Estimated generalised costs of transport1 in Andalusia (in Euros)

2012 2013
Line/Generalized
Plane Car2 HSR Plane Car HSR
cost
Madrid-Cordoba 49,2 104,1 49,2 97,8
Madrid-Seville 234,6 92,5 128,2 139,6 92,5 120,4
Madrid-Malaga 181,2 92,4 135,3 142,2 92,4 127,1
Seville-Malaga3 38,3 77,0 38,3 81,2
Seville-Cordoba 29,5 52,2 29,5 49,1
Malaga-Cordoba 34,0 66,0 34,0 61,8
1
Generalised costs have been calculated based on De Rus and Inglada's (1993) estimates
of the cost of a journey per hour and updated and converted into Euros. The estimated
access times were as follows: plane, 115 minutes; car, 15 minutes; conventional train, 45
minutes; HSR, 30 minutes.
2
Based on 1 passenger per car, and petrol and motorway tolls as the only costs.
3
This line does not use the HST, but AVANT trains on high-speed tracks.
Source: Authors
At this moment, the high-speed lines in service from and to Andalusia are medium or
short distance. As shown in Table 5, the generalized transport costs estimated for the HSR
in Andalusia in 2012 did not make it sufficiently attractive for travellers to abandon other
forms of transport, since in all cases, the generalized costs of travelling by the HSR are
higher. In fact, conventional trains were more competitive than cars on domestic routes
60
within Andalusia (Seville-Cordoba, Seville-Malaga, and Malaga-Cordoba) in 2012. In
this sense, many authors -Bellet et al. [17]; Vickerman [14] and others-, have argued in
favour of improving the conventional railway network rather than investing in new lines
for the HSR. However, the response of RENFE to this situation has been suppressing the
conventional lines that competed with the HSR.
The HSR Southern route comprise two middle-distance routes that should attract some
tourism from central Spain. However, the situation of Seville and Malaga - the two major
cities- is very different. Malaga mainly hosts foreign tourism, whereas domestic tourism
predominates in Seville. The HSR has been operating in Malaga for only 5 years and in
Seville for over 20 years. The number of tourists arriving by car is similar in both
provinces. Access to Malaga by plane is mainly by foreign tourists -22% of passengers
were from domestic flights and 78% from international flights- whereas the majority of
flights to Seville airport are mainly domestic -69% of travellers were domestic and 31%
international-. Consequently, the potential for growth of the HSR as a mode of transport
should be greater in Seville than in Malaga.
Nevertheless, although the Madrid-Seville line absorbed most of the air traffic between
the two cities when it began to operate, in recent years its share rate in tourist transport
has decreased, whereas the share rate of other forms of transport has increased. Regarding
the Madrid-Malaga line, the predominantly foreign source of tourism in Malaga explains
the decline in occupancy after the initial promotional price period ended. This decline is
in contrast to the sharp increase in cruise tourism and airport transits and contradicts the
optimistic expectations expressed at that time and which are still defended by current
officials.
The contribution of the HRS to the development of tourism in Andalusia does not seem
to be relevant, at least regarding the lines currently in operation. This situation has become
further complicated by the launching of the Madrid-Valencia line, which is directly
competing with Malaga for domestic tourists from central Spain looking for sun and
beach destinations.
4.1 A new scenario

Nevertheless, in terms of using and profitability of the HSR, the situation changed in
February 2013. From this date, the railroad operator is applying a new prices policy that
includes reduction in prices by 11% and offering discounts up to 70%, with promotions
that allow travel from Seville to Madrid for 22.65 Euros and by only one euro more,
€23.8, between Malaga and Madrid, and if the start is in Cordoba €18.65. The average
price per passenger in HSR in Spain has dropped 27.5% since 2012. Currently, RENFE
has adopted revenue management techniques, is selling tickets by GDS operators,
opening new long-distance lines and introducing new combined tickets train-bus and
train-train and has announced new services, right now partially implemented: a door-to-
door baggage service, a new loyalty card, a "silent cabin" system, WIFI in all trains and
some charter trains.
As result of its new operational plan, the number of HSR passengers increased on average
by 23.47% in all Spain, the incomes by 7% and the rate of trains occupation by 12,3%.
Almost 45% of all tickets are sold by internet. According to RENFE's data and regarding
to Andalusia, in little more than a year, between January 2012 and April 2014, the flights
61
from Andalusia that match the HSR have lost 694,033 passengers, while the train have
won 877,300. The gap between the two means of transport has been enlarged in one and
half million people in just 28 months, and has already reached 5.5 million passengers.
The HSR passengers increased by 8.43% in 2013 in the line Madrid-Seville (comparing
to 2012) and by 16.74% in the line Madrid-Malaga. Consequently, with our comments
above, the number of passengers in the airport of Seville is being reducing (over 14%
from 2013) and now 90% of all passengers’ transport between these cities is by plane, but
in the case of Malaga the passengers by plane still increasing (2.7% in 2013).
The analysis of the generalized cost of transport (see Table 5) shows that in 2013 the gap
between the means of transports in terms of this indicator has been reduced, in particular
comparing train with plane. However, the higher reduction of cost has occurred in flight
due to the fast growth of the low cost carriers (LCC) replacing the conventional
companies. In the case of Seville, the line Madrid-Seville by plane was operated only by
Iberia and now it has been replaced by Iberia Express, the LCC subsidiary company of
Iberia; in the airport of Malaga, many LCC companies offer the line to Madrid.
Obviously, the carrier companies have reacted to the aggressive strategy of RENFE and
implemented its own strategies to counteract it. Unfortunately, the short time elapsed
since its implementation make impossible to obtain data for analysing. This could be a
goal for further research.
5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
As of summer 2014, the Spanish high-speed rail network is the largest in Europe and the
second in the world after China. However, the number of passengers transported is very
low, equivalent to little more than 5% of the number of passengers using this mode of
transport in Japan or 15% in France, the two countries with a network similar to that of
Spain. In 2012, 22.4 million passengers were transported by the long-distance services
provided by RENFE; this figure includes passengers transported by HSR. In comparison,
the Paris-Lyon line carries about 25 million passengers in a normal year.
The lack of economic returns on the current network has not created an obstacle to the
development of the HSR despite the crisis. Development continues on the grounds of
social benefits in terms of both territorial cohesion and environmental impact and its
influence on the development of other economic sectors, particularly tourism.
The results of an initial analysis of the purported benefits for Andalusia differ
significantly from the opinion of the Spanish authorities, given that the social cost-benefit
balance is unfavourable regarding this public infrastructure. In fact, in comparative terms,
the implementation of an HSR network yields results that are ambivalent and
contradictory in relation to all the variables considered.
Despite blaming the decline in the number of travellers on the economic crisis, the
percentage of passengers carried by the HSR has decreased till 2012 while the number of
passengers using other modes of transport has increased. On one hand, the obsolete
commercial system using by RENFE and, on the other hand, the generalised transport
cost analysis partly explains this decline. The type of tourism in Andalusia also accounts
for the results, i.e. domestic tourism in Seville (where the Madrid-Seville HSR line seems
62
to have reached a ceiling on market share), compared to mainly foreign tourism in
Malaga.
After the new strategy of RENFE adopted in February 2013, the results of HSR became
better. However, the reaction of the carrier companies implemented strategies for
counteracting and the short time elapsed since its implementation do not allow us to
analyse properly the new situation but right now the contribution of the AVE to the
development of tourism in Andalusia is even more dubious. This is a topic for future
research.
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65
Sustainable tourism and management of
national parks in Spain: unfinished business
Prieto-Ballester, J.M.
University of Extremadura, Department of Financial Economy and Accounting, Spain
Pérez-Calderón, E.
ABSTRACT
Spanish tourism keeps being a worldwide attractive activity and an important factor of
creating wealth and employment.
Nature-based tourism, specifically tourism in national parks, is becoming an important

attraction among the different types of touristic markets outside the traditional “sun and
beach” tourism destinations.
This paper offers an analysis of the current legislation and the opportunities of sustainable
tourist development in Spanish national parks. The results of this research may be a
reference for the institutions to design strategic plans for sustainability. These plans
would ensure the protection of the natural environment as well as economic exploitation
of the parks.
1 INTRODUCTION
According to the Wold Tourism Organization, 9% of global gross domestic product

(GDP) comes from direct actions by the tourism sector, generating 9.1% of global work.
It is estimated that 11 indirect jobs are created for every direct job. In Tourism Towards
2030, it is forecast that there will be an increase in the number of tourists until the figure
of 1,800 million is reached, with annual growth rates of over 2% being maintained [1].
Similarly, the importance of the tourism business in Spain has grown in recent years, in
2013 reaching 10.9% of GDP, providing direct employment to 1.9 million people, and
reaching an income of €60,400 million from international travellers and nearly €130,000
million altogether, with over 60 million international visitors, only exceeded by the USA
and France. Furthermore, it is estimated that about 140 million tourism visits in Spain are
made by domestic tourists [2].
Spanish natural spaces, at all levels of protection, receive at least 21 million visitors.
According to the latest data provided by the National Parks Network, 4.4% of all tourist
visitors visited a national park (NP) in 2011[3].
66
Spain has 15 NPs, 149 natural parks, 291 natural reserves, 328 natural monuments, 53
protected landscapes and 1 protected marine area, up to a total of 1,905 protecting natural
spaces, accounting for 12.9% of the land surface and occupying over seven million
hectares. Of all these protected areas, the fourteen NPs plus the marine area occupy a total
of 380,934 hectares, only 15,988 of which are marine. It is estimated that the socio-
economic area of influence of NPs is equivalent to 1.5 million hectares [3].
All this shows the touristic importance and impact of different kinds of protected areas,
especially the star protected areas, the NPs.
2 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR NATIONAL PARKS IN SPAIN
A key point of the regulations and legislation on NP management is the National Park
Network Master Plan (RD 1803/1999), as well as the Use and Management Guideline
Plans (UMGP) and Natural Resource Organisation Plans (NROP), included in the Master
Plan, as well as the regulations established in the areas belonging to the NATURA 2000
NETWORK (N2000N).
The N2000N, regulated by Council Directive 92/43, also establishes a level of protection
which includes Special Protection Areas for birds and Sites of Community Importance
which can become Special Areas of Conservation. This classification within the N2000N
also requires management plans.
This welter of frequently overlapping legislation was ended by approval of the NP Act,
which seeks better coordination between the entities and administrations with
competences in this matter, also creating the “National Parks of Spain” brand as a
common quality identifier for these protected spaces.
The National Parks Law 30/2014 stipulates that their management corresponds to the
autonomous regions, but establishes consultative and coordinating bodies such as national
park boards, Consultative and Coordinating Committee, coordinating commissioners, the
Board of the National NP Network and scientific committees, not forgetting the
Autonomous NP Organisation created in 1995 by transformation of the old ICONA into
the entity with overall charge of this coordination.
The key document in understanding of NP management is the National Park Network

Master Plan (RD 1803/1999). This steering plan gives maximum priority to natural
conservation of the parks over everything else. It is stated in the document’s objective
like this: “The National Parks are a valuable contribution to the conservation of nature,
founded on a reciprocal commitment between society and the state to make these
territories into places which, beginning with their conservation for future generations,
are at the service of everyone,” so the legislator’s intention is to “set up a network
orientated towards establishing a conservationist management model.”
Minimum guidelines to guarantee conservation of natural spaces are laid down in this
plan, and different levels of protection inside NPs are established. They are:
- Reserve area.
- Restricted use area.
67
- Moderate use area.
- Special use area.
- Traditional settlement area (only where required).
Use of all these areas is significantly restricted, access being limited to scientific purposes
requiring prior authorisation for access by visitors and vehicles. Only special use areas
are openly dedicated to the reception of visitors, being places consisting of small areas,
with reception of visitors even being encouraged outside the boundaries of the NP. The
public use objective must be orientated towards visitors’ enjoyment based on the values
of the park, in a manner compatible with its conservation, priority being given to walking
and contemplative activities.
In all circumstances, non-traditional exploitation and extraction, hunting, fishing or

settlements are, in general, incompatible with the national park classification.
Furthermore, the master plan prohibits human settlements except in properly justified
exceptional cases, and stipulates that the NP must be surrounded by an exterior territory
which can be declared peripheral protection.
Apart from the master plan, the main planning instruments for management of NPs are
the UMGPs (Law 4/1989) and NROPs (Law 42/2007). In the case of NPs, both planning
elements must follow the guidelines laid down by the master plan, so their contributions
are, if anything, even more protectionist than the master plan itself.
66% of NPs and 84% of natural parks have a NROP. 73% of NPs and 52% of natural
parks have a PRUG. According to Europarc [3], PRUGs have a fairly general focus, with
objectives aimed at conservation of cultural and natural values, encouraging
environmental education and voluntary work, as well as promotion of conservation
research.
One of the aims of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism [4] is to encourage
awareness of and support for Europe’s protected areas, which represent a fundamental
part of its heritage and should be conserved so that present and future generations can
enjoy these spaces as well as improving sustainable development and management of
tourism in protected spaces, taking into account the needs of the environment, local
residents, businesses and visitors. In this document, it is established that managing bodies
of protected spaces should not work on tourism management and development in
isolation, but in collaboration with everyone involved in tourist activity.
This declaration has three working parts. The first is related with the commitment of
natural spaces to comply with it, the second involves businesses which carry out their
activity in protected areas, and the third, though key to tourist exploitation of protected
areas, is still in the development stage, seeking the participation of tour operators in the
tourist development of protected areas with the aim of their commitment to the
environment producing returns. The charter’s approach is a consequence of the need to
involve different interest groups as a key element in the construction of an active tourism
management and planning model for any destination [5].
At the moment, only five NPs are recognised by the European Charter for Sustainable
Tourism, a symptom of how little tourism management of NPs has been developed [6].
68
In short, the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism is intended to define a medium-
term tourism strategy based on protection and promotion of natural and cultural heritage,
offering visitors a high-quality experience, encouraging public awareness, promoting
specific tourism products, protecting the quality of life of the local population, with
educational activities about natural spaces with the aim of seeking economic and social
development of areas, although without forgetting the control of visitor numbers to these
protected areas.
3 NATIONAL PARKS MANAGEMENT MODELS
At the V World Parks Congress [7], it was highlighted that self-financing of protected
areas in the world in 2003 only provided 20% of management costs, obliging countries
to make up the financial requirements to sustain them.
In developing countries, there is a trend towards budget reduction, obliging national level
protected area systems to assume revenue generation roles for which they are unprepared
in terms of infrastructure and management and administrative structures [8].
This trend is also seen in Spain. The data provided by Europarc [3] show that in both NPs
and natural parks, investment has been significantly reduced in recent times. Investment
in NPs in 2012 was 91 €/ha compared with 248 in 2010 or €310 in 2007, while in natural
parks it was 19 €/ha compared with €26 in 2010. The number of people employed in 2012
was 1,400 (and lower figure than 2010 when over 2,300 people were employed and much
lower than the estimated 4,000 people in 2005. Approximately 40% of these jobs
corresponded to maintenance work and 24% to attending to the public. The budget of the
Estrella Programme, for exceptional and one-off investments in NPs, has been reduced
by over 50% since 2004. So the need for revenue to be obtained by means other than the
public purse, as is already happening in other protected areas of the world, is evident [9].
The International Union for Nature Conservation (IUNC) gives a framework of possible
management models, basically beginning with four important types [10]: by governments
or national authorities; shared (various bodies and people with rights); by private bodies
and organisations; or by local communities. Management by governments is the most
widespread, its drawbacks from the management point of view including problems with
setting market prices, as well as lack of control of efficiency or popularity and a public
budget assignment not related with the results obtained [9].
Private management is a formula in decline, as priority areas continue to be incorporated

