A regional analysis of Tourism Specialization in Spain

Tourism sector is playing an important role in the development of a region, contributing to the economy growth and job creation. Despite of the actual crisis, Tourism activities continues to growth in the last year (UNWTO 2011). Also, Spain maintains in the better positions of the world ranking. Furthermore, Tourism activities generate around 10% of GPD and represents 11.5% of total workers of the Spanish Economy. Nevertheless, this is not true for all the Spanish Regions. There are regional differences in the number of tourist arrivals, level and quality of employment, number of open Hotels, amenities, etc. Consequently, it is necessary to concentrate on tourism phenomenon and its economic measurement. The main purpose of this paper is to analyses the tourism specialization in the Spanish Provinces. In general previous literature supports the idea that tourism enhances economic growth (Neves & Maças 2008). Tourism specialization has a positive and significant effect in different areas of our economies, for example, GPD, labour conditions, educational level?For that reason, it is essential to review the previous literature and clarify which indicators are the best ones to measure tourism specialization. Could tourism specialization make a difference in the regional economy? In order to study the tourism specialization, we focus on demand and supply side variables for tourism sector. Such factors may concern the quality and the capability of a destination to attract visitors. Moreover, we have included amenities variables referred to natural places, recreational sites and climate. We developed a cluster analysis to try do differentiate the tourism specialization. It is essential to understand the relationship between tourism characteristics, amenities and its economic impacts for public policies and tourism managing.