Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sustainable Tourism Indicators in Cities

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Spanish Tourism Geographies

Part of the book series: Geographies of Tourism and Global Change ((GTGC))

  • 187 Accesses

Abstract

Tourism development must be accompanied by an appropriate transference and use of knowledge to make better informed decisions. Accordingly, this chapter considers Sustainable Tourism Indicators (STIs) and their use in assessing sustainable tourism in cities. The study aims to: (i) identify specific components of urban environments in which tourism generates added, or different, pressures to those generated in other geographical environments (coastal, rural, and mountain) in relation to sustainability; (ii) gather relevant experience of the use of indicators relating to urban or tourism sustainability; (iii) exemplify the implementation of STIs in urban destinations through gathering several experiences in Spanish cities.

Through literature review and desk research, eight critical elements for tourism sustainability in cities are identified: the use of public space, infrastructure and services, tourist-resident coexistence, air quality, urban landscape, tangible and intangible heritage, safety and the cost of living. Although “urban nature” significantly influences tourism sustainability, analysis of various STI proposals confirm that there is no single, universally-accepted system to measure tourism sustainability through an urban lens. Thus, there is a gap in knowledge that clearly needs to be addressed. Arguments for the usefulness of having “urban-adapted” STIs to manage urban destinations are exemplified through experiences in Spanish cities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alfaro Navarro, J. L., Andrés Martínez, M. E., & Mondéjar Jiménez, J. A. (2020). An approach to measuring sustainable tourism at the local level in Europe. Current Issues in Tourism, 23(4), 423–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez Díaz, R., & Valdés Peláez, L. (2016). Selección e indicadores para la evaluación del desarrollo sostenible de un destino turístico. Aplicación al municipio de Gijón. ROTUR, Revista de Ocio y Turismo, 11, 12–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amore, A., & Hall, M. (2016). From governance to meta-governance in tourism? Re-incorporating politics, interests and values in the analysis of tourism governance. Tourism Recreation Research, 41(2), 109–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aranburu, I., Plaza, B., & Esteban, M. (2016). Sustainable cultural tourism in urban destinations: Does space matter? Sustainability (Switzerland), 8(8), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aranda, S., & Bosque, R. (2014). Propuesta de indicadores ambientales para un turismo sostenible en la ciudad de Zaragoza. Geographicalia, 66, 99–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aris Anuar, A. N., Noorbaizura Bookhari, S., & Azah Aziz, N. (2012). The effectiveness of Safe City Programme as safety basic in tourism industry: Case study in Putrajaya. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 42, 477–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashworth, G., & Page, S. J. (2011). Urban tourism research: Recent progress and current paradoxes. Tourism Management, 32(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barcelona City Council. (2016). Cens d’activitats econòmiques en planta baixa de la ciutat de Barcelona. Barcelona City Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barcelona City Council. (2017b). Percepció del Turisme a Barcelona. Barcelona City Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barcelona City Council. (2017c). Distribució territorial de la renda familiar disponible per càpita a Barcelona 2017. Barcelona City Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barcelona City Council. (2019). Estadística i Difusió de Dades. Anuari estadístic de la ciutat de Barcelona 2019. Barcelona City Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barcelona Turisme. (2019). Barcelona, por un turismo accesible. Barcelona Turisme.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biermann, F., Kanie, N., & Kim, R. E. (2017). Global governance by goal-setting: The novel approach of the UN sustainable development goals. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 26–27, 26–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blancas, F. J., González, M., Lozano-Oyola, M., & Pérez, F. (2010). The assessment of sustainable tourism: Application to Spanish coastal destinations. Ecological Indicators, 10(2), 484–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanco-Romero, A., Blàzquez-Salom, M., & Cànoves, G. (2018). Barcelona, housing rent bubble in a tourist city: Social responses and local policies. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(6), 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castellani, V., & Sala, S. (2010). Sustainable performance index for tourism policy development. Tourism Management, 31(6), 871–880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CITTIB & University of the Balearic Islands. (2000). La mesura de la sostenibilitat del turisme a les Illes Balears. Indicadors de Sostenibilitat del Turisme a les Illes Balears. CITTIB.

    Google Scholar 

  • Claveria González, O. (2009). Dimensió econòmica del turisme. In F. L. Palomeque (Ed.), Atles del Turisme a Catalunya. Mapa Nacional de l’Oferta i els Productes Turístics (pp. 455–461). Generalitat de Catalunya.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cócola Gant, A. (2016). Holiday rentals: The new gentrification battlefront. Sociological Research Online, 21(3), 112–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cool, S. F., Moisey, R. N., & Nickerson, N. P. (2001). What should tourism sustain? The disconnect with industry perceptions of useful indicators. Journal of Travel Research, 40(2), 124–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diaz-Parra, I., & Jover, J. (2021). Overtourism, place alienation and the right to the city: Insights from the historic Centre of Seville, Spain. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(2/3), 158–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elorrieta, B., Cerdan Schwitzguébel, A., & Torres-Delgado, A. (2022). From success to unrest: The social impacts of tourism in Barcelona. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 8, 675–702. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-05-2021-0076

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ETC. (2021). Sustainable tourism implementation. A framework and toolkit to support national approaches. ETC.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016). The European tourism indicator system ETIS toolkit for sustainable destination management. Luxembourg. https://doi.org/10.2873/982144.