in public ownership [9]. The present trend is for the creation of parastatal entities or mixed
management enabling a series of activities and investments to be made which would not
be possible with pure public management, leading to an approach to private companies,
which would also help to achieve one of the aims of the ECST. For Pulido [5], tourism is
a fundamental tool for the socio-economic development of populations living in natural
parks and their areas of influence, making it necessary to assume the consequent increase
in the potential risk of negative impacts on the natural and cultural environment of these
territories, especially when caused as a result of inadequate management of their tourism
development.
69
The increasing level of tourism demand requires that the resources of these areas be
optimised and that they be provided with instruments in order to guarantee the quality of
visits, both in terms of visitor satisfaction, and of conservation of resources, without
forgetting that this conservation is the main element of tourist attraction for visitors. It is
perfectly possible to extrapolate these declarations by the author on the national parks of
Andalusia to the National Parks Network, even though their level of protection is
substantially greater.
Table 1 Main activities offered by the national parks in Spain
I. atlánticas
Timanfaya
Cabañeros
Garajonay
P. Europa
Daimiel
Maurici
Cabrera
Doñana
Caldera
Nevada
Ordesa
Sierra
Teide
Sant
Trekking and
walking x x x x x x x x x x x x
Visitor center x x x x x x x x x
Birdwatching x x x x
Photography and
filming x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Jeep tours x x x
Transit of vehicles x x x x x x x
Ski Touring x x
Cable car ride x x
Bus route x x x x
Crossing high peaks x
Mountain bike x x
River route x
Institutional visits x
Pilgrimage x
Walking horse x
Controlled camping x
Climbing x
Public/Private Boat
Tour x x
Swim x x
National park operation in other countries like the USA, Canada or Argentina establishes
a price just for the visit, and additional costs being involved if the visit is made in a private
vehicle. In the same way, camping or hotel areas are established, and as well as activities
that would be inconceivable in Spain [11]. The national parks of other countries such as
Costa Rica or South Africa have websites for booking the various activities they offer.
Activities in other national parks vary from controlled hunting and fishing, diving
activities, birdwatching or hiking, in many cases payment by the visitor to help towards
maintenance of the NPs being required for these or other services or activities
indisputably prohibited by Spanish legislation [11].
70
In Spain, commercialisation of NPs is nearly non-existent. Firstly, because of the lack of
supply, largely conditioned by legislation which has traditionally favoured the
conservation of nature to the detriment of even their slightest financial exploitation. In
some cases, small rural lodgings or camping and catering areas may be found, the most
widespread being hiking or bird spotting. Other, possibly more invasive activities are
usually offered in areas adjacent to NPs, but never inside them, all with special permits,
limited to development of their conservation or research [11]. Some variety is seen in the
main tourism activities that have been offered from NPs as a result of their intrinsically
diverse character (See Table 1).
To Pulido [7], Spain is going through a time of significant growth in demand for touristic
and recreational use of natural and national parks. The author considers that management
does not take this situation into account, at best maintaining an offer of public use out of
touch with the current touristic reality of these spaces, and creating a situation where the
opportunities sustainable tourism generates for these territories and their inhabitants are
wasted, which could be highly negative in the long term.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Natural Park management systems have the National Park Master Plan as their main point
of reference and are nearly exclusively orientated towards natural and heritage
conservation of protected areas. In no case do they include proposals for the economic
sustainability of areas other than input of public money by the administration.
A first draft of the new National Park Master Plan currently exists which clearly maintains
the same policies as its predecessor, based on protection and maintenance of NPs’ values
as the regulation’s main objective.
The third part of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism needs to be applied to
enable real sustainable exploitation of NPs with greater public-private collaboration. In
this regard, a development plan for the NP brand would be desirable, including NPs’ areas
of influence in which all kinds of activities leading to real touristic and economic
development of areas could be provided.
Spanish NPs’ websites should be a key tool to offer a range of (public-private) services
and activities with the aim of offering visitors an interesting variety of possibilities in a
homogeneous, user-friendly way.
REFERENCE LIST
[1] Wold Tourism Organization, UNWTO (2014). Tourism Highlights, 2014 Edition.
Available at http://www2.unwto.org/ [Last accessed 05.07.2015].
[2] Institute for Tourism Studies, ITSS (2014). Spanish tourist movements. Available at
www.iet.tourspain.es [Last accessed 01.07.2015].
[3] Europarc (2007). The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism. Available at
www.european-charter.org [Last accessed 05.07.2015].
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[4] Europarc (2014). Yearbook 2013 the status of protected areas in Spain. Available at
www.redeuroparc.org/anuario2013.jsp [Last accessed 05.07.2015].
[5] Pulido Fernández, J. I. (2010). Las partes interesadas en la gestión turística de los
parques naturales andaluces. Identificación de interrelaciones e intereses. Revista de
Estudios Regionales, 7585(88), 147–175.
[6] Ministry of Environment, ME (2015). National Parks Network. Available at
http://www.magrama.gob.es [Last accessed 04.07.2015].
[7] International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN (2003). Emerging Issues. V th
IUCN World Parks Congress, Durban, South Africa. Available at https://www.iucn.org/
[Last accessed 10.07.2015].
[8] Pulido Fernández, J. I. (2007). Parques Naturales Andaluces. Cuadernos de Turismo,
19, 167–188.
[9] Pulido Fernández, J. I. (2009). Modelo para la gestión turística de parques naturales.
Una propuesta para España. Papers, 45, 21–39.
[10] Borrini-Feyerabend, G.; Dudley, N.; Jaeger, T.; Lassen, B.; Pathak, N.; Phillips, A.;
& Sandwith, T. (2013). Governance of Protected Areas: From understanding to action.
Best Practice Protected Area Guideline Series No. 20.
[11] Muñoz, M., and Benayas, J. (2007). Nuevos retos y oportunidades para la
financiación de los servicios de uso público en los espacios naturales protegidos. Revista
Ecosistemas, 16(3), 125-136.
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of wild fauna and flora. Official Journal L 206, 22/07/1992, 7–50.
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04.07.2015].
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txt.php?id=BOE-A-2014-12588 [Last accessed 04.07.2015].
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72
The tourist explotation of naturals areas
observed under Law 30/2014, of december 3,
regarding national parks
Zurilla Cariñana, M.A.
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Domínguez Martínez, P.
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
ABSTRACT
The present study aims to analyze the new legal framework on the exploitation of tourism
activities in natural areas in the light of the new Spanish legislation. Thus the National
Parks Law 30/2014, which aims to establish the basic legal framework to ensure the
preservation of national parks, deals with the rights of the owners in these parks
integrating them into its self-preservation and recognizing their ability to develop
economic and commercial activities, particularly those related to public use or rural
tourism. For this, the new law provides for actions for territorial development such as
technical, economic and financial assistance in the areas of socioeconomic influence of
National Parks, undertaken by public authorities within their sphere of competence and
according to the available budget.
Keywords: natural areas, tourism, conservation.
1 INTRODUCTION
Compared to traditional tourism, the appearance on the scene of natural parks as a tourist
destination contained a serious danger. Being an unknown phenomenon, at least in such
large quantities, it was not available with the appropriate legal means to redress such
practices to an acceptable range that would avoid the damage that a "spontaneous"
unplanned use may cause. It is about balancing the conservation of protected areas with
public use in line with current trends which impose the integration of environmental
considerations into other activities according to the idea of "sustainability".
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the new legal regime for the exploitation of
tourism activities in natural areas in the light of the new legislation. Indeed, the Law
30/2014, of December 3, on National Parks, was published by the Official Gazette on
December 4 and enforced the following day. After a highly controversial parliamentary
procedure due to the exception to the prohibition of building in the parks, it was finally
approved with the vote of all opposing parties. This Act repeals the previous regulation
on this matter contained in the Law 5/2007, the replacing it without altering the essential.
73
It is meant to establish the basic legal framework to ensure the preservation of national
parks. This Act establishes a management model for the autonomous regions and
coordination of Law 5/2007, of 3 April, regarding the network of National Parks, which
it replaced without changing its essence, sharing some of its policies, updated and
strengthened, adapting to the needs demanded by society.
Apart from the exception to the prohibition of construction, the new regulation has been
criticized for affecting the conservation of these areas, and ultimately enabling the tourist
exploitation by causing confusion in its management, undermining regional powers.
However, as will be seen, it has been positive, for the purpose of promoting tourism, and
for the regulation of the equity guarantees of land owners within national parks.
2 BACKGROUND
It can be said that the purpose of recreational parks is in the very origin of the protected
natural areas. Precisely in the Dictionary of Spanish Administration [1] are defined as
"Large tracts of land dedicated to the hygiene and comfort of the race, those who are tired
and consumed by the arduous task of continuously breathing stale air in their habitat, can
tone up both physically and mentally”.
In addition, the rapidly growing number of city inhabitants determines the need to make
available larger tracts of land for recreation and therefore the obligation of the
administration to facilitate and ensure such enjoyment, "appropriate road communication
"has been considered as one of the first forms of modern administrative intervention on
tourism”.
The tourist use of protected natural spaces already appears on the first National Parks Act
of December 7, 1916 that Article 2 when the "sole purpose" referring to "promoting
access by appropriate communication channels" and "respecting and enforcing the respect
for the natural beauty of its landscapes, its rich fauna and flora and the geological and
hydrological characteristics of it, thus preventing most effectively, any act of destruction,
damage or disfigurement by the hand of man”.
Also the Law 1/1970, of April 4 Hunting (BOE no. 82, April 6, 1970) allowed the
protection of certain sites under the body of the National Hunting Reserve which involved
atracting elite and highly specialized tourism. Harmonization of the use and conservation
of hunting grounds respecting the inherent rights related to land ownership, people´s
safety and the proper protection of their property and crops were also promoted.
Law 15/1975 of Protected Natural Areas (BOE no. 107, May 5, 1975) emphasizes the
tourist value of protected areas, both in its preamble and in Article 1.4, where the tourist
purpose is expressly mentioned for the first time as one of its main aims. Of the four
figures regulated in it (parks, reserves, monuments and landscapes) parks are the ones
which offer greater possibilities from the point of view of tourism. Its objective is to
"facilitate contact between man and nature" (Article 5).
74
In similar vein it is evident from the V Programme on Environment Council resolution of
February 1, 1993 and the Act of March 27, 1989 Conservation of Natural Areas and Wild
Flora and Fauna (BOE no. 74 of March 28, 1989).
In short, of the four contemplated protective figures therein, the parks remain as those
which offer the most tourist possibilities merging the three classic goals pursued with the
protection of natural areas:
-Conservation
-Tourism purpose and
-Socioeconomic development.
That is why tourism development can not be realized just any way, but so that all three
purposes are compatible.
3 CONTENTS AND INNOVATIONS INTRODUCED BY THE LAW 30/2014, OF

DECEMBER 3, NATIONAL PARKS
The rearrangement suffered by our legal framework for management of natural areas has
been intense. But undoubtedly, at national level, the framework for the conservation of
natural spaces is marked not only by the Law 42/2007 of 13 December on Natural
Heritage and Biodiversity (BOE no. 299 of December 14, 2007) which repealed and
replaced Law 4/1989 on Conservation of Natural Areas and Wild Flora and Fauna (BOE
no. 74 of March 28, 1989) but also by the recent Law 30/2014 of 3 December for National
Park whose publication responds to the need to combine in a single text all the scattered
legislation and reflect the experience gained locally,nationally, within the EU and
internationally, led to the publication of these regulations.
Besides the possibilities of making tourism development activities and building

constraints, the main innovation introduced by the new legislation, is the increase in area
for a space to be declared a National Park. Indeed, the new art. 6.1 c) establishes among
the requirements to be met for an area to be declared a National Park shall have a
"continuous, unfragmented without bottlenecks" surface, except in duly justified cases of
at least 20,000 hectares of land in national parks or Peninsular maritime-terrestrial
national parks and marine waters. The previous Act established a minimum of 15,000
hectares for land land or maritime national park, and 20,000 hectares for national parks
in marine waters. Thus the number of hectares required for all national parks except
islands is equalized. In this regard in the seventh additional provision, which regulates
the adaptation of existing law to the new national parks within six years from its entry
into force for that government to take the necessary measures to bring the existing
national parks up to date with the determinations of articles 6 and 7 of the new law, except
those regarding regards minimum surfaces.
Although Law 4/1989 recognizes the competence of the State under the provisions of
Article 149.1.23 of the Spanish Constitution, which provides for the "exclusive
competence" regarding "basic legislation on environmental protection" without prejudice
the powers of the regional governments to enact "additional rules of protection", the need
to avoid a disconnection among these parks themselves and with the state, the lack of
75
government coordination, and above all the absence of a coherent and coordinated
management in order to comply with conservation objectives, has justified that the current
Law 30/2014 consecrates a management model with autonomous powers.
Indeed, as a general rule the management and organization of national parks is done by
the Autonomous Communities in which they are located; with the exception of the
National Parks declared so on marine waters under the sovereignty or national
jurisdiction, which is managed by the State.
The declaration procedure of a National Park and the intervention in case of unfavorable
conservation is regulated. Declaration of state of emergency due to environmental
catastrophe is also regulated. As well as capital guarantees of land owners within national
parks.
Another important issue is the creation and regulation of new bodies to coordinate
national parks. Among them are: Coordination Commissions of Supra Autonomic
National Parks, the Committee on collaboration and coordination of national parks and
the Scientific Committee of National Parks.
As for the Commissions for coordination of supra autonomic national parks, in order to
integrate the management activity of each of these communities, Article 26 of the Act
provides for each of the national parks whose territory elapses over more than one
autonomous community. It was stated in that provision that "The Central Government, in
the context of this Commission, coordinate the actions and decisions to ensure the shared
responsibility of the authorities concerned and the coherence of the whole, actions and
decisions to be adopted by the competent administration, without the Coordination
Commission of the park being able to take control of management in specific or general
cases”.
Also expected, a collaboration and coordination Commitee of national parks, which will
be chaired by the Director of National Parks Agency and shall form part of those
responsible for each national park. Its composition, functions and operating rules will be
subject to regulatory development. Finally, the so called Scientific Committee for
national parks is a scientific body of an advisory nature, part of the National Parks
Agency, with the generic function of advising scientifically on any matter which may be
tabled by the Directorate of that body. Its composition and operation shall be established
by ministerial order.
With this new draft it is intended to modify some of the procedures for managing these
areas and revise its Guiding Use and Management Plans, which can act as a planning tool
that allows National Park gauging its compliance. Retrieves content such as commitments
to economic planning, skills and endowments of the administrations assigned to the
achievement of the purposes of the national park, and the procedure for cooperation with
different level owners.
Another novelty that the Act includes concerns the declaration procedure of a national
park. The initiative for the declaration of these spaces, must be expressed by the initial
approval of a joint proposal by the Council of Ministers and by the relevant body of the
Autonomous Communities in whose territory the future National Park lies.
76
In case of unfavorable conservation, Article 22 of the Act provides for the intervention of
the state of exception, in order to avoid irreparable damage and after holding a hearing
with the Autonomous Communities. It is the adoption of concrete and precise measures
and actions necessary for the proper conservation of the National Park, where, according
to available information, the Central Government has data proving that the National Park
is in a state of unfavorable conservation. To do so will require a formal request before the
corresponding Autonomous Communities to adopt these measures by themselves within
six months. In this regard, the Master Plan for the National Park Network establishes the
necessary conditions to be satisfied, at least for determining an unfavorable conservation
status. It can be seen how this measure will contribute to strengthen the protection of these
areas, since the only thing the State could do so far was to urge the loss of the status of
National Park.
In order to prevent irreparable damage to the natural parks, which can not be prevented
by regular coordination mechanisms, the new law regulates the "Declaration of state of
emergency due to environmental catastrophe". So that in case of an environmental
disaster the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food may declare a state of emergency
in the National Park affected by it. This declaration may be issued either on its own
initiative after consultation with the Autonomous Communities or at the request of the
competent authorities of the Autonomous Communities.
Although this is a protective measure already covered in Article 7a of the previous Act,
introduced by the First Final Provision number one of the first final provision of Law
7/2013, of June 25, declaration of the Park Nacional Sierra de Guadarrama (BOE no. 152,
of June 26, 2013), it was necessary to define emergency and for it to be awarded by the
Minister, rather than the president of the National Parks autonomous body.
This is defined in the new law on emergency due to environmental catastrophe: "When
there is a serious and true threat to the integrity and security of the natural systems of a
National Park even if it does not affect people and property and its actual or predictable
dimesions, requiring national coordination and also a contribution of State resources".
4 ACTIVITIES OF TOURIST USE: HUNTING AND FISHING
As discussed, one of the main peculiarities of the new regulations is to allow rights
holders or ownwers in the national parks to have these rights integrated into the self-
preservation of the national park and give them the ability to develop economic and
commercial activities, especially those related to public use or rural tourism.
To achieve this objective, the new law provides for territorial development actions as
technical, economic and financial assistance in the areas of socioeconomic influence of
National Parks, conducted by Public Administrations within their sphere of competence
and according to the available budget.
In the analysis of tourism activities, the scope defined by Article 7.3 of the Act referrering
to "incompatible activities" such as sport and recreational fishing, recreational and
77
commercial hunting, commercial logging, hydroelectric plants, road communications,
power grids and other infrastructure, mining, and flying bellow 3,000 meters.
At this point it should be noted how this Act amends the eighth additional provision of
Law 7/2013, of June 25, which happens to have the following wording: "Given the
importance of the geographical location of the Guadarrama National Park, and under
exceptional circumstances with respect to the provisions for all National Parks, the
general ban on overflight below 3000 meters unless authorized or because of force
majeure, is reduced to 500 meters for commercial and State aircraft. The aircraft flight
activities without an engine, will be studied in the Master Plan for Use and Management
of the National Park of the Sierra de Guadarrama to determine the levels, periods and
areas where such activity is not incompatible with the preservation of the park's
resources".
The exercise of these incompatible activities has a moratorium on their final extinction
under the seventh additional provision, which establishes a period of six years for the
government to take the necessary measures to bring the situation of the National Parks
already declared so when this Act. came into play to "determinations under Articles 6 and
7 of the same". Within six years counted from the entry into force of the Law. This is an
extension of the moratorium scheduled for 2017 under the previous regulations until the
end of 2020.
The term extension will allow the possible exercise of hunting and fishing even beyond
the deadline. This is because the management of the National Park Administration is
allowed to program and organize population control activities, which include the
possibility of the exercise of hunting and fishing.
As we mentioned before, the population control and the protection of certain groups of
vegetation and native ecosystem justify reducing the population of certain species that
feed on them, which will ultimately allow to be hunting of protected species and native
species, the most affected by this are venison and wild boar.
Therefore, in addition to hydroelectric plants, lines of communication and energy

networks, although they are considered incompatible activities, sport and recreational
fishing, recreational and commercial hunting and logging for commercial purposes will
be allowed for management reasons and according to the best scientific knowledge, the
park's management can program population control activities and habitat restoration.
The environmental groups suspect that this figure will be used in reality to continue to
allow hunting, so they are demanding population control to be performed only by park
technicians, and not left it in the hands of hunters, since the law does not prevent this task
from being done privately.
Legislator response to criticism of this regulation is to give the possibility to go on

celebrating "voluntary agreements" with the owners of private farms so that they can not
practice these uses, regulated by the seventh additional provision.
On the other hand, in the National Parks those uses and traditional activities (historically
practiced by owners, users and local residents) which have been recognized as compatible
78
or required in order to manage the parks, are protected. For this, the government will
develop specific programs for the preservation of traditional activities and their
incorporation into the ordinary activities of the national park. Also it provides for the
development of the brand "National Parks of Spain" as a quality common identifier to
produce these spaces.
5 BUILDING IN NATIONAL PARKS
After rectification of the provisions in the draft bill, which exempted from the ban on
building in national parks to include population grounds, such as those"susceptible to
urban transformation", Article 7.6 of the Act which prohibits development and
construction in national parks, apparently establishes a prohibition to build by saying:
"The ground covered by the declaration of National Park may not be susceptible to
development or construction, without prejudice to what is determined by the Rector of
Use and Management Plan in terms of facilities needed to ensure management and
contribute to a better compliance with the objectives of the National Park".
As can be seen the prohibition is tempered by management purposes, but also expressly
and unequivocally in the seventh additional provision an exception to the application of
art 7.6 is established in National Parks Picos de Europa and Monfragüe, due to the fact
that they keep towns inside; specifically, Oseja Sajambre and Valdeón in Picos de Europa,
and Villareal de San Carlos in Monfgragüe.
6 PATRIMONIAL GUARANTEES OF LAND OWNERS IN NATIONAL PARKS
The reinforcement that the new law makes in the protection afforded to rightholders and
economic or trade activities within the boundaries of national parks has proven significant
and revealing. Thus, the Preamble explicitly stated that this law deals with rightholders
in national parks, on one hand, integrating them into the proper conservation of the park
and on the other, they are recognized the ability to develop economic or trade activities,
especially those related to public use and rural tourism, as well as giving them adequate
institutional presence in events or projection activities of parks in society.
Article 7.5 specifically requires the government to act with "utmost care" to compensate
the owners, in appropriate cases and these are as follows: "Any deprivation in estate and
economic rights, in particular on uses and exploitation recognized within a national park
at the time it is declared so, and any restriction on the exercise of those rights that the
owner does not have a legal duty to support, will be subject of compensation to the owners
(...)”.
We can see how tourism development is encouraged subjecting private over general
interest. So in order to protect economic and trade activities we come to establish the
possibility for the Government, with the participation of the Autonomous Communities,
to run pilot schemes that pursue sustainable economic activation and programs that
contribute to minimize the "negative impacts of national parks".
79
7 CONCLUSIONS
The new regulation represents a strengthening in the conservation measures of Natural

Park in intervention measures, respecting regional powers, introducing measures of
coordination among the different governments. However, there are measures that need
further regulatory development to be effective. Among others, providing for a new
Director of the Red Plan to determine the criteria for the existence of a serious threat to
the integrity and security of a national park, the effects of the declaration of
"environmental catastrophe" and the main actions to be executed. The need for regulatory
development regarding the composition and functioning of the new bodies to coordinate
national parks, the exceptions to the ban on overflight altitude limit over national park
territory, for reasons of national defense and security and the transitional regulatory
arrangements are an example of legal uncertainty.
Anyway, although it has been subject to criticism, it should also be noted in the interest
of promoting tourism activities in natural parks, how the new law though indirectly has
contributed to the promotion of tourism in these areas through regulated building,
extending the deadline for the exercise of hunting and fishing and patrimonial guarantees
of land owners within national parks.
Given the increased demand of tourism products with high environmental content, it must
be said that the figure of Natural Park is particularly interesting in this regard, allowing
policies to reconcile preservation of these areas with socio-economic revitalization.
Among the controversial aspects of this new legislation we should highlight the
permissibility to tourist uses in these protected areas, the figure of population control or
the possibility that the state can intervene in disasters or extraordinary situations
threatening the natural wealth of these enclaves in case of poor maintenance by
autonomous communities.
It would be desirable to have a change of attitude which meant transforming the approach
of "command and control" into "planning and management", and the implementation of
basic adaptive mechanisms to ensure active management of Spanish tourist parks, and not
merely control response against this activity. The way to manage it passes through a
correct and detailed planning and programming prior to ground intervention [2].
Particularly in headquarter management and in order to facilitate tourism with guarantees

required for preservation and conservation, natural parks should also be managed as real
or potential tourist destinations, implying that environmental managers, if they want to
ensure the preservation of these territories, which have a huge tourist attraction, they
should leave the management to those from the tourism sector who have the capacity and
tools to manage them.
It would also be desirable to strengthen the so called environmental education of Protected

Natural Areas in the broadest sense. Education would make management transparent and
the need for conservation of the same, using different strategies and research
methodologies for different cases [2].
80
As we have discussed, among the natural Protected Areas, natural parks temain the ones
which offer the most tourist possibilities merging three classic goals pursued by the
protection of natural areas: conservation, tourism purposes and socioeconomic
development.
Ultimately, national parks should represent today, as well as a model of conservation, an

example of participatory and more open management to society and application of the
principles of collaboration, coordination and cooperation.
REFERENCE LIST
[1] Alcubilla Martínez, M. (1915). Dictionary of the Spanish Administration.

