Is social tourism a vector for destination resilience to external shocks? Evidence from Spain.

Abstract

Unpredictable external shocks exacerbate the negative effects usually attributed to cyclical seasonality. Two such recent shocks, the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, shifted debates from crisis management toward concerns for greater resilience in visitor economies. Social tourism is an effective stimulus to destination economies and ameliorates some negative effects of seasonality, but there is little evidence on its contributions to greater destination resilience. Furthermore, resilience, a relatively new concept, is poorly defined. We establish a conceptual link between seasonality and resilience through a holistic multivariate analysis of supply, demand and employment patterns. An empirical study examines resilience longitudinally using municipal-level data, applying multivariate analysis and innovative visualization techniques, and assesses how, where and to what degree the Imserso social tourism program has contributed to the greater resilience of Spanish destinations, demonstrating its effectiveness in contributing to resilience in those which are more vulnerable due to high seasonal imbalances.