The year 2022 has seen a consolidated recovery of the tourism industry. How has the tourism sector closed the year? What are the effects of the return of tourist overcrowding? Gemma Vallet, director of 11Onze District, and Càrol Rafales, from the product team, analyse the situation in a new episode of La Plaça de Territori 17.

Tourism continues to be one of the main economic engines of our country, the fastest-growing economic sector over the last few decades and the one that has withstood periods of crisis the best. The return to ‘normality’ has led to a satisfactory recovery of the tourism sector after two years of hardship. The influx of international tourism in Catalonia stands at 88% of pre-pandemic levels.

However, as Vallet points out, “although this figure is optimistic, we still have some way to go to recover economically” and, on the other hand, “there is a new massification of tourism that is having a negative impact on the Mediterranean“. A fact that poses a challenge when it comes to protecting, conserving and regenerating the landscape of the Catalan coastline.

The new economy has to be linked to sustainability

Global warming is not consolidating but tending to accelerate at an ever faster rate. The Mediterranean is one of the areas most affected by climate emergencies, where meteorological studies show more intense and more prolonged droughts.

As the director of 11Onze District explains, “the United Nations has warned us that the Mediterranean is warming 20% faster than the global average“, therefore, “measures must be taken urgently to ensure that the tourism sector is sustainable, no matter what”.

The transformation of the tourism sector is essential for the expansion of the economy, but it must be anchored in a sustainable environmental and social ecosystem that ensures the well-being of people and the future of our planet.

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