[2] Gruber, G. and Benayas, J. (2009). "Diagnosing Plans for public use in protected
natural areas Spanish, Research and monitoring in protected natural areas, Monographs,
34 Barcelona.
Gómez-Limón, J. LUCIO, J. V. (1992). Frequenting recreational model in a protected
natural area.
Gómez-Limón, J. LUCIO, J. V. (1993). Effects of trampling action pasture communities
of recreational activities in natural areas.
Múgica, M., Zamora, F. and Lucio, V. Recreational use in natural spaces of the
Community of Madrid.
Prieto Cana, D. and De Lucio, J. V. (1993). Ecological heritage of the Natural Park of
Peñalara.
Viñals Blanco, M.J. (2002). Tourism II natural and rural areas; Polytechnic university of
Valencia.
VV.AA. (1996). Seminar on the Management of the Primary Sector Economic Activities
in Protected Natural Areas. FPNNE State Spanish section.
81
Carbon footprint management as an
opportunity for differentiation for the rural
accommodation sector
Pache-Durán, M.
ABSTRACT
The environmental deterioration of the planet in recent years has led to a very important
increase in public and, consequently, business interest. As a result, companies have
expectations of differentiation from their competitors and they publish information about
their environmentally responsible behaviour. However, environmentally responsible
behaviour has not been so common in small and medium-sized companies. In this study,
we highlight an initiative oriented towards small rural tourism accommodation
establishments.
1 INTRODUCTION
In the last quarter of a century, there have been many studies of socially responsible
behaviour in terms of human rights violations, environmental deterioration, or lack of
ethics in business management [1], [2], [3]. CSR, corporate social responsibility, is a
broad, complex concept which has multiple definitions, but about which there is no clear
unanimity, because of the variety of subjects (ethical, economic, environmental and
social) it encompasses.
In spite of its importance and the extent of the literature generated, CSR still lacks a
generally accepted definition, which is why it is considered that it should be understood
as a procedure or route for integration and continuous improvement [4], [5]. Generally,
CSR is related with a company’s activities which demonstrate that social and
environmental concerns have been included in its commercial operations and interactions
with stakeholders [6]. Others define it as any “responsible” activity that allows a company
to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage, regardless of the reason [7], [8].
Environmental responsibility is of special interest as it is one of the three pillars

comprising the CSR concept [9]. If well managed, eco-responsible behaviour can have
an effect on a company’s economic returns and value generation. So, in the last decade,
interest has grown in including these activities in strategic plans and policies for
informing stakeholders, especially in large companies [10], ]11].
82
2 THE CARBON FOOTPRINT AS A MEASURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL
EFFICIENCY
The concept of sustainable development means the ability to satisfy the needs of present
generations without jeopardizing those of future generations [12]. Now, in relation with
that, it can be said that the ecological footprint (henceforth, EF) is an environmental
indicator designed in the nineties by Wackernagel and Rees [13], in the School for
Community & Regional Planning of the University of British Columbia. The aim of the
EF is to express in units of area consumption of biological resources and generation of
waste in a particular human community, country or region. The EF corresponding to a
given population is equivalent to the surface area of fertile land or aquatic ecosystems
necessary to obtain the resources consumed and to assimilate the residues that are
generated [14]. So, in agreement with Doménech [15], the ecological footprint is only a
tool that clearly indicates which entities are or are not environmentally sustainable, and
their responsibility, therefore, in global climate change.
Carbon Foot (henceforth, CF) is a more recent concept, but with a less precise definition
than EF. That is why different interpretations are made of this indicator and there is lack
of a unanimous definition [16]. In general, we can say that the CF is a tool used to
calculate emissions into the atmosphere, expressed in tons of CO2e of the GHG
associated with organizations, events, services or the life cycle of a product in order to be
able to establish suitable reduction measures [17], [18].
So an increasing number of companies are requiring that their suppliers provide evidence
about their CF, and another large number voluntarily offer this information [18]. The aim
of both indicators is to provide a reliable, rigorous point of reference on which to base
projects for reduction of emissions [17].
3 THE HUELLA RURAL CO2 PROJECT IN EXTREMADURA AND

CASTILLA-LEON
This project consists of an environmental study financed by the European Union, focused
on small and medium-sized tourist accommodation establishments, of an initiative which
before now was mainly private and of large hotel chains. The objective is to design a
standardized methodology for the sector to quantify CO2 emissions per lodging
establishment, as a sustainability indicator. The project is intended to identify direct and
indirect impacts of the CF on a local scale on the values of the protected area (Nature
network of the autonomous regions of Extremadura and Castile and Leon). In addition, a
series of actions is proposed to allow management of this kind of accommodation
establishment to improve environmental sustainability by controlling and reducing their
emissions into the atmosphere.
The expected results of the project include the following [19]:
 Determination of a verifiable, validated system for calculating the carbon

footprint of a standard rural lodging establishment.
 Impact identification, characterization, analysis and assessment of the carbon
footprint of a standard rural lodging establishment.
83
 Identification and description of preventive, mitigating and/or compensatory
measures for carbon footprint impacts of a standard rural lodging establishment.
 Increase in the competitiveness and differentiation of the rural tourism supply.
 Application of the methodology to other autonomous regions.
The quality of air and natural resources in Natura 2000 Network surroundings, where
these inland tourism establishments are often located, make it especially relevant
excellent that business of this kind should channel their management towards improving
their sustainability and compatibility with the environment [19].
4 CONCLUSIONS
The increasing interest in the problems caused by environmental deterioration is evident.

This is associated with more reaction from companies as those responsible for certain
behaviours with a bigger or smaller effect on this situation. Providing information about
their environmental policies and their activities is how companies can ratify themselves
as environmentally responsible to society and so gain the trust and recognition of their
stakeholders.
The first step towards awareness of the responsibility companies have in the face of
climate change is quantification of emissions. For that reason, this study investigates the
importance of the development of tools to give companies and organizations useful
information in this environmental context. The EF and CF are two key environmental
indicators in the sphere of environmental responsibility.
With regard to business management, calculation and verification of this type of tool are
one of companies’ possible responses to climate change, leading to institutions increasing
their eco-efficiency, so improving their profits, investing more in natural and social
capital, so turning global sustainable development into reality.
This type of initiative should receive more support from a higher institutional level,
encouraging investment and recognition of management committed to eco-efficiency
measured by emissions into the atmosphere in relation to variables such as overnight stays
or revenue. In this way, its application by a larger proportion of the rural accommodation
tourism sector would be encouraged, especially in areas of special international
importance because of their natural value such as the Natura 2000 Network. This attention
to the supply of environmentally committed tourist destinations will be welcomed by a
public increasingly aware of these eco-efficient activities.
REFERENCE LIST
[1] Llena, F.; Moneva, J. M. and Hernandez, B. (2007). Environmental disclosures and
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85
Tear down that green fence: traditional uses
of territory standing up against natural
protection and ecotourism in the Spanish
Pyrenees
López-Carrascosa, C.
Lobera-Serrano, J.
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Segarra-Oña, M.V.
ABSTRACT
This research focuses on the conflict between territory´s traditional uses and the
promoters of higher environmental protection in Benasque valley. Different associations
took positions on the plan to convert natural park Posets-Maladeta into National Park.
Benasque city requested Aragon Government the authorization to hold a public
consultation on changing the legal status of the park, due to the opposition of many of the
landowners. Territory´s traditional uses versus new economic activities, such as
ecotourism, were at stake. The outcome of the consultation was to reject the request to
change the status of the park to the maximum protection level.
Keywords: Ecotourism, Pyrenees, sustainability, social participation, national park.
1 INTRODUCTION
Tourism has a key role as a generator of development [1] and it is currently one of the
fastest growing economic activities. Ecotourism is among the wide range of tourism
possibilities, closely related to the areas of nature conservation. According to [2],
ecotourism is the tourism based on the protection of natural areas; it is an alternative
tourism which enables obtaining benefits being based on preserving the natural
environment. Ecotourism travels purpose is the contemplation of nature and the increase
of the promotion of its conservation, destination areas are the protected ones little changed
by human action [3]. Ecotourism is generally understood as the environmentally
responsible form of tourism, consisting of visiting natural areas in order to appreciate,
enjoy and study the landscape, flora or fauna [4], [5]. It differs from the simple nature
tourism by its emphasis on education and environmental conservation. Ecotourism still
does not represent a large share of total world tourism, though its scope has been rising
in recent years, and their growth rates exceed those of conventional tourism [6]. Many
86
authors consider clearly demonstrated the relationship between the best conservation
where ecotourism occurs, especially in protected areas [7].
1.1 Protected natural areas in Spain

According to Law 42/2007 of 13 December on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity
Protected Areas, whether on land or sea, protected natural areas shall be classified at least
in one of the following categories, depending on the protection values and management
objectives to fulfill.
Natural reservations: Natural areas whose creation aims to protect ecosystems,

communities or biological elements which by their rarity, fragility, importance or
uniqueness, deserve special consideration.
Marine protected areas: Natural areas designated for the protection of ecosystems,
communities or biological or geological marine environment elements including
intertidal and subtidal areas which, because of their rarity, fragility, importance or
uniqueness, deserve special protection.
Natural monuments: or elements of nature basically consist notorious formations
uniqueness, rarity or beauty that deserves special protection. Also have this consideration
the unique and monumental trees and geological formations, paleontological and mineral
deposits, stratotypes and other elements that meet a particular interest in the uniqueness
or importance of their scientific, cultural or scenic values.
Protected Landscapes: Parts of the territory which the competent authorities consider
deserving of special protection because of its natural, aesthetic and cultural values, and in
accordance with the European Landscape Convention, the Council of Europe
Natural Parks, those due to the beauty of the landscape, the representativeness of their
ecosystems or the singularity of their flora, fauna or geological diversity, including its
geomorphological formations, have ecological, aesthetic, educational and scientific
values whose conservation deserve preferential treatment. Within this category, but as
those who enjoy maximum protection are national parks, which are governed by specific
legislation and integrated into the Network of National Parks of Spain.
1.2 National parks

According to law 5/2007 of 3 April, which is the specific law that regulates national parks,
a National Park is "a natural area of high natural and cultural value, undisturbed by human
activity, because of its exceptional natural values, its representative character, its
uniqueness flora, fauna or geomorphological formations, its conservation deserves
preferential treatment and states the general interest of the nation to be representative of
the Spanish natural heritage.
The requirements for a territory to be declared National Park are, according to the Master
Plan for National Parks Network: 1) Be very representative of some of the natural systems
included in the attachments of the law. 2) Have a significant proportion of species and
communities as well as territorial and ecological capacity to ensure a favorable
conservation status. 3) Be sufficiently continuous surface to permit natural development
without or with little human intervention. 4) Conservation deserves preferential treatment
and states the general interest of the state. 5) Be occupied by natural formations, without
agriculture, forestry, hydraulic and mining commercial extraction exploitations. 6) No
urbanized land and designated as not for building.
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Since 1916, when the first law concerning national parks was approved, there have
incorporated a total of 14 National Parks. They have been ordered chronologically from
oldest to most recent, they are National park “Picos de Europa” (1918), National park
“Ordesa y Monte Perdido” (1918), National park “Teide” (1954), National park “Caldera
de Taburiente” (1954), National park “Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici” (1955),
National park “Doñana” (1969), National park “Tablas de Daimiel” (1973), National
park “Timanfaya” (1974), National park “Garajonay” (1981), Terrestrial-marine national
park “Archipiélago de Cabrera” (1991), National park “Cabañeros” (1995), National
park “Sierra Nevada” (1999), Terrestrial-marine national park “Islas Atlánticas de
Galicia” (2002), National park “Monfragüe” (2007), and National park Sierra de
Guadarrama (2013).
Their management is under state jurisdiction and in charge of it is the autonomous agency
of national parks (OAPN) that belongs to the Ministry of agriculture, food and
environment. This organization devotes part of its budget for financial assistance for both
public and private institutions, aimed at creating local employment, improvement of
infrastructures, development of social and cultural activities an overall projects involving
activities compatible with conservation of the environment and committed to an
improvement of the living conditions of its inhabitants.
1.3 Natural park “Posets Maladeta”

Natural parks are a form of protected area with a lower ranking than the national park.
They do not complete all necessary conditions to be declared National Park, but anyway
they have a natural value that deserves to be maintained and preserved. Other difference
with natural parks is the fact that they do not have a common organism that unifies them
nationwide. They are managed by the regional government that contains them, this is the
reason why there is no uniform legal definition that describes them.
However, in terms of their management changes are occurring, and there are several
national parks whose management competencies have been transferred in part to their
respective regions, Aigüestortes National Park has been transferred to Catalonia and parks
of Doñana and Sierra Nevada to Andalusia.
The natural park covers an area of 33.440 hectares and a peripheral protection area of
5290 hectares; it is located within the municipal boundaries of Gistaín, San Juan de Plan,
Sahún, Benasque and Montanuy. It is a representative park of high mountain Atlantic
ecosystem; it has more than 70% of its extension over of a height of 1.800 m. It includes
the massifs of Posets and Maladeta containing the two highest peaks of all the Pyrenees,
the Aneto (3,404 m.) and Posets (3,375 m.). It was declared a Natural Park in 1994.
Within its boundaries there are three natural monuments, the Pyrenean glaciers. The main
rivers of the park are the Cinqueta in the Chistau Valley, the Esera in Benasque Valley
and the Noguera Ribagorzana in Barrabés Valley. Also very noteworthy is the karstic
relief, particularly the chasm of” Forau Aigualluts”, which receives water from the glacier
of the Aneto, runs about 4 km underground and reappears on the Garonne River in the
Aran Valley. The natural park contains a great diversity caused by the heterogeneity of
the landscape, from the bottom of the valleys to the highest peaks. There can be found
among the varied fauna alpine sparrow, alpine chough, ptarmigan, marmot, ermine, the
Pyrenean mountain goat, the golden eagle, the vulture, the Pyrenean lizard. In the
watercourses are found otters, in forests wild boars, squirrels and foxes that live together
with protected species such as the capercaillie.
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The natural park space does not include any population center, although it has always
been exploited in a fairly balanced and sustainable relationship for agriculture and
ranching. In recent years the tourist-recreational use of the natural park has been
increased, especially in the Valley of Benasque, with tourism and winter sports, skiing in
all its forms, hiking, climbing, water sports ... among which are included hunting and
fishing in the conditions natural parks legislation permits. The natural park perfectly
meets the requirements of surface and conservational state of a national park. All
indicators used for its evaluation and study are high quality and show and excellent state
of preservation.
1.4 Environmental conflict and ecotourism

Of course the fact of increasing the protection of the natural park may seem a positive
fact that should a priori be liked by everyone in the area. However, this has not happened
since it has become a conflict of interest between different population groups. On one
hand those people who see in the upgrading of the natural park new possibilities, good
protection of the environment or even new tourist opportunities in those markets that are
nearly untapped in the valley, especially those related to ecotourism. And on the other
hand those who see the same fact as a threat that could change the current status quo,
causing uncertainty and fear of economic and power losses in their territories.
The change of the status of the park may involve a number of advantages such as;
intervention of state administration, option to obtain new grants and subsidies, the
National Park brand is of higher quality than Natural Park and attracts more visitors, the
economic revitalization of the territory is encouraged in National Parks. On the other side
it could mean some inconvenience for certain groups of people; the dependence of the
central government instead of the regional may be seen as a loss of local power, hunting,
fishing and forestry will be totally prohibited, stricter rules for environment conservation
would be applied and this could lead to changes in the behavior of the population and its
inhabitants.
It is important to note that although in the public consultation the word ecotourism does
not directly appear, in the fact of rejecting the improvement in the status of Natural Park,
ecotourism development in the area is being rejected as well because this declaration
would mean the facilitation of many ecotourism projects. The development of
environmental education would be affected in the same manner. There is a lot of evidence
of the correspondence between environmental education and the existence of protected
natural areas, as it is the creation of ecotourism projects the trigger that helps the
conservation of these protected areas and that generates improvements in living
conditions of the area population [8]. Ecotourism promotes environmental education and
ecological values that help improve the relationship of people with the environment [9].
This clearly shows undeniable relationship between ecotourism and environmental
education, unlike other types of tourism [7]. Usually the best places for ecotourism are
rural settlements near protected areas, as these exert an action of major attraction on
tourists [3]. Ecotourism nearby protected areas increases employment opportunities for
people living around [10]. Many authors claim that ecotourism is becoming a tool that
while promoting the conservation of nature, is able to contribute to rural local
development [11], [12], [4].
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2 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF
ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS
Pyrenees protection has become a hotly debated and controversial issue, especially about
the possible implications for the inhabitants in what refers to the change in the status of
the park. The reasons discussed by the opponents are based on the possible disadvantages
they would have, especially in relation to the total prohibition of hunting, fishing and
forestry exploitations. It is also raised against the fact of losing part of the management
by the regional government to give at least a portion of it to the central state.
The characteristics of the current environmental conflicts necessitate a rethinking of the

role of citizen participation. Current environmental conflicts involve a high level of
complexity and uncertainty and a plurality of legitimate perspectives, because of this
citizen participation is considered as a scientific need to identify solutions. Sustainability
is a complex search that implies a positive transformation of existing environmental
conflicts so that they will meet the needs of present and future generations. The high
complexity is a key feature of some current environmental conflicts such as the Pyrenees
protection increase.
Since the 1990s, several works, such as [13], presented the incorporation of the
participation of different actors in the scientific mechanisms as an appropriate strategy
for solving contemporary environmental conflicts
This perspective should be applied when "facts are uncertain, values in dispute are a lot,
what is at stake is far and decisions are urgent" [14] cases with low political consensus
require citizen participation to be effective.
In this perspective, the citizen has a place next to the scientist and the administrator, since
it is considered essential to recognize the legitimate plurality of prospects for conflict
resolution.
Political institutions are also affected by uncertainty and complexity of the social and
environmental problems. In political circles it is assumed increasingly the need to
reformulate the decision-making procedures around these types of conflicts that lack clear
solutions that bring into play different values and interests. As [15] states: The decisions
in these contexts cannot be left solely to the "experts" but must involve politicians and
citizens. In short, it cannot fully rely on science and technology to know what is good,
nor can they always provide diaphanous truths. They should be convened to openly justify
their conclusions and proposals to public scrutiny.
The transformation of socio-environmental conflicts can be approached from three points

of view: top-down, bottom-up or a combination of both. Still, a low percentage of
institutional actions aimed at solving these conflicts incorporating participatory processes
based on a bottom-up logic. Citizen participation is also identified locally as a key to
progress in resolving environmental conflicts element. The Aalborg Commitments are an
example. In short, it is widely recognized that, for lasting changes in the correction of
unsustainability, these changes need to incorporate a participatory dimension. In the top-
down model, the citizen contributes, consciously or unconsciously, to the general
guidelines set by institutions such as the selective collection of waste and the
implementation of recommendations for saving energy. Yet, as state [16], it is not feasible
transformation if it is only directed 'from above'.
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All policies aimed at improving the sustainability processes need to incorporate active
and creative participation, and therefore conscious by citizenship. These processes of
active participation are essential for resolving environmental conflicts and include areas
such as decision making, societal debate, the development of teaching materials, the
active search for information, community organization aimed at solving a conflict,
organizing a day of awareness [17]. In the "active" dimension of participation for
sustainability six types of processes could be distinguished: information, communication,
consultation, deliberation, decision making and creative action [18].
The protection increase of the Pyrenees has become a controversial issue, critics and
people in favor have positioned themselves exaggeratedly, and what at first looked like it
would be resolved favorably without further problem has become a thorny issue that
Local government does not want to deal without consulting the citizens. Therefore, the
city of Benasque requested the Aragon Government the authorization to hold a public
consultation on changing the legal status of the park, due to the opposition to the plan by
many of the landowners. This survey took place on the 6th October 2013 and it had a
44% participation of the population entitled to vote. The question asked was "Do you
want the current Natural Park to become a National Park?
The outcome of the consultation was to reject the request to change the status of the park
to the maximum protection level because it was viewed with fear and uncertainty by the
inhabitants. From the political point of view, only the PP group (conservative party)
chairing the council supported the change in the days before the consultation and the other
political formations of the village, Par (regionalist party), PSOE (socialist party) and IU
(communist party) rejected to modify the status of this space protected. The results of the
voting showed that Benasque neighbors did not support the conversion, with 526 votes
against, 330 in favor, two abstentions and one invalid vote.
3 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The population of the high mountains has traditionally lived from the exploitation of the
resources present there. The Pyrenees is a stunning nature reserve, which inhabit many
animal species, many of which are sought after by lovers of hunting and fishing: quail,
partridge, boar, rabbit, venison, trout. Hunting and fishing are permitted in certain areas,
and in some certain dates, for which permission is required. Hunting and fishing was a
source of traditional food together with livestock and agriculture. Currently agriculture is
limited to two main ways, people who cultivate small farms for personal enjoyment, and
those who grow grass for livestock farms. Livestock has been reduced considerably in
recent years due to quota cuts from the European Union. Some authors state that this
reduction causes an increase in the risk of fire in the environment. [19]. The reduction of
livestock it has been inversely related to tourism development due to competition for labor
and the use of agricultural spaces. [20]. These traditional uses of natural resources clash
against some aspects of the increase in environmental protection, especially hunting and
fishing, because it is a tradition deeply rooted over the time and therefore it is difficult for
the population to get by without them.
An important factor in this case is that the survey was only addressed to the habitats of
Benasque, excluding the rest minor affected populations. The population of the villages
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next to the natural park is quite heterogeneous, its characteristics are different in the small
villages, with more aged people and few young people whose main activity is livestock
and Benasque and its immediate area, with a much younger population and an economy
based in tourism [21]. Benasque concentrates the majority, but in order to have a more
robust answer, the other villages should have been taken into account as well.
Table 1 Population of natural park villages

