A regional tourism vulnerability index (TVI) for Spain

Abstract

[eng] In this study, we elaborate a vulnerability index for the tourism sector in Spain on a regional scale. Nowadays, tourism sustainability has become the objective of destination stakeholders, to achieve the long-term positive effects of this sector as a socio-economic driver. Tourism intrinsic characteristics such as sector interdependence, perishability, and intangible nature make this sector more vulnerable to economic shocks. Therefore, we develop a vulnerability index based on tourism seasonality, tourism intensity and service sector resilience, covering 50 provinces of Spain for a 13-year period (2007-2019). We apply principal components analysis (PCA) by including 8 indicators that build up into a single tourism vulnerability index (TVI) on a monthly basis. Validity tests show that this composite index is a reliable tool for improving destination stakeholders’ decision-making process.