Tourism in the Economic Regions’ Development (Case of Spain)

Abstract

The article deals with the Spanish experience in the implementation of a number of regional policy instruments to reduce socio-economic disparities between the Spanish Autonomous regions. The paper presents Spain’s position on European regional tourism market and in the international ranking of the tourism sector competitiveness. The author examines the importance of tourism to stimulate the depressed regions development. The paper presents the key performance indicators depicting implementation of regional policies in the promotion of tourism and provides a list of Spanish Autonomous regions that received funding in the framework of regional initiatives.