Tourism has a leading role in heritage cities and this implies a major challenge. The overall objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of tourism planning and management with the view of achieving sustainable tourism in the historic center of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The study addresses topics collected during a long research process of more than 10 years, such as strategic tourism plans, the implementation of quality management systems for tourism, the tourist supply and the regulation of flows. The results show a destination that has introduced alternatives to improve the tourism experience and diversify its offer beyond the Camino de Santiago. There is also growing concern in promoting the sustainability of the historic center. From our point of view, the strengthening of synergies between the different agents involved in the tourism sector of the city has been a key factor in dealing with this situation. However, in this sense, the main problem which is decongesting the tourist flows to the cathedral and its surroundings is still unresolved.

The concern about the production of international standards to measure the sustainability of tourism is present today, especially the discourse on the introduction of new sources. This article aims to survey and describe the main approaches and methodologies to use big data to measure tourism sustainability. Successful cases are addressed by explaining the main opportunities and challenges for the creation of official tourist statistics. A comprehensive review of publications regarding this field was carried out by applying the systematic literature review technique. This contributes a knowledge base to destination management organisations to encourage the implementation of official tourism statistics systems using big data.

To understand the significance that cultural heritage has today and, above all, the role of citizens in decision-making for its valorisation, transmission, and management, it is necessary to approach it from a very early age, specifically through childhood education. Hence, this action research study is proposed for 56 infant teachers in initial training at the University of A Coruña (Galicia, Spain). This is a descriptive case study that aims to investigate the perceptions of early childhood education teachers in initial training about cultural heritage (definition: economic, cultural, and educational uses; agents involved in its transmission, management, etc.). In addition, the paper analyses the changes and continuities that occur in student teachers’ perceptions after carrying out a didactic proposal through relevant social problems linked to the Ribeira Sacra cultural landscape. This action research study has allowed students to give more importance to intangible cultural heritage and to gain a better understanding of controversial issues related to cultural heritage, such as the balance between economic and cultural use, as well as citizens’ roles in a decision-making process related to cultural heritage. Despite engaging in didactic activities, a substantial portion of students still retain a conservative outlook on heritage education.

Heritage plays a significant role in understanding historical societies, particularly intangible heritage, as a legacy kept “alive” solely by the action of communities. Therefore, it holds great education potential in the context of critical citizenship education. This action research aims to investigate the perceptions of primary education teachers about intangible heritage and its didactic potential in critical citizenship education. In addition, this paper analyses the changes and continuities that occur in student teachers’ perceptions after carrying out a didactic project focused on relevant social problems linked to the Way of Saint James. This case study is proposed for primary teachers in initial training at the University of A Coruña (Galicia, Spain). The study was conducted during three academic years (2020–2023), with the participation of 160 student teachers. The questionnaire, the interview, and the focus group were used as research instruments. Students learned to give more importance to understanding intangible heritage and reconsidered it as an educational resource for critical citizenship education. However, many aspects of a traditional heritage education remain, where what matters is to respect and care for what is inherited without questioning its current value or its suitability for transmission to future generations.

Este trabajo estudia el perfil del visitante en Santiago de Compostela y lo compara con el de otros destinos culturales del mundo. Se tomó como base la metodología de ATLAS y se realizaron 400 encuestas a visitantes. Se aprecia el perfil del tradicional turista cultural de edad madura que viaja por vacaciones. Experimenta más motivación por el ambiente del lugar que por el aporte de conocimiento. Asimismo, considera que la arquitectura histórica es el mayor atractivo de Santiago, aunque muestra interés por actividades culturales que impliquen una experiencia más creativa y participativa.