Population 2015 Percentage 2015
Benasque 2.090 71,94%
Gistaín 138 4,75%
San Juan de Plan 148 5,09%
Sahún 308 10,60%
Montanuy 221 7,61%
TOTAL 2.905 100,00%
Ecotourism projects in the Valley of Benasque are scarce; tourism is much more focused
on sports tourism, skiing in various forms, rafting, paragliding. It is of strategic interest
to increase the chances of other types of tourism, respectful with the environment. The
capabilities of the natural park in the development of ecotourism are enormous, because
it is a privileged setting, the wildest, deep and pure heart of all the Pyrenees.
Many new possibilities related to ecotourism could be proposed to expand the portfolio
of the valley, the development of mountain biking, agro tourism, educational projects in
biology, geology, flora and fauna that could that could be accompanied by explanatory
tours, local crafts, local organic food…
In this sense, Benasque has scientific infrastructure too. Science center Pedro Pascual is
a facility for the Spanish scientific system. This Centre offers the possibility to organize
international meetings in Benasque. The use of the Centre is open to the entire
international scientific community. Any group of scientists may propose the organization
of an international meeting focused on a specific subject, the opportunity to held an
ecotourism scientific center, as the environment is ideal and unique, it could be used as
scientific research center based on ecotourism.
Another issue in this case is that the natural park Posets-Maladeta, is flanked by the
“Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici” (National Park since 1955) on the east and by
the “Ordesa y Monte Perdido” (National Park since 1918) on the west. Wouldn´t make
sense to joint all three as a wonderful and unique giant National Park? This big National
Park could bring together the whole heart of the Pyrenees with the highest peaks, glaciers,
its enviable flora and fauna all together with scientific and tourist capacities.
The aim would be to develop an ecotourism cluster that could exploit local attractions,
foster conservation and that allow and promote competitiveness favorable for its
development [22], without losing what is the main differentiating factor, the nature, in
order to maintain its fundamental essence [23]. It should maintain and focus that nature
is who attracts tourism [24].
92
The base of the problem seems to be the conflict of interests that we believe exist between
traditional uses of the inhabitants of the valley and future possibilities that could appear
from the National Park. We believe that lack of information about the new possibilities is
the main reason that makes appear fear and uncertainty.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Universitat Politècnica de València for the ADSIDEO
2014 Project lead by Prof M. Segarra (Centre for Cooperation and Development).
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Design of an input-output table for the
tourist supply chain in Spain2
Pérez-Mesa, J.C.
University of Almeria, Department of Economic and Business, Spain
Jiméne-Guerrero, J.F.
University of Almeria, Department of Economic and Business, Spain
Cordente-Rodríguez, M.
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Faculty of Social Sciences of Cuenca, Spain
ABSTRACT
This article provides an input-output table in order to analyze the relationships within the
supply chain of tourism in Spain. The main objectives are: i) establish a mechanism to
help understand how individual decisions related to collaboration and integration within
the chain can affect the industry; ii) estimate the benefits of intermediary firms as market
makers in terms of income and employment. The results show that producer upstream
integration, reducing the number of intermediaries, can negatively affect the sector.
1 INTRODUCTION
The supply chain management (SCM) in the touristic area refers to the activities
optimization so that the touristic production will be the proper one and they will be
properly distributed according to the demand. This means the colaboration and
cooperation of all the companies which participate in the production, distribution an
comercialisation of a product. In fact, a supply chain is a net composed bymany
combinations supplier-supplier-customer, where the individual improval is only achieved
with the general optimization of the system [1]. In the touristic area, the presence of
different actors, producers (hotels, airlines) or intermediaries (retailer or wholesaler travel
agencies, touroperators, global distribution systems or booking companies), adding the
possible combinations among them, cause a difficult diagram with commercial methods
and relations which provoke the lost of the grouping view.
A characteristic aspect of this kind of net is that one of the members, usually the nearest
distributor to the customer, exert influence among the others, what is known as hub firm
[2]. However, in the touristic area, the majority of the chain control has been one by the
touroperator [3]-[5], although the producer has been acquiring more and more relevance
[6].This tendency has been favoured by the usage of TICs in the sales proccess [7]-[9],
what has allowed a direct communication between providers and customers, and this has
2 This work was supported by the Excellence Project of Junta Andalucia SEJ-7085.
95
meant that the intemrediary presence has lessen, and sometimes, it has caused a
desintermediation [10], [11].
Generally, the investigation about SCM in tourism has been sloppy due to bibliography
[5], focusing on very specific aspects of the running, or on the bietapic relationship
between the members: touroperators [12], between these ones and other producers [6],
[3], between producers and travel agencies [13], or between wholesaler and retailer
agencies [14]. However, some studies have shown that industry must be analysed with an
integrated view [15]-[18].
Following this line, this article intends to clarify the relationships among the different
actors of the touristic supply chain in Spain, establishing what kind of companies play the
dominant role in this net as market creators, and trying to determine the desintermediation
proccesses effects. To achieve this , an input-output chart has been made (TIO) where we
can see the buying and selling relations.
The application of the input-output methodology is not new in the touristic area, as
Fletcher [19] points, there are several works that have used it. These works have taken
into account the calculation of the impact multiplier, based on regional focusing [20],
[21], the analysis of the joint corporate relations [22], an analysis of the two items
described previously [23], or the study of economical politics supported by sectorial
specialization [24]. In this sense, this study means an ampliaion of the previous analysis
made by Pérez et al. [25], [26], which show how the intermediation effects in the Spanish
touristic area have positive consequences for the touristic activity analysed as a whole.
2 CREATION OF INPUT-OUTPUT CHART FOR THE SUPPLY NET ANALYSIS
Although there are many statistics of this area in Spain, the touristic supply chain structure
is still very opaque in some parts. This work tries to clarify it, establishing an easy
interpretation and analysis methodology which consists on the building of an input-output
chart organized as it is shown in Table 1. It must be said that, for simplification reasons,
it has been necessary to make grouping among the companies’ types (producers and
intermediaries), and among the kind of products commercialized.
The operators are distributed in producers (hotel chains, Airlines and terrestrial
companies), intermediaries (retailer travel agencies, booking companies and global
distribution systems) and producers-intermediaries (wholesalers and tour operators). To
simplify the chart, the restoration and other touristic services companies are not included.
The chart columns show the purchases made by an operator (including the final
consumer), and the lines show the purchases made by an operator. It is also included the
production understood as the sale of a product made with particular means. To complete
the chart, we will start with the sales figures corresponding to Spanish producers3. These
figures will match with production p1 to p5. These quantities will be the only ones
necessary in absolute value (€) to complete the table4 (Table 1). The resulting figures will
3
This quantity includes the sales made by a Spanish provider to a foreign one.
4
We consider production=0 for the rest of the operators.
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be distributed among the other operators (intermediaries and producers-intermediaries)
based on sales percentages. These indexes are obtained from different sources5 (Table 2).
Table 1 Design a touristic input-output table

Sales TOTAL
HT,AT, BC- OTA Interm.
WTA RTA Final DEMAND Labour
OT,ST GDS Sales
Consumer (DE)
Hotels (HT) a11, a12, a15 a16 a17 a18 kj=∑ 𝑎1𝑗 c1 d1=c1+kj e1
a13, a14=0
Air Transport(AT) 0 … … … … c2 d2 e2
Overland 0 … … … … c3 d3 e3
Transport(OT)
Sea Transport (ST) 0 … … … … c4 d4 e4
Wholesa letravel 0 c5 d5 e5
agencies (WTA)
Retail travel agencies 0 c6 d6 e6
(RTA)
Book centres (BC) 0 c7 d6 e7
and Global
distribution systems
(GDS)
Online travel 0 c8 d6 e8
agencies (OTA)
Intermediate 0 ki=∑ 𝑎𝑖5 … … … K=∑ k C=∑ c
purchases
Production p1,p2,p3 p5 p6=0 p7=0 p8=0 P=∑ p
,p4
TOTAL SUPPLY O1,O2, O5= O6 O7 O8 TS=DE E=∑ e
(TS) O, O4 k5+p5 ∑O = ∑d
Source: Elaborated by the authors
To investigate the sum of direct and indirect effects of the final demand changes, as a
consequence of the commercial flow structure (matrix A8x8 of Table 1, composed by
coefficient a11...a18… a11…a81), the following matrix calculation is made: M=A(H-1), being H
the diagonalized matrix (8x8) corresponding with the total demand vector (D). In the
traditional input-output analysis [27], [28] this matrix shows the direct effects. To add the
indirect effects (Leontief coefficients) we calculate B=(I-M)-1, being Ian unique diagonal
matrix. The adding of coefficients (bij) of the matrix B by columns (j) and lines (i) are
called, respectively, spreading and absorption effect [29].
8
Spreading effect: b j   bij applied to tour case, will measure how an increase of the
i 1
consumption will affect on the net final demand variation. In other words, it measures
how the sector incomes will be affected by the increase of the channel consumption by
an operator specific type.
5
The main difficulty was finding sources for the sales delivery according to the customer.
When it was impossible to find secondary sources, we used phone calls and mails to the
main industry companies.
97
8
Absorption effect: bi   bij shows how a consumption increase (of the unit) of all the
j 1
operators affects the incomes (final demand) of a specific kind of Company, in other
words, how it is beneficiary of a sector consumption general increase.
If we operate making 𝑅 = 𝐿 ∙ 𝐵; being L the diagonalized vector corresponding to sectoral

employment coefficients calculated as li=ei/di, we will obtain the total employment
multipliers, where the item rij of matrix R indicates the total employment required in
sector i for the sector j to turn over a final demand unit. Thus, line i shows the way in
which employment is produced in sector i by the required activity in the other sectors,
and its addition (employment absorption effect) will show the employment total increase
in this sector i facing the unitary growth of the consumption in all sectors. The addition
downwards (employment spreading effect) indicates the work generated before unitary
increases of the consumption in this sector. The matrix R will include both direct and
indirect effects on the employment.
Table 2 Necessary data sources to complete the input-output table

Data Source
INE (Spanish National Institute of Statistics):
Net production of hotels (p1)
Spanish Tourism Satellite Account) [30]
INE: Services Sector Products Statistics for 2010
Percentage of sales directly by hotels (type of
[31]
customer)
Hosteltur [32]
Net production of air transport companies (p2) INE [30]
Percentage of sales directly by air transport
SITA/Airline Business [33]
companies (type of customer)
Net production by overland transport companies
INE [30]
(p3)
Percentage of sales by overland transport
Elaborated by the authors
companies (type of customer)
Net production of sea transport companies (p4) INE [30] and Estepa [34]
Percentage of sales of sea transport (type of
Elaborated by the authors
customer)
Net production of wholesale/tour operators (p5) Elaborated by the authors based on Hosteltur [35]
Percentage of sales by wholesale/tour operators Elaborated by the authors based on Phocuswrigh
(type of customer per product) [36] and Hosteltur [35]
Percentage of sales by retail agencies (type of
Hosteltur [37] and elaborated by the authors
customer per product)
Percentage of sales by BC and GDS (type of
Amadeus [38] and elaborated by the authors
Percentage of sales by on-line agencies (type of
Hosteltur [37] and elaborated by the authors
Labour for activity sector INE [39]
98
3 RESULTS
Table 3 shows the relationships in the supply chain from a buyer and seller point of view.
We can see how the disintermediation gains in all the channels, including the production
companies; as an average, direct sale to the consumer represent nearly 50% of the total
ones. It is clear the companies’ effort to take control of the maximum added value.
Regarding to the intermediation relationships (without considering the direct channel),
there are outlined: the hotel sale by wholesaler and touroperator; terrestrial and air
transport sale by the retailer seller; the intermediary diversification in the maritime
transport and cruises sales; and the usage of the retailer as the main system by the rest of
the operators. From the purchaser aspect, retailer travel agencies are the most relevant
companies, because they represent the 34 % of the total intermediated. For its part, from
the incomes and work creation point of view, the hotel industry represents 23 and 47% of
the total. Another important work creator is the terrestrial travels producer.
Table 3 Input-output table (Millions €)

Sales
BC- Interm Total Labour
HT AT OT ST WTA RTA OTA Final
GDS sales. Demand (1)
Consumer
Hotels (HT) 0 0 0 0 2,719 1,594 1,125 1,781 7,219 2,156 9,375 245,408
Air
Transport 0 0 0 0 725 1,449 1,087 1,014 4,275 2,970 7,245 30,176
(AT)
Overland
Transport 0 0 0 0 270 601 451 330 1,652 1,352 3,004 184,126
(OT)
Sea
Transport 0 0 0 0 108 144 144 120 516 685 1,201 3,970
(ST)
Wholesale
travel
0 0 0 0 0 1,303 698 326 2,327 3,533 5,860 16,824
agencies
(WTA)
Retail travel
agencies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6,185 6,185 28,040
(RTA)
Book centres
(BC) and 0 0 0 0 689 1,095 49 118 1,951 1,603 3,554 1,682
GDS
Online travel
agencies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,690 3,690 9,533
(OTA)
Intermediate
0 0 0 0 4,511 6,186 3,554 3,689 17,940 22,174
purchases
Production 9,375 7,245 3,004 1,201 1,349 0 0 0 22,174
Total Supply 9,375 7,245 3,004 1,201 5,860 6,186 3,554 3,689 40,114 519,759
(1) =Number of persons

From the calculation of the opposite matrix from Leontief (Table 4) we can infer that the
most beneficiary companies from the touristic demand rise (directly and indirectly) are
hotel chains and Airlines. In particular, by each euro of increase from the final
consumption, hotels receive nearly the triple part (absorption effect=2.95), two of these
euros are generated thanks to the intermediation (being the most important action the one
from wholesalers-touroperator and Booking Centrals-GDS). Talking about airlines, their
incomes are multiplied by two as a consequence of a unitary consumption increase
99
(absorption effect=2.12). These two operators are the ones which take most advantage as
a consequence of any sector promotion action.
Considering the spreading effect, we can see how traditional travel agencies, multiply by
2.37 each euro directed through them. This kind of companies are the intermediary
companies with the most market creation capacity, more than online agencies (effect
2.17), and BC-GDS (effect 2.13). The companies which take most advantage from the
retailer agencies intermediation would be, in this order: hotels, Airlines and wholesalers-
touroperators.
If we include in this analysis the work factor (Table 5), we can see that the industry which
more employ creates as a consequence of the own consumption unitary growth (diffusion
effect for labour) is the one dedicated to terrestrial transport, but not as an intermediation
consequence, it is by the direct necessities.
Table 4 Opposite matrix from Leontief

HT AT OT ST WTA RTA BC-GDS OTA Absorption effect
HT 1 0 0 0 0.52 0.47 0.54 0.42 2.95
AT 0 1 0 0 0.16 0.32 0.31 0.34 2.12
OT 0 0 1 0 0.06 0.12 0.10 0.14 1.42
Tma 0 0 0 1 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.04 1.14
WTA 0 0 0 0 1.01 0.23 0.10 0.20 1.53
RTA 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 0 0 1.00
BC-GDS 0 0 0 0 0.11 0.20 1.05 0.04 1.39
OTA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 1.00
Diffusion effect 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.88 2.37 2.13 2.17 1.57*
Source: Elaborated by the authors. (*) =Average
Table 5 Employment multipliers

HT AT OT ST WTA RTA BC-GDS OTA Absorption effect for labour
HT 26.20 0 0 0 13.62 12.31 14.15 11.00 77.29
AT 0 4.20 0 0 0.67 1.34 1.30 1.43 8.95
OT 0 0 61.30 0 3.68 7.36 6.13 8.58 87.05
ST 0 0 0 3.30 0.07 0.10 0.13 0.13 3.73
WTA 0 0 0 0 2.93 0.67 0.29 0.58 4.47
RTA 0 0 0 0 0 4.5 0 0 4.50
BC-GDS 0 0 0 0 0.06 0.10 0.53 0.02 0.70
OTA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.60 2.60

Diffusion effect for labour 26.20 4.20 61.30 3.30 21.02 26.38 22.53 24.35 189.28
Traditional travel agencies are the ones which generate the majority of employments
because they multiply by 4 the employ as a consequence of the purchase necessities to
other companies. Taking into account the employment absorption effect, the sector which
in absolute terms creates more indirect employments is the hotel one. In fact, an increase
of one million € in all sectors create in their own establishments 26 employments, and the
buying and selling creates more than 50 additional employments. Terrestrial transport,
100
more intensive in workforce, creates 61 employments per million € and indirectly by the
purchase necessity of the other sectors increase this figure in 25 more workers.
3.1 Consequences of the integration in the chain

The input-output proposed analysis allows knowing the variation consequences in the
touristic supply chain, having a structural maintenance of the buying and selling diagram.
In this sense, it was Ghosh [40] who firstly highlighted what the TIO doesn’t take into
account the possible changes in the technique coefficients as a consequence of the
consumption increase. The proposed diagram will only be valid in limited periods of time,
and only if the productive response capacity is null.
These limitations strongly affect the touristic area because, for example, the development
of a simple purchase system made by a producer (hotel chain) to avoid the intermediary,
would affect the coefficients. In fact, this would mean an increase of the final
consumption at the expense of the retailer agencies intermediation and other
intermediaries. Although the consequences of this attitude can seem obvious, now,
through an easy example, we will try to quantify them.
We will consider now a small variation in the sales proportions from the producers, and
we will establish what the consequences in the chain are. We are going to suppose that
the producers (hotels, air transporters, etc) are forwards integrated. That, according to our
model, is materialized by an increase of 40% in direct sale to the final consumer. The
increase, as it is stipulated, will implicate an intermediation decrease made by the RTA
(which are given a 50% of this decrease) and BC-GDS (which are given other 50% of
decrease). In this diagram, the production (final demand) does not vary. As a limitation,
it is not considered that the producer reduces the price (due to the intermediation cost
reduction) to try to increase the demand.
In the Table 6 we can see the new calculations. The employment will be calculated setting
some staff necessities depending on the final demand which were calculated in the
original input-output table. A calculation of the new distribution is linked to a 7%
reduction of the total sector invoicing and 1.5% in the employment, so it is evident the
importance for the hotel industry the intermediation reduction from the incomes point of
view.
Table 6 Input-output table (Millions €) (40% forwards integrated producer)

Sales
BC- Interm Total Labour
HT AT OT ST WTA RTA OTA Final
GDS sales Demand (1)
Consumer
Hotels (HT) 0 0 0 0 2,719 1,163 694 1,781 6,357 3,018 9,375 245,434
Air
Transport 0 0 0 0 725 855 493 1,014 3,087 4,158 7,245 30,176
(AT)
Overland
Transport 0 0 0 0 270 331 181 330 1,111 1,893 3,004 184,126
(OT)
Sea
Transport 0 0 0 0 108 7 7 120 242 959 1,201 3,967
(ST)
Wholesale
travel
0 0 0 0 0 1,303 698 326 2,327 3,533 5,860 16,824
agencies
(WTA)
101
Retail travel
agencies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,753 4,753 21,548
(RTA)
Book centres
(BC) and 0 0 0 0 689 1,095 49 118 1,951 170 2,121 1,004
GDS
Online travel
agencies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,690 3,690 9,533
(OTA)
Intermediate
0 0 0 0 4,511 4,753 2,121 3,689 15,075 22,174
purchases
Production 9,375 7,245 3,004 1,201 1,349 0 0 0 22,174
Total Supply 9,375 7,245 3,004 1,201 5,860 4,753 2,121 3,689 37,250 512,612
Variation (2) 0 0 0 0 0 -23% -40% 0 -7% -1.5%
(1) =number of persons; (2) =Respect to initial values

As it can be seen in Table 7, the change of the original TIO table modifies, downwards,
the intensity of the affected intermediary companies’ effects related to the producers.
However, the effect is small because, in the proposed situation, the retailer agencies
would continue working through the wholesaler channel, and even BC-GDS as provider,
and selling to the final consumer. In addition, due to the fact that the final demand
decreases as a consequence of an intermediary sales loss, the effects calculation is hardly
affected. BC-GDS would survive thanks to the retailer agencies purchases, and having as
providers the wholesaler cannel, that would find benefits on this fact. As it can be seen in
Table 6, the beneficiary effect of the intermediation would exist although it would be a
forward strong integration from the producer. These would be only nullified if this kind
of companies suffered a total leaving out.
Table 7 Leontief’s Inverse Matrix

Absorption
HT AT OT ST WTA RTA BC-GDS OTA
effect
0.41 0.38 2.83
1 0 0 0 0.52 0.54
HT (0.47) (0.54) (2.95)
0.23 0.21 1.89
0 1 0 0 0.15 0.30
AT (0.32) (0.31) (2.12)
0.09 0.08 1.32
0 0 1 0 0.06 0.10
OT (0.12) (0.10) (1.42)
0.01 0.01 1.07
0 0 0 1 0.02 0.04
ST (0.03) (0.04) (1.14)
0.30 0.26 1.68
0 0 0 0 1.02 0.10
WTA (0.23) (0.10) (1.53)
RTA 0 0 0 0 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 1.00
0.24 1.05 1.46
0 0 0 0 0.12 0.04
BC-GDS (0.20) (1.05) (1.39)
OTA 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 1.00
2.28 1.98
Diffusion effect 1 1 1 1 1.89 2.11
(2.37) (2.13)
Initial values in parentheses
In this diagram, it could be argued that a higher incomes existence does not guarantee a
bigger benefit because, in fact, the disintermediation is a cost reduction source and margin
increase for the producer [41]. However, we have to consider that we are talking about
102
services, where a storage inability will imply that if the product is not sol, it will have
costs, so it is necessary to occupy hotel rooms or plane seats. In other words, in the
touristic area there is a strong relation between higher incomes and better results. In this
sense, it is even proved that strategies destined exclusively to costs reduction without
considering the marketing investment or quality improvement aspects will have counter-
productive results [42].
4 CONCLUSIONS
This article develops a general setting for the input-output analysis which shows the net
relationship in the supply chain from the touristic area in Spain. Through this
methodology we can see the intermediation importance for the whole group. In fact, this
one leads to a duplication of the invoicing as a consequence of the consumption increase.
About the diagram proposed it can be argued that the incomes increase does not guarantee
higher margins. Nevertheless, the non-storable services sale, as the proposed ones,
requires the necessity that the producer maximizes the hotel occupancy rate to counteract
the structure expenses.
Among all the intermediaries, it is especially remarkable the work made by retailer travel
agencies. These companies make the consumption directed through them double the hotel
sector incomes. This intermediary task causes, for example that the hotel producer
incomes triple by increasing the sector general consumption, and the work increases 50%.
Other important intermediaries are touroperators both in the function of market creator
and work diffusor. In the analysis specific case (Spanish sector), given the present
situation, the work factor maintenance importance is essential, so producers have a social
justification extra opportunity showing the indirect effect of their activity in the work,
which is more evident in the hotel industry case.
On the other hand, as it is clear, forward particular strategies (disintermediation) if the

producers have general consequences in the sector, reducing the invoicing and the total
employment. The problem resides in the fact that the occupation lost (invoicing) can
damage the weakest companies’ viability due to the incapacity to assume the structural
costs. For this reason, this strategy can only be supported by big chains, strongly
organized and that previously know the consequences. And this is happening at present.
Related to the effects of these kinds of decisions about intermediary market creation work,
they will be minimum. These companies will continue giving the same value to the
producer, although the demand is small. These effects would only disappear with the
complete disappearance of the selling and buying. The essential question is that the
progressive disappearance of the intermediaries will cause that less and less consumption
will be canalized through them. And this would cause that the effects (absorption or
spreading), will not have a significant effect in the producer invoicing.
In general, it is clear how the individual strategies can damage the group benefits due to
an analysis limited view. In other words, the collaboration is necessary in the area [43] in
regards to incomes and employment maximization. Nevertheless, the analysis proposed
here is only valid as an approximation to a more complex reality, impossible to be
reflected with this setting, which is a limitation that this work has got.
103
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106
Analysis of the ethical behavior of local
politicians in Spain through its influence on
holiday dwelling prices
García-Pozo, A.
University of Malaga, Applied Economics Department, Spain
Sánchez-Ollero, J.L.
Marchante-Mera, A.J.
ABSTRACT
Housing price growth can have different causes, from both a demand and supply
perspective. The ethics of management developed by the political parties in the
municipalities can be included in the latter category. Hedonic methodology is used as
well as some dummy variables within the models to represent this effect. This paper
suggests that management by “independent” political groups (i.e. without a clear political
ideology) in Andalusia that have governed consecutively during the three last terms, adds
an additional cost to the total price of the houses. This cost can reach 27.02% of the total
housing price, according to the analyzed submarket, in contrast to the situation where
political change in the municipal governments takes place. Three criteria are used to test
statistically the existence of segmentation in the housing market: the weighted mean of
the standard errors of the segmented models, Chow F-test and, finally, Tiao-Goldberger
test.
Keywords: ethics, hedonic methodology, housing price, market segmentation, political

parties.
1 INTRODUCTION
Housing prices in Spain grew at an average yearly rate of 16.34% between 1995 and the
beginning of the economic crisis, according to data provided by the Spanish Housing
Ministry. This figure means that house prices per square meter with no legal restrictions
during purchasing reached a market value of 2,104.4 € in the first quarter of 2008
compared to 692.7 € in 1995. These figures, which refer to houses that have been
evaluated, are slightly higher in Andalusia as a whole (19.72%) or even higher in some
coastal provinces in this region, such as Almeria (21.93%) or Malaga (29.46%), where
many vacation homes are located.
The factors thought to have caused this spectacular price increase vary considerably.
Some are related to demand (growth in Spanish per capita income, low interest rates and
107
easy access to credit, demand from north European citizens with higher income levels,
the propensity of Spanish consumers towards home-ownership, urban speculation, etc.),
and others to supply (restrictions on urban development thus turning building land into a
scarce commodity, improvements in quality standards for new buildings, increases in
company profits in this sector, etc). In fact, all these factors could have jointly contributed
to house-price increases in the period mentioned.
The local councils’ style of government is another active element in this market as their
decisions have an immediate impact on house pricing. As García-Montalbo [1] already
pointed out “local councils obtain a very substantial proportion of their income from taxes
and rates related to land or housing.” In addition to these, another source of income for
local councils is by auctioning land they own 6. The significance of this component for
local financing is more noticeable when bearing in mind that, according to data provided
by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance, the taxes and rates relating to land or
housing in Spain involve 48.07% of the total revenue obtained by local councils,
following the same criteria as García-Montalbo [1]. This situation encourages planning
and development policies aimed at transforming land in the municipalities into land for
urban development to generate resources for municipal coffers via rates or taxes (real
estate tax, tax on the increase of value of urban land, tax on building, work and facilities,
income on real estate and alienation of land).
The process of changing the status of land use is initiated at the request of local
governments. The way this is done depends on the ideological criteria of the governing
political parties, based on what they promised their voters. Sometimes, and this seems to
be happening in some Spanish municipalities7, policies on city-planning decisions are
driven by the leaders' personal interests or by the pressure groups that helped them gain
power, rather than by the needs of the community8. The corruption inherent to this kind
of behavior manifests in agreements between politicians and housing developers so that
the former make city-planning decisions favoring the latter in exchange for economic
compensation. Thus, by the end of the construction cycle this corruption translates into
more costs leading to house overpricing which, in the end, the consumers have to pay for.
This paper attempts to show, from a microeconomic perspective, that when the same party
is in power over several consecutive terms in local government, their political ideology
6
Under Spanish urban planning and development law, local councils can obtain land,
rights, or facilities as payment for the increase in the value of land when the land use
changes from rural to urban based on the decision of the local councils. These are called
“cesiones de aprovechamiento” and “compensaciones urbanísticas”.
7
The most notorious example of this type of practice in Spain was that of the Marbella
Town Council. Due to the constant development of local housing policies which were
marked by corruption, the Spanish Government issued the Real Decreto 421/2006 of the
7 April by which the Marbella Town Council was dissolved and substituted by a
management committee.
8
The latter case is an aberrant version of what Alesina and Roubini [2] called the partisan
model of political cycles. This situation is not only found in terms of city-planning
policies. De Rus [3], Albalate and Bel [4] and Sánchez-Ollero et al. [5] provide another
examples of biased decisions in Spain, referring to policies concerning the public
infrastructures.
108
has an effect on final housing prices when compared to terms with alternating parties. In
more specific terms, we try to verify whether the proliferation of “independent” groups
and “political coalitions”, with no particular ideological substratum, involves unnecessary
increases in housing prices when holding power in local governments, compared to
traditional political parties.
With this aim, the present article is structured as follows: Section 2 lays out the problem
from a theoretical standpoint, and includes some of the contributions made to analyzing
the impact of politics on the economy. We then describe the hedonic model of analysis
proposed in this work. Section 3 deals with the data, sources and process used in this
paper. The housing market is segmented and their corresponding estimations obtained in
the following section. Finally, the conclusions cover the points of greater interest arising
from this research.
2 THE THEORETICAL APPROACH
The impact of political behavior on the economy has been traditionally studied from a
microeconomic perspective, via the Public Choice Theory, or from a macroeconomic
perspective using political cycle models. Following the seminal works by Black [6],
Buchanan and Tullock [7] and Olson [8] among others, and as Stiglitz [9] pointed out,
the Public Choice Theory has been used to analyze patterns such as the influence of
politics on the outcomes of public decision-making regarding resource allocation and the
public mechanisms for this. On the other hand, the political cycle models developed by
Alesina [10], Alesina and Roubini [11], Alesina et al. [12] and Shi and Svensson [13],
among others, have analyzed whether factors such as the electoral periods or changes in
government have a systematic effect on the growth of GDP, employment or inflation.
Despite the fact that, in this field, the approach to the housing market has been mainly
conducted using property taxes as the explanatory variable—see Biegeleisen and Sjoquist
[14]; Dye and Reschovsky [15]; Goodman [16] and Hamilton [17], among others—in the
present study we attempt to explain the effect of local government policy on house prices
by introducing an explanatory variable that represents this effect.
We make use of the hedonic estimation techniques proposed by Rosen [18], according to
which the price of differentiated goods can be accounted for by the type and number of
attributes included in the given goods. Thus, house prices will depend on the dwelling’s
attributes which, according to the classification made by Ridker and Henning [19], can
be grouped into three different categories: structural attributes (characteristics specific to
the property); location attributes (where the dwelling is located); and neighbourhood
attributes.
The model we propose includes some structural and location variables and assumes that
the management and policies of local governments in their own area can be regarded as
a characteristic of the dwelling. Thus, the influence a given political party with a majority
on the local council has on the price of dwellings in their municipality could be measured
by introducing a dummy variable representing such an effect. Despite the fact that this
assumption challenges the dynamics of the electoral processes in which municipal
governments are immersed, since elections are held every 4 years in Spain, by using a
continuous 10-year period of local government we consider that the variable is provided
109
with sufficient stability to reflect its effect on house prices. On the other hand, all the
political parties in Spain, or in the present case, Andalusia have working groups and
steering committees, specifically devoted to coordinating municipal policy and, thus,
housing policy in the local area.
Based on the foregoing, it is reasonable to assume that these circumstances favour the
coordinated development of urban planning in local councils where there is a single
governing political party. In the case of ad hoc political coalitions and so-called
independent parties9, where there is no coordination above the supramunicipal level,
autonomous management is more likely to occur, with the consequent impact this may
have on house pricing, as described below. Furthermore, in relation to local policy
designed at the national level, the local governing political parties would offer services
aiming at making house purchasing in that locality more attractive, since, as Tiebout [20]
points out, consumers move to those communities where the local government satisfies
their preferences. Building on this idea, Göbel [21] points out that any local policy can
affect house prices in that locality, leading residents to enter or leave the local house-
buying market. Given the foregoing, another assumption is needed, that of homogeneity
in local urban and housing policy as designed by each of these national political parties.
In this study, the semilog functional form of the hedonic function of housing prices could
be:
n
ln p  β 0   β i  X i  u i  i  1, 2, , n (1)
i 1
where p represents the price of the dwelling, β the coefficients to be estimated and X the
independent variables’ vector for the three categories indicated (structural, location and
neighbourhood attributes). The dummy variables will measure the same increase in
percentage when the condition that justifies the variable is fulfilled, providing that we use
Halvorsen and Palmquist’s [22] criterion to calculate the relative effect on the dependent
variable due to variations in a dummy variable.
The possible existence of segmented markets is analyzed using location and structural
criteria to evaluate the effect of local government on the price of dwellings located in
different locations and with different structural characteristics. Three criteria are used to
test statistically the existence of segmentation in the housing market: The geometric mean
of the standard errors of the segmented models, Chow F-test on the structural equality of
parameters between two estimations and Tiao-Goldberger [23] test of individual
differences in the estimated coefficients in the chosen submarkets.
3 DATA
The data used in the hedonic regressions are from a sample of house purchasing
transactions carried out during 2007 in Andalusia, Spain. The reason for using these data
-disregarding other more recent- is based on the need to isolate disturbances in prices
9
Although as Serra [24] points out corruption is higher where political instability is a
major problem, the stability offered by this type of political parties seems not being
desirable.
110
caused by the economic crisis, whose effects in housing prices began to be felt in 2008.
This sample includes the final prices paid by consumers for their dwelling as well as a set
of structural, location, and neighbourhood variables of the properties. Table 1 shows a
definition of the variables, their mean value, standard deviation and their source.
The sample consists of 17,525 house purchasing transactions carried out in 255
Andalusian municipalities (representing 33% of Andalusian towns containing 84.3% of
the Andalusian population) by the UNICASA Real Estate Agency, and includes the 8
provincial capitals. This is the main statistical source used. On the other hand, the scarce
statistical information in this field and the difficulty in collecting data faithful to reality
are well known. The practical difficulties of random sampling in the housing market has
led a large number of authors — see Li and Brown [25], Mills and Simenauer [26],
Benson et al. [27], Clapp and Giaccotto [28], Ogwang and Wang [29], García-Pozo
[30]— to use the data provided by estate agencies. This decision involves giving up the
capacity of the sample to be representative of the population, but the gains are having data
closer to the reality of housing market.
The preparation of the variables aiming at representing the effect of political ideology in
local councils on housing prices was based on the results from the last three local elections
(1995, 1999 and 2003) held before our date set offered by the Andalusian Institute of
Statistics (IEA).
Table 1 Variables, their definition and statistics

Variables Definition Standard
Mean
Continuous variables dev
a
Lnprice Final price of the dwelling, in Log 12.23 0.49
a
Price Final price of the dwelling in € 234,427.68 153,652.91
a
Age Age of the dwelling 17.01 13.30
a
Bathrooms Number of bathrooms 1.68 0.80
Number of rooms, excluding
Roomsa 3.66 1.30
bathrooms and kitchen
Living area of the house in square
Living area a
meters 103.30 62.83
AAGRp99-07b Average annual growth rate in
population between 1999 and 2007 2.58 2.55
d
Econlevel Municipal economic level in 2003 9,346.71 872.77
d
MTI Municipal tourist index in 2003 460.69 593.59
d
MBI Municipal business index in 2003 350.27 413.61
Dummy variables
Direct access to private parking from the
DirectaccParkinga 0.04 0.19
dwelling=1; other=0
Solarpanela Solar panels installed=1; other=0 0.02 0.13
Little natural light in the dwelling= 1;
Low natlighta 0.12 0.33
other=0
Built-in wardrobes in bedrooms=1;
Builtinwarda 0.55 0.50
other=0
Lifta Lift in the building=1; other=0 0.39 0.49
111
No legal restrictions for purchasing=
Legalrestrictionsa 0.92 0.28
1;other=0
Caretakera Caretaker=1; Other=0 0.04 0.19
Horizontal (single-family)=1; vertical
Buildtypea 0.31 0.46
(Blocks of flats)=0
Private parking included in the price of
Prvparkinga 0.31 0.46
the dwelling=1; other=0
Balconya Dwelling with a balcony=1; other=0 0.57 0.49
Junk room adjacent to the dwelling=1;
Junkrooma 0.23 0.42
other=0
Orientationa South, Southeast=1; other=0 0.26 0.44
a
Qualityfloor Wood and marble=1; other= 0 0.23 0.42
Plot of land surrounding the
Landa 0.14 0.34
dwelling=1; other=0
Dwelling in province capital=1;
Provcapa 0.38 0.48
other=0
Dwelling in coastal municipality=1;
Coastala 0.54 0.50
other=0
PSOEc Dwelling in municipality governed by
this party with a majority since
1995=1; other=0 0.06 0.24
c
PP Dwelling in municipality governed by
1995=1; other=0 0.08 0.27
IULVc Dwelling in municipality governed by
1995=1; other=0 0.01 0.08
INDEPc Dwelling in municipality governed by
an independent group with a majority
since 1995=1; other=0 0.04 0.19
c
COALI Dwelling in municipality governed by
a coalition with a majority since
1995=1; other=0 0.25 0.43
Source: a UNICASA Estate Agent. b Andalusian Institute of Statistics. c Andalusian
Institute of Statistics and own. d Servicios de Estudios de la Caixa
Dummy variables were created with this data; these took value 1 when the same political
party obtained an absolute majority during three consecutive terms. A zero-value was
assigned when the political group in the municipal government changed. In this way, the
dummy variables represented the political groups in Andalusia which had been in power:
Partido Socialista Obrero Español (centre-left wing), Partido Popular (center-right
wing), Izquierda Unida-Los Verdes (left wing), Partido Andalucista (nationalist),
Coalitions (agreements between several parties to gain local power) and Independent
(without a defined ideology).
On the other hand, four variables were incorporated into the model as controls to show
the effect of other economic and demographic factors on housing price increases.
112
4 ANALYSIS OF HIERARCHICALLY NESTED SUBMARKETS
The structure of the housing market allows us to investigate the possible existence of
hierarchically nested markets. The possible existence of segmented markets is analyzed
using location and structural criteria to evaluate the effect of local government on the
price of dwellings located in different locations and with different structural
characteristics. Taking the classification of coastal and inland municipalities as the
starting point, we propose a second criterion for the segmentation of the market. This
decision is based on that fact that dwellings under the category of vertical buildings (e.g.
flats, apartments, attics, etc) are not perfectly substitutive or have little degree of
substitutability with horizontal buildings (single family houses, detached, attached, semi-
detached houses, etc). Although there are innumerable ways to combine dwelling
attributes leading to a vast number of types of dwellings, we chose this criterion following
the idea of Maclennan [31] on “product groups” in housing. Furthermore, the attributes
included in each type of residence and location may have an effect on the price of the
dwelling, due to its specific characteristics.
Following the criterion established by Thibodeau [32], submarket specification has been
solved by ad hoc analysis, but meeting the basic requirements indicated by Tu [33]. Tu
points out that in practice three criteria have to be fulfilled to define urban housing
submarkets, namely: simplicity (better a few submarkets rather than many); similarity
(the attributes making up the group of dwellings should be as similar as possible); and
territorial proximity (dwellings in contiguous areas are more likely to be part of a single
submarket than more distant ones).
This procedure, which is used to analyze nested markets, is similar to the one used by Tu
[34] and Watkins [35] when applying segmentation criteria.
The Table 2 includes the regression coefficients and their corresponding individual
statistical significance test, as well as the implicit price of each attribute under
consideration.
Regarding the econometric problems that can appear in these types of estimations, we
have to point out that all the models show acceptable levels of multicollinearity since the
scaling of the condition number, shown in the summary of statistics under each
estimation, in no case surpasses 25. The variance inflation factors (VIF) were also
estimated and their value was below 2.3 in all regressions. This confirms moderate
multicollinearity. Therefore, as Gujarati [36] points out, with a high adjusted R2 and
individually significant regression coefficients, as demonstrated by the high values of the
t-statistic, the existing moderate multicollinearity may not present a serious problem. In
addition, the presence of heteroscedasticity in the estimations was confirmed by applying
the White [37] test. Under the assumption that the variable “living area of the house”,
which is the one with greater dispersion, was the main cause of this problem, we used the
Weighted Least Squares (WLS) technique as an estimation method to obtain the best
linear, unbiased and robust estimators. After applying the appropriate techniques it was
seen that the value of the power maximizing the log-likelihood function was 0.5.Thus,
1