  • European Commission DG Environment. (2018). Indicators for sustainable cities. In-depth report 12, produced for the European Commission DG Environment by the science communication unit. UWE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández, H., & Pardo, D. (2016). La lucha por el decrecimiento turístico: El caso de Barcelona. Ecología Política, 52, 104–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Güell, J. M., & González-López, J. (2016). Cities futures. A critical assessment of how future studies are applied to cities. Foresight, 18(5), 454–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Font, X., Torres-Delgado, A., Crabolu, G., Palomo Martinez, J., Kantenbacher, J., & Miller, G. (2021). The impact of sustainable tourism indicators on destination competitiveness: The European tourism indicator system. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1910281

  • Fraiz Brea, J. A. (2018). El turismo sostenible y sus derivadas. Cuadernos de derecho local, 39, 229–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Füller, H., & Michel, B. (2014). “Stop being a tourist!” New dynamics of urban tourism in Berlin-Kreuzberg. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(4), 1304–1318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gahin, R., Veleva, V., & Hart, M. (2003). Do indicators help create sustainable communities? Local Environment, 8(6), 661–666.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Hernández, M., de la Calle-Vaquero, M., & Yubero, C. (2017). Cultural heritage and urban tourism: Historic city centres under pressure. Sustainability (Switzerland), 9(8).

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Catalonia. (2013). Compravendes d’habitatges registrades i el preu de venda a Catalunya. Government of Catalonia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Catalonia. (2017). Lloguers Barcelona per districtes i barris. Government of Catalonia.

    Google Scholar 

  • InvesMark. (2019). El turismo en Gijón 2019. Retrieved on 6th July 2022 from https://gijonturismoprofesional.es/es

  • Junta de Andalucía. (2015). Sistema de Indicadores de Desarrollo Turístico Sostenible para Andalucía (Consejería). Consejería de Turismo, Comercio y Deporte, Junta de Andalucía.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koens, K., Postma, A., & Papp, B. (2018). Is overtourism overused? Understanding the impact of tourism in a city context. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(12), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latorre, J., & Solá, J. (2016). La apertura de Gijón al futuro: La revisión limitada del Catálogo Monumental. VLC arquitectura, 3(2), 149–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López Palomeque, F., Vera-Rebollo, J. F., Torres Delgado, A., & Ivars Baidal, J. A. (2021). El turismo, ¿fin de época? Desafíos de España como destino turístico en un nuevo escenario. Publicacions de la Universitat de València, Colección Desarrollo Territorial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marco-Serrano, F., & Rausell-Köster, P. (2005). Una aproximación al turismo urbano: el valor de la ciudad empaquetada en el caso de Valencia. Revista de economía, sociedad, turismo y medio ambiente: RESTMA, 2, 9–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martins, M. (2018). Tourism planning and Tourismphobia: An analysis of the strategic tourism plan of Barcelona 2010–2015. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 4(1), 3–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathieson, A., & Wall, G. (1982). Tourism, economic, physical and social impacts. (9ª ed.). Longman Pub Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKercher, B., Shoval, N., Park, E., & Kahani, A. (2015). The [limited] impact of weather on tourist behavior in an urban destination. Journal of Travel Research, 54(4), 442–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milano, C. (2017). Overtourism y Turismofobia. Tendencias globales y contextos locales. Ostelea School of Tourism & Hospitality.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, D., Merrilees, B., & Coghlan, A. (2015). Sustainable urban tourism: Understanding and developing visitor pro-environmental behaviours. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(1), 26–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of the Environment. (2003). Sistema español de indicadores ambientales de turismo. Centro de Publicaciones, Secretaría General Técnica del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of the Environment and Fluvial and Marine Environment. (2012). Sistema de indicadores y condicionantes para ciudades grandes y medianas. Retrieved on 4th April from http://www.upv.es/contenidos/CAMUNISO/info/U0722854.pdf

  • Morales, M. C. (2011). Marca Gijón: La imagen de la ciudad. Liño: Revista anual de historia del arte, 13, 123–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, I. (2014). Bienvenidos a la fiesta: turistización planetaria y ciudades-espectáculo (y algo más). Ecología Política, 47, 87–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Navarro Jurado, E., & Solis Becerra, F. J. (2009). La importància dels indicadors de sostenibilitat en les destinacions turístiques. Aplicació d’indicadors de capacitat de càrrega a la Costa del Sol oriental. Anuari de l’Agrupació Borrianenca de Cultura: revista de recerca humanística i científica, 20, 31–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, S. J., & Hall, C. M. (2003). Managing urban tourism. Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palou, S. (2016). Destinació BCN. Història del turisme a la ciutat de Barcelona. Efadós – Ajuntament de Barcelona.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pareto Boada, P., Torres-Delgado, A., Cerdan Schwitzguébel, A., & Elorrieta Sanz, B. (2020). Sostenibilidad social del turismo en Barcelona: un análisis geoespacial. In G. X. Pons, A. Blanco-Romero, R. Navalón-García, L. Troitiño-Torralba, & M. Blázquez-Salom (Eds.), Sostenibilidad Turística: overtourism vs undertourism (pp. 249–264). Palma (Illes Balears).

