Outsourcing and Tourism in Spain: Impacts and Trends
Outsourcing: Causes, Features, and Territorial Imbalances
Causes of Outsourcing
- Increased standard of living (higher consumption)
- Evolution of industry (industrial development, modern tertiary sector)
- Development of certain tertiary activities (tourism, hospitality, utilities)
- Increased participation of women in the workforce (domestic help)
Features of Outsourcing
- Classification:
- Private services (economic benefits)
- Public services (funded by taxes, provided to society by the state)
- Sub-sectors:
- Business services (R&D has grown)
- Distribution services (transport, trade)
- Social services (health, by public administration)
- Consumer services (hotels, which have gained weight)
- Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) represent 80% to 99% of the total in labor growth (not mechanizable)
- Service contribution to GDP (60% in developed economies with a high standard of living)
- Pricey services (services substitute for goods)
- Incorporation of new technologies (creation of new services)
Territorial Imbalances
Factors influencing territorial imbalances include population size, degree of urbanization, development, and income levels.
- Tertiary level: More common in tourist areas (Canary Islands, Balearic Islands) or state service centers (market center, Madrid), and less common in agrarian regions (La Rioja, parts of Castile).
- Service contribution to GDP (higher in more advanced service sectors):
- Qualified services (large cities like Madrid and Barcelona)
- Consumer services (hotels)
- Outsourcing of services is less common where there are fewer qualified workers
Future increases in inequalities are anticipated.
Tourism in Spain: Resources, Types, and Impacts
Tourist Destinations
Tourism encompasses activities performed by people during travel and stays outside their usual environment for leisure or other reasons, without pay, for a period of less than one year.
Resources
- Natural: Variety of terrain, geological formations, beaches
- Cultural: Monuments, historic towns
Features
- Tourist Offer: Products and sellers include institutions that promote tourism at international fairs and tourism offices (travel agencies). Tourist facilities cover needs for board, lodging, and leisure. Maintenance includes catering services. The provision of recreation facilities now includes sporting events and recreational parks.
- Tourism Demand:
- Foreign: Western and Northern Europe (in summer, seeking sun and beach areas with direct contracting of services)
- National: Madrid and Catalonia, distributed throughout the year with direct hiring of services
- Excessive seasonality of demand, particularly in summer, is a problem, leading to seasonal excess infrastructure.
Types of Tourism
- Coastal and beach (sea, rivers, reservoirs)
- Thermal tourism
- Mountain tourism (snow skiing)
- Ecological (natural areas like national parks)
- Rural (peace and environmental quality)
- Urban (cultural tourism, historical cities)
Tourist Areas
- High Density:
- Sun and beach (Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and the Mediterranean coast) with good climatic conditions. Accessibility has improved to be more accessible to customers. This model occupies different areas, modifying or setting up extensions, with hotel-based accommodation.
- Madrid, the capital and financial administrative center, without seasonality of tourism, featuring cultural and business tourism.
- Medium and Low Density:
- Parts of the Mediterranean coast and South Atlantic (sun and beach areas, less saturated)
- Galician and Atlantic coasts
- Specific tourist spots (Courchevel for skiing, historical and artistic cities)
Repercussions of Tourism
- Demographic: Coastal areas see population increases due to job opportunities. Tourism increases the population employed in the tertiary sector and construction. In rural and mountain areas, depopulation has slowed.
- Settlement: In coastal areas, urban populations expand. Rural and urban areas in mountainous regions see the rehabilitation of built heritage.
- Economic: Tourism generates 12% of employment and wealth, exerts a multiplier effect, and contributes 11% to the country’s GDP. It compensates the commercial balance and helps reduce external debt. It also influences transport policy, leading to improved transportation, modernized and expanded airports, and increased port capacity.
- Political, Cultural, and Sociological: Tourism fosters rapprochement between peoples and stimulates local social change and modernization.
- Planning: In coastal areas, land is converted into recreational surfaces. Environmental and landscape alterations occur (e.g., dams). Economic changes include land revaluation. Conflicts arise over land use and resources (e.g., water). In rural and mountain areas, there are conflicts related to rural development. Historic cities specialize in tourism.
- Environmental: Impacts on infrastructure and the environment.
Problems and Policies
- Predominance of the traditional model
- New demands
- Growing international competition
- Policies in Spain: Increase the quality of supply, diversify the offer, use new technologies for customer engagement, promote knowledge and innovation, improve marketing, and achieve sustainable tourism.