the weighing factor used in all regressions was " Living area of the house " since the
2
same maximizing result was obtained in all the estimations.
113
The estimations of each submarket by WLS and the market segmentation proposed using
these two criteria where we can see the hierarchical structure of the submarkets are shown
in Table 2.
The values of the adjusted determination coefficient in all models are higher than 61%
and, in the case of the horizontal buildings submarket in coastal municipalities, the
explanatory power for variations in housing prices is 72.45%. On the other hand, the
number of independent variables with economic and statistical significance is high in each
model. Furthermore, the estimation technique used (i.e. WLS) and the moderate values
of the condition number, allow minimizing the impact of heteroscedasticity and
multicollinearity, respectively.
The first outstanding fact is descriptive: the differences in the average housing price in
the different submarkets can reach 125%. This fact can be observed when comparing
vertical housing in inland municipalities (169,334.05 €), and horizontal housing in coastal
municipalities (381,673.99 €).
The values for the regression coefficients and for the implicit prices of the attributes in
some cases show important differences for each submarket. However, Table 2 shows that
the lack of good natural light in the dwelling is the most decisive negative factor for
pricing in all the submarkets. Nevertheless, the effect of the structural variables in each
one is not uniform.
114
Table 2 Regression results for hierarchically nested submarkets
Non-coastal municipality and Non-coastal municipality and Coastal municipality and Coastal municipality and
vertical housing horizontal housing vertical housing horizontal housing
Variable
t- Implicit t- Implicit t- Implicit t- Implicit
Bi Bi Bi Bi
statistic prices (€) statistic prices(€) statistic prices(€) statistic prices(€)
DirectaccParking 0.2144 6.7340 64,546.66 0.0716 5.2560 16,012.80 0.0922 4.4380 36,880.81
Solarpanel 0.2404 7.1910 73,340.68 0.2234 8.2640 95,556.61
Lownatlight -0.3207 -36.3500 -46,464.23 -0.6251 -34.1170 -125,443.13 -0.2985 -28.4250 -55,684.88 -0.6317 -23.1500 -178,736.33
AGE -0.0051 -14.1050 -868.51 -0.0034 -8.1230 -917.86 -0.0027 -10.2850 -580.63 -0.0013 -2.7700 -488.16
Builtinward 0.0781 10.8260 13,748.36 0.0901 7.4300 25,433.20 0.0474 7.8390 10,477.86 0.0929 6.8060 37,151.70
Lift 0.0985 12.3390 17,537.11 0.0558 8.9640 12,381.30
Legalrestrictions 0.0731 7.4930 12,847.80 0.0830* 2.4510 23,358.86 0.0927 9.0570 20,968.07
Caretaker 0.0950 4.1330 16,868.93 0.0946 8.8730 21,415.21
Bathrooms 0.0985 11.7100 16,676.19 0.0903 11.1370 24,358.31 0.0869 12.9840 18,740.13 0.1066 13.3700 40,671.94
Prvparking 0.0312 3.2260 5,362.49 0.0732 5.3970 20,506.12 0.0890 12.4490 20,093.54 0.1008 7.5240 40,493.37
Rooms 0.0501 11.4660 8,481.10 0.0250 5.9670 6,740.26 0.0144 4.0900 3,102.07 0.0267 5.3880 10,204.05
Balcony 0.0243 3.3930 4,164.18 0.0609 9.7820 13,555.62 0.0266* 2.0590 10,282.88
Junkroom 0.0389 4.4000 6,723.05 0.0513 4.0580 14,200.16 0.0472 5.9400 10,432.39 0.0298* 2.2280 11,544.27
Orientation 0.0211** 1.7510 3,611.26 0.0465* 2.3690 12,850.02 0.0383 6.7700 8,428.39 0.0724 5.9570 28,639.64
Qualityfloor 0.0623 6.6990 10,884.52 0.0995 13.8970 22,561.66
Living area 0.0036 23.0860 605.20 0.0019 20.6520 515.47 0.0048 34.4080 1,043.01 0.0023 23.6930 886.63
Land 0.2056 17.6120 61,609.32 0.1301 10.1420 53,025.87
Provcap 0.2260 18.8380 42,933.47 0.1371 7.3800 39,655.11 0.0599 5.3190 13,327.33 0.1526 7.7550 62,927.70
PSOE -0.1511 -10.4940 -23,743.91 -0.1581 -8.5360 -39,458.50 0.0413* 2.5230 9,102.88
PP -0.1530 -9.9820 -24,020.85 -0.2244 -9.1090 -54,241.55 0.0592 5.9460 13,165.41 0.0687* 2.2520 27,138.59
INDEP 0.1894 15.4500 45,001.29 0.2392 8.0070 103,139.28
COALI -0.0469 -4.8580 -7,751.30 -0.0513 -2.9960 -13,505.47 0.0591 6.0170 13,132.45
AAGRp99-07 0.0308 9.4270 5,223.62 0.0219 7.8230 5,920.09 0.0271 8.2940 10,346.04
IULV -0.2216 -5.7370 -33,657.28
Constant 11.2284 496.8170 11.6079 294.9640 11.375 562.4640 11.629 265.6550
Dependent variable lnprice lnprice lnprice lnprice
Mean dependent variable 11.9582 12.3589 12.209 12.6921
Mean housing price 169,334.05€ 269,880.27€ 215,765.89€ 381,673.99 €
Observations 4885 3202 7144 2294
R2-adjusted 0.6515 0.6535 0.6104 0.7245
Condition number 22.7602 24.4750 23.2658 24.2140
Note: All coefficients are statistically significant at 1%, except for those with * that are at 5% and ** at 10%.
115
On the other hand, the location of the dwelling in a province capital continues to be a
well-valued factor, except for vertical housing in coastal municipalities. This can be due
to the high demand for apartments in coastal municipalities where conditions for vacation,
rest and leisure are better than in the province’s capitals.
Regarding the variables with a political component, it is important to point out that, as a
whole and for both types of structures, the holding of power by any political group in
inland municipalities over several terms yields a reduction in the average housing prices
compared to when parties alternate in power. Although this influence is positive, it
becomes smaller when local government is in the hands of political coalitions. In the case
of coastal municipalities, the estimations yield exactly the opposite result. All groups or
political parties that governed consecutively in the last three terms in coastal
municipalities had the effect of increasing housing prices. At best, this increase was
4.13% in the vertical submarket when local government was in the hands of PSOE. On
the other hand, “independent” groups caused increases in the price of single-family
dwellings of up to 23.92%. In the light of this evidence, it is reasonable to assume that
alternating terms between different political groups may exert a necessary control
function over the outgoing party and not only in the coastal local councils.
The statistical verification of the existence of these four submarkets was made using three
criteria mentioned before. In this way, the existence of the four submarkets is statistically
confirmed.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This paper analyzes the impact of political ideology of local governments on holiday
dwelling prices in Andalusia. To detect this effect, we have used a hedonic price function
with as many dummy variables as different political groups governing these
municipalities consecutively during the last three terms. These variables were included
under the assumption of being viewed as neighbourhood variables.
We analyze a segmentation of the market based on hierarchically nested markets. To this

end, we use location and structural criteria. According to this criterion, we classified the
sample according to two types of dwellings, vertical (flats) and horizontal housing
(single-family houses), obtaining four nested submarkets. The results confirmed that the
prices of dwellings are lower in inland municipalities, whatever political party is in power.
Moreover, single-family houses located in the coastal municipalities can undergo a price
increase of almost 24% when an independent group is in power, compared to when parties
alternate in power.
On the other hand, the segmentation market model proposed has been statistically verified
by: the weighted standard error reduction test; the Chow test on the structural equality of
the parameters for housing submarkets; and the Tiao-Goldberger test on individual
difference in the coefficients estimated when taken together.
These results lead to the conclusion that either the political groups in coastal
municipalities where many vacation homes are located, and especially independent
groups, finance most of their policies with taxes and rates from building and housing, or
rather, the lack of coordination among these independent groups in terms of urban
116
planning and housing policies favours a certain degree of inefficiency in their
management thus leading to additional costs that are incorporated in the final house price
paid by the buyers. However, these two situations are not mutually exclusive.
The worst alternative there could be a scenario of political corruption where end-
consumers have to pay the mark-up deriving from these types of practices. Therefore,
citizens should strive to achieve political alternation in local councils to serve as a control
method helping to guarantee political hygiene within municipal councils and the citizens'
economic health.
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118
Theoretical identification of drivers and
barriers for setting up EMS in SMES in
China
Li, C.
Universitat Politècnica de València, Doctoral School, Spain
Segarra-Oña, M.
Universitat Politècnica de València, Management Department, Spain
Peiró-Signes, A.
Universitat Politècnica de València, Management Department, Spain
ABSTRACT
China has become the second economic entity in the world after the US. Nevertheless,
this has also been the worst period in the thousands of years of China’s history in terms
of the continual destruction of the environment. Firms should focus more on
environmental management, not only to respond to the measures that government takes
to control environmental issues, but also to ensure that they develop more sustainably and
gaining competitive advantage. The nation has large numbers of SMEs, which constitute
a main economic pillar and the analysis of how the EMS are implemented is the objective
of this chapter.
1 INTRODUCTION
China’s rapid economic development has come at a huge environmental cost. The entire
nation is suffering from environment issues because of the excessive pursuit of growth in
the GDP index and economic development whilst neglecting environmental protection
for the past century. Resources are exhausted, the ecological environment has
deteriorated, and there is a serious threat to people’s health. The terms “haze” and
“PM2.5” (indicating particle pollution) have become highly popular topics among people
in China. Economic development is gradually being restricted.
In this serious situation, economic transformation is imperative. Since the beginning of

the 21st century, there has been a greater focus on green sustainable management in the
economic development model than previously. The government has proposed a series of
philosophies, objectives, and guiding principles underpinning development, putting more
effort into environmental protection.
Enterprises have become the main force in society under the policy that the government
has pushed forward, with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) playing a key role
in the fight against environmental pollution. Therefore, SMEs are a major component of
the economic transformation and transition, with a meaningful position in sustainable
119
development and improving the environment. To enable them to play their part in
ensuring sustainable development not just for themselves but, more importantly, for
society as a whole, they need a perfect environmental management system (EMS).
On the one hand, enterprises are one of the main sources of environmental deterioration,
and should thus be responsible for remedying the harm done and preventing further
damage; on the other hand, as part of society, enterprises should take action to contribute
to social environmental issues, as does every member of society.
As a developing country, China still has a long way to go in transforming to a green

economy. Zhang and Wen [1] listed the reactive approaches and instruments of
environmental protection adopted by China in the past, pointing out that these would not
be sufficient to address the coming challenges China faces. Chinese SMEs still lack
management experience, consciousness, and effective standards for setting up their own
EMS; the developmental awareness of SMEs is still focused at the level of generating
economic revenue rather than comprehensive development.
Based on the above, this study addresses the following questions with a specific focus on
the Chinese context:
Q1: What is the significance of EMS for the sustainable development of SMEs?
Q2: What are the main drivers of and barriers to implementation of EMS for SMEs?
Q3: How might SMEs set up and maintain EMS?
Q4: What other factors could assist SMEs to employ EMS?
2 LITERATURE FRAMEWORK
The unlimited consumption of natural resources due to rapid economic development has
far exceeded the tolerance level of nature, causing a series of serious negative
consequences.
The United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development released a

report in 1987 [2], which included one of the most widely recognized definitions of
sustainable development: sustainable development is development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.
However, the term “sustainable development” has a wide range of meanings depending
on the distinct objects considered and time reference. Based on an approach using the
environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), Munasinghe [3] proposed that “developing
countries could learn from the experiences of industrialized nations, and restructure
growth and development, actively seeking ‘win–win’ policies that simultaneously yield
both economic and environmental gains”. In other words, the adoption of sustainable
strategy by enterprises will lead to a trend of economic development for the whole nation.
In 2010, Horváthová [4] performed a meta-analysis of 37 empirical studies to identify the

factors influencing the variation in empirical results in terms of environmental
performance and financial performance, and suggested that appropriate time coverage is
120
important in order to establish a positive link between environmental performance and
financial performance.
Two years later, Horváthová [5] analyzed firm-level data from the Czech Republic and
proved that environmental performance is beneficial for firms. Clarkson et al. [6], used
longitudinal data for US and found that improvements in firms’ financial resources are
followed by significant higher results in firms’ relative environmental performance.
Several management methodologies regarding the environment have been proposed and
applied widely in national systems or enterprise management around the world. The most
familiar and commonly used framework for EMS is the ISO 14000 series standard
developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1996.
Many researchers consider ISO 14000 of great significance for EMS and sustainable
development, as Conway [7], García-Pozo et. al [8], Sánchez-Ollero et. al. [9] or
Fortuński [10] who found it contributed to compliance within enterprises’ environmental
goals.
The environmental awareness of the Chinese people is rising, but there is still a long road
ahead. In the meantime, taking full advantage of concrete environmental benefits could
potentially decrease the deterioration caused by enterprises, whilst the awareness of
stakeholders could improve gradually over time. According to Li [11], China started
focusing on environmental management far later than developed countries, but in 2009,
China became the country with the most certificates in the world and maintained first
position until 2013 (see Table 1).
Table 1 Top 10 countries for ISO 14001

Top 10 countries for ISO 14001 certification
2009 2010 2013
1 China 55316 China 69784 China 104735
2 Japan 39556 Japan 35016 Italy 24662
3 Spain 16527 Spain 18347 Japan 23723
4 Italy 14542 Italy 17064 UK 16879
5 UK 10912 UK 14346 Spain 16051
6 South Korea 7843 South Korea 9681 Romania 8744
7 Romania 6863 Romania 7418 Germany 7983
8 Germany 5865 Czech Republic 6629 France 7940
9 US 5225 Germany 6001 US 6071
10 Czech Republic 4684 Sweden 4622 India 5872
Source: http://www.iso.org
Seemingly, the use of EMS has flourished in China in recent years. However, if this is
the case, why is environmental pollution worsening? This study considers that there is
certainly a link between environmental and enterprises to a certain extent.
Chinese enterprises should therefore consider a long-term development strategy rather

than “seeking nothing but profits,” leading them to take pre-emptive measures for gaining
opportunities in the global, highly competitive market.
121
Furthermore, enterprises and policymakers need to recognize that including sustainable
development in a holistic development strategy is the only way for enterprises to survive
and improve their core competences.
Therefore, to maintain economic development, China’s SMEs must recognize the

relationship between the environment and sustainable development, paying more
attention to the harmony between their activities and nature, and establishing healthier
means of production based on EMS to protect the environment.
Figure 1 depicts the conceptual framework for this study, drawing on the discussion
above. We study the drivers of and barriers to implementing EMS in SMEs, enabling the
proposal of solutions for overcoming the barriers, identifying drivers to improve its EMS;
i.e., it forms a beneficial economic cycle.
Drivers Barriers
Benefits
Solutions
analysis
EMS
establishment
Figure 1 Initial methodological framework
3 THE CURRENT STATUS OF SMES IN CHINA
3.1 Classification of SMEs in China

Zhang et al. [12] have pointed out that China is a labor-intensive nation due to its large
population, the area of its territory, and its specific national conditions and system. This
means that the classification of China’s SMEs is distinct from that of Western nations and
is more complex. In particular, China’s SMEs tend to be much larger in terms of employee
numbers [13]. According to the definition provided by the EC, the main factors
determining whether a company is an SME are the number of employees and either the
turnover or balance sheet total, as shown in Table 2.
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Table 2 Classification of SMEs in the EU
Company category Employees Turnover Balance sheet total
Medium-sized <250 ≤ €50 m ≤ €43 m
Small <50 ≤ €10 m ≤ €10 m
Micro <10 ≤ €2 m ≤ €2 m
Note. From “EU Recommendation 2003/361,” retrieved from
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-
definition/index_en.htm
However, Chinese SMEs are classified not only according to the number of employees,
but also the distinct industry [14], as represented in Table 3.
Table 3 Classification of SMEs in China

Employee numbers Annual sales/million yuan
Company
Medium-sized Small Medium-sized Small
category
Industry ≤300 to <1000 ≤20 to <300 ≤2000 to <40000 ≤300 to <2000
Wholesale ≤20 to <200 ≤5 to <20 ≤5000 to <40000 ≤1000 to <5000
Retail ≤50 to <300 ≤10 to <50 ≤500 to <20000 ≤100 to <500
Transportation ≤300 to <1000 ≤20 to <300 ≤3000 to <30000 ≤200 to <3000
Post ≤300 to <1000 ≤20 to <300 ≤2000 to <30000 ≤100 to <2000
Hotel/restaurant ≤100 to <300 ≤10 to <100 ≤2000 to <10000 ≤100 to <2000
Communications ≤100 to <2000 ≤10 to <100 ≤1000 to <100000 ≤100 to <1000
Note. From “Regulation of Classification of SMEs,” by NBSPRC, retrieved from
http://www.stats.gov.cn/statsinfo/auto2073/201310/t20131031_450691.html
China has one of the largest and most complicated market systems, and thus Chinese
SMEs have some special characteristics:
 Diversified investors
Chinese SMEs have diversified investors, who may invest in multiple enterprises with
different ownership structures. There are state-owned enterprises, collectively owned
enterprises, a considerable number of private enterprises, foreign-capital enterprises,
and Sino–foreign joint ventures, inter alia. In general, most large enterprises are state-
owned, whereas SMEs are usually not. Moreover, the percentage of private and
foreign-capital enterprises is increasing.
 Large quantity and proportion, and wide scope
China has the largest quantity and proportion of SMEs worldwide. From the statistical
data for 2011, the total number of SMEs in China is almost 50 million. Moreover, the
number continues to rise year on year, maintaining a rate of increase of around 8%
[15]. In addition, the scope of business involves nearly all aspects of life and the social
economy, including manufacturing, services, construction, agriculture,
transportation, wholesale, etc.
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 Family-style business management
Many SMEs are family enterprises, and their boundedness appears when they want
to enlarge the scale of their business and face a more complicated market. The barriers
caused by their boundedness heavily constrain development, and these include the
following aspects: first, the decision makers in family enterprises are always the elder
members of the family, an unscientific system resulting in the low efficiency of the
decision-making process, which can increase the risks to the enterprises. Second,
senior management members are assigned or controlled by their relatives, regardless
of their qualifications for holding such positions; this reduces the leverage of the
management, and sometimes results in the enterprise’s regulations and rules being
abandoned.
 Lack of professional human resources
Another important weakness of Chinese SMEs is lack of professional human

resources with a high level of management ability, including professional strategic
management personnel, professional personnel with knowledge of the relevant
international regulations, and professional personnel managing information
technology.
In a word, Chinese SMEs have a flexible business operation model but low levels of
management and informatization. In addition, their unsound regulatory structure could
also be a vital factor constraining their development.
3.2 Drivers of and barriers to establishing EMS in Chinese SMEs

The existing empirical evidence has shown that the drivers of and barriers to the
implementation of EMS are caused and influenced by distinct factors. Bansal and Roth
[16] collected data from 53 firms in the UK and Japan, revealing the motivations that
induce corporate ecological responsiveness, and theorizing that enterprises and
organizations are motivated to increase their production efficiency (internal factor) and
their legitimacy (external factor).
Through data counting and regression analyses, Anton et al. [17] found that liability
threats and stakeholders, such as customers, investors, and the public, motivate EMS
adoption; moreover, pressure from customers is especially effective in enhancing the
comprehensiveness of EMS adoption by enterprises. However, such studies tend to draw
on evidence from developed countries; few studies have focused on developing countries.
The review below gives a general view of the drivers of and barriers to EMS adoption in
Chinese SMEs, exploring those aspects that could potentially help directors, managers,
policy makers, and regulators determine appropriate measures to improve the
sustainability of enterprises.
Zhang et al. [13], using a survey of the 176 main polluting chemical manufacturing firms,
found that most SMEs implement EMS with the intention of legitimizing their business
behaviors in accordance with existing regulations, laws, and norms. Moreover, pressures
from the supply chain, customers, and the community play a significant and positive role
in inducing improvements in environmental management performance.
124
Wang et al. [18] investigated the pulp and paper industry in Shandong province and found
that most environmental performance indicators had achieved significant improvement
with the implementation of harder regulations.
Using examples of supply firms in Korean automobile supply chains, Lee et al. [19] found
that the consumers’ green supply chain management initiated and encouraged the
development of suppliers’ environmental performance.
According to Zhang et al. [13], stakeholders in this context include environmental

regulators, business co-operators, customers, and the public (the local community and the
media).
Internal drivers are defined in terms of certain features of the enterprises. First, the basic
individual characteristics of the SMEs are important determinants of their environmental
management performance levels. Singh et al. [20] compared large firms and SMEs using
the indicators of the company characteristics, such as size, age, and sector, determining
correlations with the adoption of environmental activities. This study also considers the
size, classification, age, and sector of the enterprise, of which the size and classification
could be two distinguishing drivers due to the specific national context of China.
Previous studies have shown a positive correlation between enterprise size and
environmental performance: generally, the larger the enterprise, the greater the
improvement in environmental performance. This is because large enterprises usually
have more resources to allocate and better management systems for execution. In contrast,
smaller enterprises tend to lack the operational capital or personnel necessary for
functions such as managing EMS.
The age of the enterprise also influences EMS adoption. Usually, older enterprises have
a stable foundation in their sector, meaning that they have more capital assets and mature
technology. Zhu and Sarkis et al. [21] used survey data collected from over 200 Chinese
organizations to examine the adoption of green management practices in the supply chain
and found that larger firms are usually older and more advanced than small operations.
Their greater age allows them to establish and maintain EMS with greater ease compared
to younger enterprises.
Nevertheless, the mode of strategy development and operational management in older

enterprises in China might be too traditional to undertake a transformation incorporating
a new enterprise strategy such as EMS. In contrast, younger enterprises are composed of
younger personnel, whom are more accepting of new ideas and notions conforming to the
times. Thus, they might adopt and implement EMS perfectly without any obstacles.
The nature of the enterprises could be another key factor in the adoption of EMS.
Enterprises can be differentiated according to their financial operating systems, generally
state-owned companies, privately owned companies, and foreign-owned companies.
With more modern ideas and management methods, foreign companies are supposed to
have more optimal and well-executed EMS than the other two kinds of enterprises. The
characteristics of the sector are also relevant to the adoption of EMS.
125
Enterprises in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, as well as other pollution-
intensive sectors, tend to pay greater attention to environmental issues, and thus consider
the use of EMS to be an essential element of the production process.
In addition to the specific enterprise characteristics, the management strategy, corporate

policy, objectives, and organizational culture can be considered other internal drivers for
the adoption of EMS by enterprises.
Enterprises operate based on the general operational guide defined as the enterprise
strategy. The strategy defines the business orientation and long-term objectives,
articulating the management policy that acts as the compass of the enterprises. Aragón-
Sánchez and Sánchez-Marín [22] analyzed data from 1,351 Spanish SMEs and confirmed
the importance of strategic orientation as one of the most critical elements influencing the
management of SMEs and determining their performance.
Enterprise strategy depends on several factors, including the market, the sector, the
competitors, the internal culture, and the management. Decision makers and management
play a key role in developing strategy, especially in SMEs. The environmental awareness
of the decision makers in SMEs will directly influence the extent to which they consider
integrating EMS within the enterprise strategy. The management should consider at the
strategic level whether to save operational costs or enhance the competitiveness of the
business through the adoption of EMS.
Regarding the current position of Chinese SMEs, there are certain barriers to the
implementation of EMS due to both external and internal factors. The internal barriers to
the adoption of EMS can be summarized as resource scarcity, including the following:
lack of operating costs, lack of the technology, knowledge, and experts to implement and
maintain EMS, and lack of environmental awareness on the part of management or
company personnel as a whole.
External barriers predominantly concern the related stakeholders, of which the main
component here is the customer base. Enterprises serve markets composed of customers,
and currently, many people in China do not have the strong environmental awareness that
would induce them to consume in a greener way.
The green market and green supply chain is still not mature in China. Although the
Chinese government has already taken measures to regulate and control the economic
system, paying much more attention to environmental issues instead of attaching primary
importance to increasing GDP compared to the last 20 years, it takes a long time for such
a large economic entity entirely to transform to a green economy. Therefore, in the near
future, low demand for green products will continue to be one of the external barriers to
enterprises adopting a green policy and implementing EMS.
126
4 RESULTS
Enterprises belong to society and are part of the broader market system, which means that
they are controlled and adapted by the external market environment and – in the case of
China – the government, which is behind the market.
This study discusses external drivers with regard to different stakeholders, including those
developing environmental regulations, the public as the main entity of society as a whole,
and the market elements participating in the business process, such as suppliers or
customers. By adopting EMS, firms may comply with regulations governing the
prevention of environmental accidents and improve harmony with the local community,
accordingly developing a positive corporate image and establishing a better reputation.
The drivers of and barriers identified to EMS adoption are represented in Figure 3, divided
into two different aspects: internal and external.
Internal • enterprise
characteristics
drivers • enterprise strategy
EMS Benefits
External • regulations
• enterprise perspective
drivers • stakeholders
External
barriers
Figure 2 EMS adoption drivers and barriers. Own elaboration
5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
This study is dedicated to discovering the current status of the adoption of environmental
management systems in Chinese SMEs.
The following conclusions are based on the literature review:
1. At the macro level, national sustainable development is dependent on the sustainability

of enterprises. At the micro level, as the main economic entity, Chinese SMEs must focus
more on environmental issues to make their own contribution not only for the entire
nation’s sustainable development but also for the society of which they are part. EMS can
be applied as a tool to improve environmental management; thereby, Chinese SMEs could
make great progress in sustainable development.
127
2. The main motivations for and barriers to implementing EMS in Chinese SMEs have
been determined. The key factors acting as drivers of EMS are as follows: core
stakeholders, including environmental regulators, business partners/cooperators,
customers, and the public (local community or the media); enterprise characteristics (size,
age, type, and sector); management of the enterprises. Other motivations include the
location of the enterprise and the main business market.
Meanwhile, the barriers that we have identified are the following:
 Lack of various resources including the manpower, money, time, and technology
 The execution and efficiency of the system totally depending on top management
 The insufficiency of relative support and training
Furthermore, other problems are discovered when enterprises implement EMS, including
limited communication and access to information, inappropriate marketing strategy, and
serious corruption.
Finally, the study is able to propose some valuable recommendations to improve the
current situation of Chinese SMEs with regard to environmental issues.
Primarily, SMEs and the entire nation would carry out sustainable development with
greater success and thoroughness simply by first improving peoples’ environmental
awareness.
In the meantime, SMEs should also take some measures such as providing environmental
reports to the public, setting up environmental accounting systems, etc., to make progress
within the company. From another perspective, taking full advantage of the various
applications of ICT would greatly strengthen enterprises.
Generally speaking, on the road to promoting and developing EMS, Chinese SMEs are
still in the exploratory stage, but they are facing grave challenges in the increasingly
competitive international market with rapid globalization. However, the implementation
of EMS is precisely one of the critical factors helping enterprises, especially SMEs to
maintain their advance. The current use of EMS by Chinese SMEs is still unsatisfactory
and although progressing, it will take a long time and hard effort to achieve real gains.
This research has certain limitations. First, this study is based on an academic literature
review, giving rise to potential sources of bias. Future research should progress in terms
of exploratory study and quantitative research.
128
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130
Vat and the tourism sector
Álamo-Cerrillo, R.
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Department of Political Economy and Public Finance,
Economy Policy and Statistics, Spain
ABSTRACT
The price of goods and tourism services offered by Spanish companies is influenced by
the payment of Value Added -VAT-, as they are obliged to pass it on to their customers.
So, that high tax rates discourage hoarding tourism consumption, which will impact
negatively on the sector and the economy as a whole. Lower consumption will result in
lower revenue, a fact which implies a decline in public goods and services, either in
quantity or quality.
Keywords: tourism, tax, taxrate, neutrality.
1 INTRODUCTION
The tourism sector in Spain represents 10% of the Gross Domestic Product - GDP -
Spanish, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute - INE-, reason by
which it can be stated the importance that has the same for the whole of the economy, not
to mention the relevance that this poses to the coffers of the public administration. And
as in the rest of economic and business activities that take place in Spanish territory,
tourism is subject to the tax on the Value Added Tax - on, VAT-.
VAT is an indirect tax that ultimately has an impact on the final consumers, being
entrepreneurs or professionals responsible for its management. Therefore, the impact of
tax rates on goods and services in tourism directly affects the final price at which the same
are offered. An increase in tax rates, as that took place in Spain in 2012, may have a
negative consequence for the sector overall, and an increase in final prices linked to an
economic crisis of global nature, affecting not only to Spanish customers, may cause a
lower consumption of tourism goods and services.
The same way, the reduction in consumption of goods and services in tourism has
important fiscal implications, which cannot be overlooked by the competent tax
authoritiesthe. A decrease in consumption, tourism products or any other nature, involves
a loss of tax revenue, directly impacting on the provision of public goods and services,
diminishing the quantity and quality of them.
Due to the importance of the tourism sector in the Spanish economy and the impact that
a reduction in government revenue would have on the economy, it is considered essential
that taxation that applies to the tourism sector is adequate, adapting to the specific
131
characteristics. The existence of a specific tax for the tourism sector will enable better
and more growth in the sector, resulting in new jobs and increased consumption.
Throughout this document we will focus on indirect taxation, and more specifically in the
most important indirect tax, VAT. The aim is to determine whether the VAT, mainly their
rates and special regimes, is adequated to the characteristics of the Spanish tourism,
facilitating the development of the same and therefore is an important source of income
generation.
Finally, the main conclusions that have been reached with the preparation of this
document will be presented.
2 VAT AND DIFFERENT TAX RATES
The Spanish tourism sector10, as other economic sectors where a commercial transaction
takes place11, are subject to VAT tax is regulated by Act 37/1992 of December 28th, the
Value Added Tax and by Royal Decree 1624/1992 of 29 December, the Tax Regulations
is approved. Considering the importance that tourism has in the Spanish State, it is crucial
legal analysis, without forgetting the economic impact of the main indirect tax situation
and its impact on tourism.
The taxable persons are individuals or legal entities that have the status of trader or
professional and supplies of goods or providing services in tourism, although they must
pass on the tax on the subject to which the taxable transaction is made. This means that
the final consumers ultimately are the ones who have to cope with it, therefore, the tax
rate is of particular relevance as an elevation of the same can be associated implicitly a
rise in prices end of tourist goods and services demanded.
The overall tax rate in Spain is 21%, although certain goods and services, according to
the characteristics thereof can be passed with reduced rates -10% - or super-reduced 4%
- as long as the same are included in Annex III of Directive 2006/112 / EC, although the
final decision to apply reduced rates for the States. Among the goods and services that
have a tourist character and which may be applied a lower standard rate, they are the
following:
-Foodstuffs (including beverages but excluding alcoholic beverages) for human and
animal consumption; live animals, seeds, plants and ingredients normally used in the
preparation of foodstuffs; products normally used to supplement or substitute foodstuffs;
10
Spain, with 47.109 million euros in 2013, is the EU country that has more tourism
revenue, according to Spain in Europe 2013 report, conducted by the Institute of Tourism
Studies (IET). Below are placed France and Italy with 42.239 million euros and 33,063,
respectively. As for outbound tourism, the Germans and British were the most
expenditure made, surpassing the number of tourism revenue.
11
Since constitute taxable supplies of goods and services effected in the space sector tax
by entrepreneurs or professionals for consideration, with regular or occasional basis, in
the development of their business or professional activity, even if they are made on behalf
of the members, associates, members or participants of the entities that make.
132
-Transport of persons and their baggage;
-Access Rights to shows, theaters, circuses, fairs, amusement parks, concerts, museums,
zoos, cinemas, exhibitions and other events and facilities similar cultural character;
-Accommodation provided in hotels and similar establishments including holiday
accommodation and the letting of places on camping or caravan parking spaces;
-Access Rights to sporting events;
-Services in relation with the cleaning of roads, refuse collection and waste treatment.
In Annex III can be found more goods and services that can be applied below the standard
rate, however, considering the object of study, we focused on those goods and services
that have an impact, directly or indirectly, on tourism. Increased their prices by applying
a higher tax rate can cause a decrease in consumption of the same reporting a lower tax
revenues. Whether you through VAT or by direct taxes, Personal Income tax or Corporate
Income Tax, which are required natural or legal persons engaged in tourism activities, to
reduce their income due to a fall in consumption.
It is for this reason that tourism businesses have been upset by the recent increase in VAT
in Spain, the same occurred in 2012, by Royal Decree Law 20/2012 in order to ensure
fiscal stability and fostering business competitiveness in the context experienced by the
Spanish state and other jurisdictions worldwide economic crisis. In the aforementioned
Royal Decree-Law established that the standard tax rate went from 18% to 21%, reduced
from 8% to 10%, keeping the super-reduced 4% -. Although most contentious issue, and
great importance for the tourism sector, is that some of the goods and services that so far
impacted by 4%, went to be taxed at a reduced or general. Therefore, the increase in
taxation has been important in the tourism sector, because some of the goods or services
have gone from having to pass 4% to apply a 21%, which implies an increase of the final
price or a decrease corporate profits12.
Although most of the activities in tourism has remained at a reduced rate, this has
increased by two points. In addition, three highly relevant amendments contained in the
Royal Decree of 2012 that directly affect the tourism industry, these are:
12 As is apparent Confidence Indicator of the third quarter of 2012, prepared by the

Spanish Federation of Hotels and Nebrija University, Hospitality most respondents have
taken the increase in VAT, 80%, having been an increase 2% rather than 10% as originally
planned, so it has not been transferred to prices.
They went from a reduced rate to the general: Flowers, ornamental plants alive; Supplies
of goods related to its activity by undertakers; Imports of works of art, antiques and
collectibles; Deliveries and acquisitions of works of art whose supplier is the author or
entrepreneurs resellers not entitled to deduct; Mixed hospitality services, entertainment
or discotheques, provided for performers, artists, directors and technicians to film
producers and organizers of theater services; The entrance to theaters, cinemas, theaters,
concerts or zoos; Services provided to individuals taking part in sport; Funeral services;
Health, dental care and thermal cures that do not enjoy exemption; Hairdressing services;
Delivery and reception of broadcasting services and digital television.
They spent a super reduced the general rate: The objects which by their nature can only
be used as school supplies.
133
-Tickets to theaters, circus performances, concerts or zoos. The taxation of the same to
21% have a negative impact on both tourism and cultural-tourism cultural, and directly
representing an increase of ticket prices to this kind of tourist and cultural activities.
-The importation of works of art, antiques and collectibles, the recurrence of injury to
both the tourism and cultural sector.
-Mixed hotel services, shows or clubs, in this case the great one harmed tourism sector
itself, since despite maintaining the reduced VAT rate for hotel services, and spa
encampment and in general the industry landlord does not imply that the entire sector is
applied reduced VAT, because they are excepted mixed hotel services13.
Once identified the tax rates that affect the Spanish tourism sector will show the situation
in terms of indirect taxation is concerned, the other jurisdictions of the European Union
in relation to Tourism. The aim is to know if in Spain the tax rate that applies to the tourist
activity is similar to that of other States of the European Union.
Table 1 Tax rates of certain tourist activities in the European Union
Admission
Admission to
Passenger Hotels Restaurants to
cultural
transport amusement
services
parks
Belgium 6/0/- 6 12(4) Ex/6 6
Bulgaria 20/-/- 9 20 20 20
Czech 15/0/- 15 21 15 15
Republic
Denmark Ex/-/- 25 25 25 25
Germany 7/19/- 7 19 Ex/7 19
Estonia 20/0/- 9 20 20 20
Greece 13/-/- 6,5 13 15/6,5(9) 13
Spain 10/-/- 10 10 Ex(10)/21 21
France 10/-/- 10 10(5) 5,5/20 10814)/20
Croatia 25/-/- 13 13 5(11)/13(12)/25 25
Ireland Ex/-/- 9 9(4) Ex(6) Ex/9 9
Italy 10/Ex/- 10 10 10 22
Cyprus 5/9/14 9 9 Ex/5 5
Latvia 12/Ex(1)/- 12 21 Ex/21(11) 21
Lithuania 9(2)/21/- 9 21 Ex(13)/21 21
13
Mixed hotel services include those provided by dance halls, nightclubs, discos and hotel
and catering establishments where, together with the provision of food or beverages,
recreation services of any kind, such as shows on offer, musical performances, discos,
nightclubs, dance halls or similar services.
In particular taxed at the general rate of 21%, among others: services discos, clubs, dinner
show, nightclubs, dance halls sauna, swimming pool, spa, use of tracks or athletic fields,
... provider by hotels to their customers, provided they have the character of accessory or
complementary to the service and hospitality are invoiced separately to the same services,
nightclub, dinner show, nightclubs, tablaos-flamenco, karaoke, dance halls and barbecue
, cafe-theaters, concert cafés, pubs and cafes that offer simultaneous musical or similar
actions.
134
Luxembourg Ex/3/- 3 3(5) 3 3
Hungary 27/-/- 18 27 27 27
Malta 0(3)/-/- 7 18 5 18
Netherlands Ex/6/21 6 6(5) 6 6
Austria 10/-/- 10 10(7) Ex/10 10
Poland 8/-/- 8 8(5) 8 8
Portugal 6/-/- 6 23 Ex/13 23
Romania 24/-/- 9 24 9 9
Slovenia 9,5/-/- 9,5 22/ 9,5(8) 9,5 9,5
Slovakia 0/20/- 20 20 20/Ex 20
Finland 10/-/- 10 14 10 10
Sweden 6/0/- 12 12 6 25
United 0/-/- 20 20 20 20
Kingdom
Source: Own elaboration based on European Commission (2015): “VAT Rates applied
to the Member States of the European Unión”, available in:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/
rates/vat_rates_en.pdf [04/03/2015].
Note (1): Transportation of schoolchildren conducted by specially licensed companies for
this reason. Note (2): 9% VAT rate applies to public transport services on the routes
regulars. Note (3): Passenger transport by the Public Service of scheduled buses. Other
passenger, for example, a taxi service, is 18%. Note (4): Excluded all beverages. Note
(5): Alcoholic beverages are subject to normal. Note type (6): Catering services provided
to patients in a hospital or students in their school. Note (7): 10% food, 10% milk
chocolate and 20% in coffee, tea and other alcoholic beverages or not alcoholics. Note
(8): VAT rate of 9.5% applies to the preparation of the meals. Note (9): For the theatre.
Note (10) by bodies governed by public law or by other organizations recognized as
charitable by the Member State. Note (11): Revenues in the cinema (projection movies).
Note (12): Tickets for music performances. Note (13): Provided by legal persons without
profit. Note (14): Amusement parks which culture do not illustrate any topic are liable to
the standard rate of 20%.
The difference in tax rates in the field of tourism, as seen in Table 1, is very uneven among
the different States of the European Union. In the case of passenger transport are
countries, like Britain and Slovakia to apply a type 0, against Hungary which affects 27%,
finding multiple intermediate types. The same situation is reproduced with tourist
accommodation facilities in hotels, where Luxembourg applies a 3% while Slovakia and
the United Kingdom designated 20%. As for tickets to cultural services and amusement
parks the disparity of tax rates is repeated across jurisdictions.
In the tourism sector catering we can also find other rate differential, serving beverages
supply, which varies depending on the type of degree of alcohol containing although not
so in all states and may find drinks that are issued with a tax rate of 6% in one jurisdiction
while another 27% support, such as juices, which contain alcohol-. In the case of alcoholic
beverages, differences in the application of the tax rate is less detailed.
135
Table 2 Tax rates beverages in the European Union
Spirits Wine Beer Mineral Lemonade Fruit
water juices
Belgium 21 21 21 6 6 6
Bulgaria 20 20 20 20 20 20
Czech 21 21 21 15 15 15
Republic
Denmark 25 25 25 25 25 25
Germany 19 19 19 19 19 19
Estonia 20 20 20 20 20 20
Greece 23 23 23 13 13 13
Spain 21 21 21 10 10 10
France 20 20 20 5,5 5,5 5,5
Croatia 25 25 25 25 25 25
Ireland 23 23 23 23 23 23
Italy 22 22 22 22 22 22
Cyprus 19 19 19 19 5 5
Latvia 21 21 21 21 21 21
Lithuania 21 21 21 21 21 21
Luxembourg 17 14 17 3 3 3
Hungary 27 27 27 27 27 27
Malta 18 18 18 18 18 18
Netherlands 21 21 21 6 6 6
Austria 20 20 12 20 20 20
Poland 23 23 23 23 23 8
Portugal 23 13 23 13 23 6
Romania 24 24 24 24 24 24
Slovenia 22 22 22 9,5 9,5 9,5
Slovakia 20 20 20 20 20 20
Finland 24 24 24 14 14 14
Sweden 25 25 25 12 12 12
United 20 20 20 20 20 20
Kingdom
Source: Own elaboration based on European Commission (2015): “VAT Ratesapplied
to the Member States of the European Unión”, available in:
In short, although we can find states within the European Union to apply higher than
Spain for certain activities in the tourism sector tax rates, this leads not associated with
the tourism operators are unhappy about the recent rise in the tax rate. The increase in the
final price of the good or service offered, combined with the economic crisis, with a
significant drop in consumption, not positive for the sector, which has had to do reduced
their profit margins.
136
3 SPECIAL VAT SCHEMES FOR TOURISM SECTOR
The tax also has the existence of certain special schemes14, however, there is not a specific
regime for the tourism sector, only travel agencies offer special arrangements. Therefore,
the issue to consider is whether the general scheme or other special arrangements that are
in the VAT legislation are beneficial for the tourism sector, or whether on the contrary it
would be more appropriate, to promote tourism, the design and subsequent establishment
of a special regime for the Spanish tourism sector.
Tour operators can opt for various special rules depending on the nature of their activity
also able to make use of the General Regime, based on the nature of their activity. Then
the requirements is to make use of some of the special procedures:
-Simplified procedures for charging and collection: to individuals and entities under an
imputed income in the Income Tax for Individuals will apply. Excluded from the same:
-Entrepreneurs and professionals who carry out other economic activities not
included in the simplified procedeurs scheme15.
-Those entrepreneurs or professionals you meet any of the following
circumstances, under the terms established by regulation:
-The volume of revenues in the previous year, exceed any of the following
amounts:
-For the whole of their business or professional activities, 450,000€ per
year.
-For all agricultural, forestry and livestock activities to be determined by
the Minister of Finance, 300,000€ per year.
-Special scheme Equivalence Surcharge: applies to retailers16 who are natural persons or
entities under an imputed income in the Income Tax of Individuals, who carry out their
activities in the economic sectors.
14
1st simplified system. 2nd Special scheme for agriculture, livestock and pesca.3.º
special regime for used goods, works of art, antiques and collectibles. 4th Special
arrangements applicable to investment gold transactions. 5th Special scheme for travel
agents. 6th Special system of equivalence surcharge. 7th special schemes for
telecommunications, broadcasting or television and supplied electronically. 8th Special
system for groups of entities. 9th Special Regime cash basis.
15
Except when such activities are benefiting from the special arrangements for
agriculture, livestock and fishing or equivalence surcharge. However, the exclusion will
not simplified the implementation by the employer or professional activities specified in
the regulations regime.
16
Except when such activities are benefiting from the special arrangements for
agriculture, livestock and fishing or equivalence surcharge. However, the exclusion will
not simplified the implementation by the employer or professional activities specified in
the regulations regime.
137
Retailers are not required to submit VAT returns, as it will pay your provider, but in return
must include the equivalence surcharge on their bills. The equivalence surcharge rates
will be:
-In general, 5,2%.
-For deliveries of goods to which the tax rate applicable provisions of Article 91,
paragraph one of this Law, 1.4%17.
-For deliveries of goods to which the tax rate applicable under Article 91,
paragraph two of this Act, the 0.50%.
-For the supply of goods subject to the special tax on manufactured Snuff 1.75%.
-Special Regime Safety Criteria18: special arrangements may apply taxable persons whose
turnover during the previous calendar year did not exceed 2,000,000 euros. Through the
same SMEs and freelancers who decide to avail themselves, because it is voluntary and
not have to overtake Treasury VAT on uncollected bills.
The special schemes mentioned are not intended specifically for tourism, if not for the
specific characteristics of a type of dimension-reduced company-usually regardless of the
sector in which they operate. Throughout the standard, only special arrangements are
directly related to tourism, the Special Scheme for Travel Agencies -SCTA-, although
this specialty can only be used for this type of enterprise in tourism and not by the other
companies in the sector.
The Special Scheme for Travel Agencies, regulated by Article 141 and following shall
apply, first, to the operations performance by travel agents when acting on their own
behalf to passengers and used in the performance of travel goods or services provided by
other employer or tourism professionals. And secondly, the operations performed by the
tour operators and any business or professional where the circumstances provided cited
above19.
The services provided by travel agencies are essentially hotel and catering services,
although they are not provided directly by the agencies themselves if they have to be other
entrepreneurs or professionals in the tourism sector. Travel agents thus act as intermediary
between practitioners and the final consumer. Because if hotel and catering services are
the property of the company, they may not be included in that special scheme.
In addition, the standard also states that travel agents for each passenger for the execution
of the voyage, shall be considered as single service, hence the place of performance of
taxable transactions shall be made in the place where the agency has established his
business or has a fixed establishment from which to perform the operation, so that the
services provided will be subject to VAT only when the establishment is situated in the
territory of application of the tax.
17
Reduced rates.
18
Introduced to the Act 14/2013, of 27 September, to support entrepreneurs and
internationalization.
19 The special scheme for travel agencies shall not apply to transactions carried out using
exclusively the realization of the trip transportation or own hospitality.
138
In response to as discussed above seems therefore reasonable to consider that when an
individual engages the services of a travel agency to make a move, hiring transportation
and hospitality through it, to a destination outside the territory of application of the tax
the reduced rate-and that is the one applied in Spain were applied. However, this situation
is not currently existing as the general rate applies.
Considering that the tax base for travel agents consists of its gross margin 20 instead of
applying the system impact and fees deduction -used in other regimes-as well as the
application of the general tax rate instead of a reduced by 10%, as applies to other goods
and services for lodging and transportation, type may lead to question the principle of
neutrality [1]. Ultimately, this results in discrimination for them, reducing their
competitiveness, and end users will choose to buy the goods and tourist services directly
to industry suppliers, as the price of these will be smaller, having that impact a reduced
VAT.
Apart from questioning the principle of neutrality, the VAT is a tax applicable throughout
the territory of the European Union, Spain has had to deal with a judgment of the Court21
which states that Spain has failed to fulfill a number of obligations under articles 168.226
and 306-310 of Directive 2006/112 / EC, these are:
-Exclude from the application of that special scheme sales to the public, by retail agents
acting in their own name, organized by travel agencies wholesalers.
-Authorize travel agencies, under certain circumstances, to enter in the invoice an overall
quota that is unrelated to the tax on the value added cash paid by the client, and by
authorizing the latter, whenever taxpayer, to deduct this overall amount of VAT payable.
-Authorize travel agencies, insofar as benefiting the special regime, to determine the tax
base globally for each tax period.
In short, the Special Scheme for Travel Agencies appears that presents a number of
problems -neutrality, mainly-that entrepreneurs make them reveal their dissatisfaction22,
and claim a special regime that best fits the characteristics sector.
20 The total amount charged to the customer, excluding the tax on the value added serious
operation, and the actual amount, including taxes, the supply of goods or services, carried
out by other entrepreneurs or professionals, they are acquired by the agency for use in
making the journey and result directly benefit the traveler.
21
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Third Chamber) of September 26, 2013, "Failure to
fulfill obligations - Taxation - VAT -Directive 2006/112 / EC - Articles 306-310 - Special
scheme for travel agents - Discrepancies between versions linguistic - national legislation
providing for the application of this special regime to persons other than travelers -
Concepts of "traveler" and "client" - Excluding these special arrangements for certain
sales to the public - Mention in the invoice in the amount of VAT deductible unrelated to
the tax due or supported - General determination of the tax base for a certain period -
Incompatibility "
22
Mainly the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies. http://www.ceav.info/
139
4 CONCLUSIONS
Once exposed the legal analysis of VAT within the tourism sector, focusing on primary
way the tax rates that apply to it and the existence of various special schemes, where only
one of them is applicable to companies in tourism, and these are to be travel agencies, we
can attest that despite the economic importance of the sector for the Spanish economy, it
does not enjoy any tax benefit under the VAT.
Not only cannot benefit from an advantageous tax system adapted to its characteristics,
but also recently been seen as certain goods and services in tourism have been increased
tax rate to which subjects were. As already mentioned above, this situation or results in
an increase of the final price or assumption implies a rise by the employer or professional
tourism. This negative context is compounded when you consider the circumstances of
economic crisis experienced by the global economy, leading to a decrease in consumption
of both domestic and foreign tourists. Although Spain has not excessively high tax rates,
if compared with the other States of the European Union, if the mentioned circumstances
have had a negative effect on it.
As for the special schemes, it appears that there is none that suits the characteristics of
the sector. Only travel agencies have the possibility of being taxed through a system
designed specifically for them, although it casts doubt one of the basic principles of
taxation: neutrality. Because despite offering certain goods and services that apply a
reduced rate, the rate determined to be taxed under the general, this negative
discrimination that reduces their competitiveness. In this issue we must add that when
implementing the tax rates of the State where the travel agency or its permanent
establishment, is situated, instead of the place of consumption of goods and services, may
cause a migration agency - physical travel agency- trip to traditional travel agencies that
operate through Internet-trade electronic form.
Whether good setting higher the tourism sector, travel agencies or through special
arrangements which questions the principle of neutrality, or by relocating travel agencies-
physical or virtual-tax rates territories where the tax rates that have to be smaller impact
has negative repercussions in terms of revenue collection for States. Lower consumption,
whatever the reason for it, is associated with a lower revenue both direct and indirect,
character, which will immediately affect the public goods and services provided by the
different jurisdictions, to have fewer resources for provision of taxpaying citizens.
It is therefore necessary to consider the indirect taxation of the tourism sector will again
be reviewed by the competent tax authorities, so that neither the principle of neutrality or
the adequacy are put at risk. One possible solution would be to establish a special regime
for the whole tourism sector and the possibility of applying reduced at the same rates,
which could translate into an increase in the competitiveness of Spanish tourism
companies, which would be a major impact economic for the whole Spanish state.
140
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sector
Milanés-Montero, P.
Arroyo-Farrona, A.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, the most important countries in the world have designed incentive policies
for generation of power based on renewable sources. Feed-in tariffs have been the option
used most commonly and more specifically most used in Europe. This paper shows the
need for thorough review of feed-in tariffs to orientate regulators with regard to the best
design of these incentive policies for development of the renewable energy sector.
1 INTRODUCTION
In recent years, various policies have been approved in different parts of the world
intended to increase the use of energy from renewable sources (RSS), in order to enable
pollutant gas emissions to be reduced. These also enable energy dependence to be to
reduced, helping to create a more diversified energy mix and reducing the risk of exposure
to oil price fluctuations, enabling innovation and the development of industrial capacities
to be increased, and providing benefits for regional and national economies [1-3].
These policies are of very varied types. However, feed-in tariffs (FIT) have been the most
commonly used tool in the world (see Figure 1) and more specifically in [4]. Two types
of FIT can be identified: (1) those guaranteeing payment of a certain tariff for a certain
time and whose value is independent of the market price; and (2) those that depend on
electricity market prices, offering a premium or surcharge. However, the former have
been preferred, although in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of
European countries using the latter, either as the main policy or in combination with
others, so that all of them may favour the integration of RSS on the market in coming
years [5,4].
Photovoltaic solar energy (PV) plays an important role in the contribution of RSS to
power production (See table 1), also having over 10 GW connected to the grid at the end
of 2013 (See table 2), representing 3% of European energy demand [6].
142
Table 1 Gross production of energy from RSS in the EU-28 (GWh)
Energy produced in 2000 Energy produced in 2013
Renewable source
(GWh) (GWh)
Hydro 386,303 402,154
Wind 22,254 235,012
Solar photovoltaic 118 80,867
Solar thermal 0 4,395
Tide, Wave and Ocean 507 420
Solid biofuels excluding
20,309 81,501
charcoal
Biogases 6,418 52,837
Municipal waste
7,332 18,64
(renewable)
Biodiesels 0 25
Other liquid Biofuels 0 4,259
Geothermal 4,785 5,936
Source: Eurostat (2015)
Table 2 Total installed capacity of PV in the EU-28 in 2013 (MW)