    Google Scholar 

  • Romagosa, F. (2020). The COVID-19 crisis: Opportunities for sustainable and proximity tourism. Tourism Geographies, 22, 690–694. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1763447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salom, J. S., & Pitarch-Garrido, M. D. (2017). Análisis del impacto en el turismo de la estrategia de desarrollo urbano basada en megaproyectos. El caso de la ciudad de Valencia. Cuadernos de Turismo, 40, 723–726.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez, M., & Pulido, J. I. (2008). Medida de la sostenibilidad turística. Propuesta de un índice sintético. Editorial universitaria Ramón Areces.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sancho, A. (1998). Introducción al turismo. OMT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saupin, G. (2011). Gijón: From Asturian regional port and Industrial City to touristic and cultural Centre for the European Atlantic arc, from the nineteenth century to the present. In P. Borsay & J. K. Walton (Eds.), Resorts and ports: European seaside towns since 1700 (pp. 167–182). Channel View Publications.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tervo-Kankare, K. (2011). The consideration of climate change at the tourism destination level in Finland: Coordinated collaboration or talk about weather? Tourism Planning & Development, 8(4), 399–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Timur, S., & Getz, D. (2009). Sustainable tourism development: How do destination stakeholders perceive sustainable urban tourism? Sustainable Development, 17(4), 220–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres-Delgado, A., & López Palomeque, F. (2014). Measuring sustainable tourism at the municipal level. Annals of Tourism Research, 49, 122–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres-Delgado, A., & Saarinen, J. (2013). Using indicators to assess sustainable tourism development: A review. Tourism Geographies: An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment, 16, 31–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres-Delgado, A., López Palomeque, F., Elorrieta Sanz, B., & Font Urgell, X. (2021). Monitoring sustainable management in local tourist destinations: Performance, drivers and barriers. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1937190

  • UN. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vera, J. F., & Ivars, J. A. (2003). Measuring sustainability in a mass tourist destination: Pressures, perceptions and policy responses in Torrevieja, Spain. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 11(2–3), 181–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vila, M., Costa, G., & Rovira, X. (2010). The creation and use of scorecards in tourism planning: A Spanish example. Tourism Management, 31(2), 232–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visit València Foundation. (2022). VLC Visit València. Retrieved on 8th July 2022 from https://fundacion.visitvalencia.com/

  • Wheeller, B. (1993). Sustaining the ego. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1(2), 121–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WTO. (1996). What tourism managers need to know: A practical guide to the development and use of indicators of sustainable tourism. UNWTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • WTO. (2004). Indicators of sustainable development for tourism destinations. UNWTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • WTO. (2012a). Global report on City tourism – Cities 2012 project. UNWTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • WTO. (2012b). Tourism and intangible cultural heritage. UNWTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • WTO. (2022). SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities. Tourism for SDGS. Retrieved on 29th March 2022 from https://tourism4sdgs.org/sdg-11-sustainable-cities-communities/

  • WTO & World Tourism Cities Federation. (2018). UNWTO/WTCF City tourism performance research. UNWTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyss, R., Abegg, B., & Luthe, T. (2014). Perceptions of climate change in a tourism governance context. Tourism Management Perspectives, 11, 69–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaar, M. H., & Pontes da Fonseca, M. A. (2019). Turismo y consumo del espacio urbano en Barcelona. Análisis de la relación residente-turista en el barrio de la Barceloneta. Cuadernos de Turismo, 44, 487–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaragoza Turismo. (2017). Plan estratégico de Turismo de Zaragoza 2017–2021. Retrieved on 8th July 2022 from https://www.zaragoza.es/sede/portal/turismo/

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 890281.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    Anna Torres-Delgado

  2. University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Anna Torres-Delgado

  3. Independent Scholar, Barcelona, Spain

    Aurélie Cerdan Schwitzguébel & Pol Pareto Boada

Authors
  1. Anna Torres-Delgado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Aurélie Cerdan Schwitzguébel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pol Pareto Boada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Torres-Delgado .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

    Asunción Blanco-Romero

  2. Department of Geography, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma, Baleares, Spain

    Macià Blázquez-Salom

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Torres-Delgado, A., Cerdan Schwitzguébel, A., Pareto Boada, P. (2023). Sustainable Tourism Indicators in Cities. In: Blanco-Romero, A., Blázquez-Salom, M. (eds) Spanish Tourism Geographies. Geographies of Tourism and Global Change. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39780-6_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39780-6_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-39779-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-39780-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation