Unsustainable models of governance belonging to a widespread neoliberal mindset in developed countries have commonly been applied in the tourism industry. The management of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis has provided exemplary lessons regarding the application of sustainable models of governance. Through a participatory research, guidances are provided to tackle the COVID-19 effects in the tourist sector, namely in the Spanish southwestern region of Sierra de Gata. Seventeen indicators are proposed to enhance the safety measures, commitment of tourist authorities, communities empowered and protection of common resources among tourism industry, tourist authority and communities to spread cooperative awareness, mutual trust and shared objectives. Using a sample of 161 tourism companies, we tested a model of tourism governance with two focus groups during May and October 2020. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilized. Based on the data attained from a questionnaire and interviews, a sustainable tourism model to recover the threatened tourism sector is proposed. Indeed, our results can be used to draw theoretical and practical conclusions such as 1.) connecting private and public interactions to tackle the spread of the virus and strategies to recover the damaged tourist sector, 2.) to develop corporative values among the tourist industry and communities, 3.) to enhance governance models (trusts, consortia, tourist boards, clusters) to promote cooperation, 4.) to improve the local participation of companies, communities and associations in decision-making, and 5.) to prioritize qualitative development goals over quantitative ones, in the touristic territory. These conclusions are applicable to other regions suffering from the damaging consequences of the pandemic.

Achieving sustainable economic development is one of humanity’s greatest challenges, and, in this regard, the United Nations has promoted a line of research based on sustainable economic development. In view of this, our study focused on the sustainable economic development of nations, specifically, development through the deployment of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Academic researchers recognize the importance of ICT for economic and sustainable development, but there is controversy in the literature regarding two opposing points of view. First, there is a view that advances in ICT support Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, while, on the other hand, the view is that there is no relationship between these two factors. In view of this, we conducted a study where the objective was to determine whether investing in ICT contributes to sustainable economic development (measured by the GDP per capita) of European Union countries. We used Eurostat data and applied the partial least-squares (PLS) method to address the study. This approach allowed us to analyze European Union countries from 2014 to 2017, using fairly rigorous data. The most outstanding result was that ICT accounted for most of the explained variance in GDP per capita (GDPpp), and, specifically, the most representative indicator was “digital public services.” Therefore, we concluded that investing in the deployment of ICT supports the sustainable economic development of European Union countries. These countries should focus on investing in improved connectivity in areas with poor communications, as well as in training area inhabitants in the use and development of ICT to obtain greater development using these tools and technologies.

The health crisis caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease has devastated the worldwide hospitality sector. The current situation has led many countries to implement drastic rules to stop the spread of the virus. According to the Spanish health authority decisions need to be made in the context of uncertainty and lack of knowledgeable experiences through a gradual and asymmetric de-escalation process planned in four phases. Although the vast majority of studies refer to economic risks and impacts on tourist flows and economic income, few of them explicitly investigates safety and health measures that hotel managers should implement to their customers. Over a population of 12,740 hotels, 823 Spanish hotel managers have been involved in a participatory study. With the aim of assessing the actions taken to stop the spread of the virus, empirical research was implemented. A model presented four variables and 13 indicators which have been previously tested among hotel managers in the tourism sector. Five conclusions are drawn from the hypotheses: (1) Mass testing surveillance in customers and employees should be quick, affordable, and homogeneous throughout the European Union. (2) Training measures need to be taken by both public authorities and the private sector to reach a knowledgeable crisis management team with high commitment to the customer’s health and safety. (3) Protocols established by public authorities should be observed and adjusted gradually not only in hotels but also in tourist arrivals. (4) Healthy measures need to be periodically updated. (5) Each hotel should set up a surveillance process to guarantee the safety to their customers.

Según la OMT (2020), España recibió 83,7 millones de turistas en 2019. Hasta donde sabemos, pocos estudios han profundizado en qué mueve a los turistas, realmente, a visitar las zonas semidespobladas de España. Este artículo tiene como objetivo desarrollar un modelo explicativo de las motivaciones y expectativas turísticas en áreas del sudoeste de España, particularmente Extremadura. El modelo que presentamos clasificó, partiendo de la jerarquía de necesidades de Maslow, algunos factores que la literatura considera relevantes, como son las condiciones socioeconómicas de los visitantes y la satisfacción de la experiencia turística. La muestra consta de 6.106 entrevistas personales realizadas a visitantes. Las hipótesis sobre las relaciones causales se plantean a través de un modelo de análisis multivariado.