Cumulative installed Cumulative installed
Country Country
capacity capacity
Austria 613 Italy 17,928
Belgium 2,983 Latvia 1
Bulgaria 1,02 Lithuania 6
Croatia 20 Luxembourg 30
Cyprus 32 Malta 23
Czech
2,175 Netherlands 665
Republic
Denmark 548 Poland 7
Estonia 0 Portugal 278
Finland 11 Romania 1.151
France 4,673 Slovakia 524
Germany 35,715 Slovenia 212
Greece 2,579 Spain 5.340
Hungary 22 Sweeden 40
United
Ireland 3 3.375
Kingdom
Source: Eurostat (2015)
The following section contains a brief review of the FIT policies, and their main
consequences, for the four most important European countries in the PV sector: Germany,
Italy, France and Spain. The choice of these four countries is explained by the fact that
they are the ones which had reached most accumulated power at the end of 2013.
143
2 ANALYSES OF FITS IN EUROPE
2.1 Germany
FIT policies in Germany for PV energy were established in July 2004 by the Erneuerbare-
Energien-Gesetz, Renewable Energy Act, with tariffs guaranteed for 20 years, with
different values for them based on the type and nominal power of each system, being
progressively reduced every year. Hoppman et al. [7] indicate that the increase in tariffs
for roof facilities and the elimination of the maximum plant size limit were crucial to the
take-off of the PV sector, which between the end of 2003 and the end of 2008 grew from
a power of 435 MW to almost 6 GW.
New legislation was approved in 2011, maintaining remuneration for facilities for a 20-
year period. In the same year, Germany introduced what is called the Corridor,
establishing that tariffs be reduced according to the development of the PV market,
specifically according to the development of technological costs. The reduction consists
of two parts: a fixed, monthly 1%, and another variable part based on the total installed
power in that month. In addition, producers are given the possibility of choosing two
options as well as the FIT: to sell the power generated to a third party or to the market, in
the latter case receiving a premium or surcharge, the value of which is determined every
month and is revised annually [8].
In addition, new legislation was approved in May 2013, intended to promote storage
systems and encourage self-consumption. In the same year, specifically in November, the
legislation was modified again, with a 2.2% monthly tariff reduction [8].
Germany has shown that its progressive FIT reduction mechanism is the most efficient,
being constantly adjusted to the development of PV technology costs, so that it is defined
as the ‘…highly effective and widely copied German feed-in tariff system…’ [7]. As well
as these characteristics, others such as the confidence of the main interest groups, the long
term stability of the incentives policies, simple administrative procedures, as well as an
important industry, have enabled Germany to become the unquestionable leader of the
European PV market [8]. However, in spite of their effectiveness, there has been an
important increase in the costs of these policies in recent years [9].
2.2 Italy
PV FIT policies in Italy are organized around what is called the Conto Energia. The First
Conto Energia (2005) guaranteed tariffs remaining constant for a period of 20 years.
However, this regulation did not offer sufficiently attractive conditions for PV producers,
and sector development was minimal [10].
In 2007, the Second Conto Energia simplified procedures for receiving incentives,
classifying facilities into three different types: ground facilities, those partially integrated
in buildings and those integrated in buildings. In addition, through the “ritiro dedicato”,
producers of up to 2,000 MWh can sell the energy at a minimum tariff or electricity
market prices. Di Dio et al. [10] maintain that tariffs should have been reduced taking the
cost of the technology into account, so that when this was not done, there was a significant
increase in facilities which, together with the delay in the following legislation coming
into effect, brought about an increase in the costs of these policies.
144
Because of the consequences of the previous regulation, the Third Conto Energia was
approved in 2010 and included lower tariffs, also establishing a new classification of
facilities: integrated in buildings; integrated in buildings and having innovative
characteristics; concentration systems; and other facilities.
In 2011, the Fourth Conto Energia was approved, tariffs being reduced in accordance
with technology costs to guarantee the stability of the PV market [10]. This sudden tariff
reduction as well as payment delays, the limits imposed on access to tariffs and financing
of large-scale facilities, as well as excessive bureaucracy, created a climate of insecurity
in Italy, suspension of contracts, and placed numerous jobs in jeopardy [11].
Finally, the current regulatory framework in Italy is the Fifth Conto Energy (2012), which
establishes a new classification of facilities: traditional, integrated in buildings with
innovating characteristics, and concentration systems. Procedures for obtaining FITs have
been simplified, FITs are guaranteed for 20 years with constant remuneration (updated
quarterly), and new system established based on two options: (1) a FIT for energy
generated and injected into the grid; (2) a premium or surcharge for energy produced and
self-consumed. Incentives have been reduced by 50-75% compared with the previous
regulation and are updated quarterly. Reduction of these incentives is due to the decreased
cost of PV systems, the promotion of other, more efficient sectors through application of
new technologies and achievement of the country’s renewable energy targets [10]. The
FITs included in this regulation were suspended when the established maximum of
€6,700 million was reached.
2.3 France
In France, FIT policies were initially approved in 2000, and PV producers with power
capacities over 12MW, meeting the conditions of Article 10 of the act of February 10 th of
that year, were able to benefit from obligatory purchase of energy.
In 2006, a new regulation was approved, with FITs determined for 20-year periods
beginning on start-up of the installation. The applicable tariffs were different according
to the geographic location of the installation, with a limit established for the energy
purchased: (1) the installation’s peak power for 1,500 hours, for facilities on the French
mainland; (2) the installation’s peak power for 1,800 hours for other cases. Energy over
these limits was remunerated at 5€/MWh.
Then in December 2010, the French government suspended FITs for all new facilities of
power greater than 3kWp. As a result of this moratorium, PV projects were cancelled
[11].
Three months after the beginning of the moratorium, in March 2011, the incentives were
re-established with the approval of a new decree, with tariffs applicable to facilities with
power of up to 12MWp. The values of the FITs, guaranteed for a period of 20 years,
depended on facilities’ power and their type: integrated in buildings, of simplified
integration, and other types. The tariffs consisted of a fixed part, which could be increased
by a premium. These tariffs were subjected to progressive reduction the value of which
depended on the installed capacity in the previous quarter. In addition, the limits
established in the decree of 2006 for energy purchase were kept and for facilities with
single or dual-axis tracking technology, the number of hours was set at 2,200 and 2,600,
145
respectively. The remaining energy was paid at 5€/MWh. Between this decree coming
into force and November, the FITs for integrated and totally integrated facilities were
reduced by 11.7% and 18%, respectively, this reduction being 5.2% for unintegrated
facilities [12].
The most recent update of French legislation occurred in January 2013 and was clearly
retroactive, with a 20% reduction of FITs for facilities with power between 100kWp and
12MWp connected after 1 October 2012. Later, in January 2014, the tax reduction for
domestic PV systems was eliminated, which, together with important cuts in this sector,
could put it in an even worse situation. To conclude, ‘retrospective cuts on support to
industrialist and ground-mounted PV systems have resulted in a dramatic shrinking of
these segments’ [11].
2.4 Spain
In Spain, regulations contributed towards the extraordinary growth of the PV market in
the 2007-2008 period, when it grew from 544 to 2,708MW (RD 661/2007, CNE, 2013).
This was brought about by the FITs not being designed properly, as shown by generous
tariffs established for long periods, non-reduction of tariffs to match the development of
technological costs, as well as long periods of time between one regulation and the next
[13].
The cost increase caused led to the new legislation (RD 1578/2008) establishing more
modest tariffs, and fixing power quotas, as well as a new classification: type I, facilities
located on facades or roofs, with a quota of 267MW; type II, facilities not included in the
previous type, with a limit established at 133MW. This royal decree led to no new
capacity being installed in 2009.
The RD 1565/2010 then stipulated an important reduction of tariffs and their restriction
to 25 years. The aim of the regulation was to reduce electrical system costs by €4.6
million, which needed to come from reductions in incentives to the PV sector [14]. The
reductions were of 5, 25 and 45% for types I.1, I.2 and II, respectively [13].
The RD-L 14/2010 limited the hours of remunerated production by the facilities covered
by the RDs 661/2007 and 1578/2008, furthermore establishing a toll of 0.5 €/MWh for
distribution and transport of the energy. The limitation was established according to the
technology and climate zone where the plant was located. As well as the expected
negative effect on profitability, this regulation discouraged producers from making plant
operation efficient [15].
In addition, the RD-L 1/2012 indefinitely suspended incentives for new facilities, with
immediate negative consequences for the Spanish PV market. So, according to the [11],
as well as the other measures described above, numerous jobs were lost, the sector then
having between 5,000 and 7,000 jobs compared with the 60,000 of 2008.
The Law 15/2012 then established a tax of 7% applicable to renewable energy production,
so PV producers were unable to compensate for their losses, which brought the
bankruptcy of more companies and the difficulty of coping with their financial obligations
for those able to continue with their activity. Updating of facilities’ tariffs in the RDs
146
661/2007 and 1578/2008 was changed to be based on the Spanish retail price index (IPC),
bringing another reduction in remuneration for the photovoltaic sector of about 2.7%.
Finally, the Law 9/2013 decree abolished the RDs 661/2007 and 1578/2008 establishing
reasonable remuneration. De la Hoz et al. [16] maintain that this regulation reflects the
fact that the costs generated by promotion of RSS and PV energy in particular have made
the electrical system the Spanish government’s main problem, which reflects the fact that
its previous activities to control the PV market have not been sufficient.
All these retroactive measures have meant the bankruptcy of over half the PV companies,
and, on average, revenue reductions of about 30-40% for these facilities [11].
3 CONCLUSIONS
Renewable energies have acquired great importance in recent years because of their
potential to combat the threat of climate change, as well as the multiple benefits they
bring for economies and society in general. Numerous policies have been put into effect
to stimulate development of this sector. In Europe, feed-in tariffs have contributed
towards effective development of renewable energies and more specifically the
photovoltaic sector, one of the renewable sectors with greatest potential.
Nevertheless, FIT systems need to be designed correctly and revised periodically, to

match them at all times to the contribution of each renewable technology to each
country’s energy production, the status of its generation costs, and the possibilities and
needs of each region.
Germany, in spite of having limited availability of natural resources in terms of solar

radiation, has become the unquestionable leader of the European photovoltaic market. In
this sense, it has shown itself to have a very effective FIT, offering regulatory stability,
with tariffs adapted at all times to the development of the market as well as the
establishment of simpler bureaucratic procedures.
On the other hand, in recent years, certain detrimental measures have been approved,
some of a clearly retroactive nature, together with the establishment of bureaucratic
procedures in some cases excessive, as in the cases of Italy, France and Spain. All this is
caused by lack of proper design of FIT as well as the absence of thorough revisions of
them. For this reason, disastrous consequences for the photovoltaic market have been
produced. In particular, producing companies have been immersed in a climate of
uncertainty with regard to the feasibility of projects, together with the difficulty of
meeting their initially acquired financial commitments. The other members of the value
chain have also been seriously damaged, with job destruction and cancellation of new
photovoltaic projects and closure of already existing ones, so limiting a market with great
possibilities.
147
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Chapter · July 2016

Marta Plumed Lasarte Pilar Latorre

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First published in 2016 by Chartridge Books Oxford

ISBN print: 978-1-911033-14-1

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This book contains some contribution made at the VI International Conference on

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3.1 Network analysis developed for the case of Easyjet

The analysis of Easyjet as a complex network can provide a number of conclusions

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Figure 2 Example of an Adjacency Matrix (A)

Figure 3 Example of aWeights Matrix (W)

Figure 4 Complex network of Turkey’s flights

Figure 5 Number of connections of every country

Figure 6 Slovenia’s network

Figure 9 Belgium’s network

Figure 9 Spain’s network

Table 1 Weights matrix W with origin in Turkey per week

Basel- Mulhouse- Freiburg 0 0 0 1

Table 2 Density index of every country

Table 3 Degree centrality of every country’s networks

Table 4 Mediator airports in every country

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