Competition Law in Tourism

ICT AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR MORE EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL 399 participation of everyone in the process, can we talk about sustainable tourism. This is one of the main objectives of the intervention of Law and Administration in the sector, reach a level of tourism development appropriate, i.e. profitable, without forgetting that uncontrolled growth can cause significant damage to the environment and society, which, in the end, has a very negative effect on the sector itself5. 2. TOURISM IN SPAIN: A STRATEGIC SECTOR FOR THE ECONOMY That tourism is a very relevant sector, essential rather, for the economy of our country is nothing new. On the contrary, we have become accustomed to economic information, pointing to the importance of this sector for the excellent progress of the economy. The published data do nothing but confirm this idea. On the one hand, according to the Tourism Satellite Account in Spain (CSTE, in Spanish)6, published by the National Institute of Statistics, the sector contributes 11.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which translates into 125,529million euros, a figure nothing despicable. On the other, the contribution to employment accounts for 13% of the total, that is, 2.56 million jobs7. Therefore, in view of the data above, as well as Spain’s position as a world tourist destination, we must maintain this high level of competitiveness that happens, without a doubt, by betting on a change in the tourist management 5 This paradox seems to refer to FERNÁNDEZ RODRÍGUEZ, C., in “El valor de lo intangible y armonizado en la calidad turística europea”, Revista de Derecho de la Unión Europea, no. 24, 2013, p. 343, when he states that “when talking about tourism and sustainable development are relating two phenomena that, in themselves, can be at first sight, contradictory: a phenomenon that from the numerical point of view and quality can be deteriorating environmental in which it develops and another phenomenon that precisely pursues the reverse effect: that the development and the environment be maintained at such a point of equilibrium that there is a perfect interaction sustained over time and for the enjoyment of future generations”. 6 The Tourism Satellite Account of Spain (CSTE) is a summary statistic composed of a set of accounts and tables, based on the methodological principles of national accounting, and which presents the different parameters of tourism in Spain, for a reference date Dadaist. The current base is the year 2010, and it basically comprises three types of elements: - Accounts and offer tables, in which it is a question of characterising the production structure and the costs of tourism companies; - Demand tables, in which the aim is to characterise, from the economic point of view, the different types of tourists, national tourism, the type of goods and services demanded, etc; and - Tables that interrelate the supply with the demand, which allow obtaining integrated measurements of the contribution of tourism to the economy through macro variables such as GDP, production or employment. 7 2016 data, published on www.ine.es on 18 December 2017.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==