Resumen de Study of relationship between Spanish Airport and Destination Marketing: Insights for Destination Management Organizations

Lázaro Florido Benítez, Jeet Dogra

• This study examines airports as an essential tool in the strategic and marketing plans of Spanish destinations, but we are aware that every tool has a mathematical and social divergence. In the case of Spanish airports, these have been the Gates of Paradise of the Spanish tourist destination, but at the same time they have become the controller of the future of many Spanish tourist destinations, in which they condition the economy, urban planning and the labor and social scenario of the natives of that territory. The first objective is to analyze the hegemony of airports as a link to entry to the Spanish destinations, whereas, the airport and destination are communicating vessels that favor the tourist growth of Spain, but this has created a high dependence on destinations in their short and long-term plan. The second objective is to evaluate whether there are other alternatives for short and long-distance transport that reduce competition in the Spanish air sector. Finally, the third objective is to examine whether the record of tourist arrivals to Spain through airports is good for the strategic plans of Destination Management Organizations that stress quality. This correlation is not always feasible and acceptable in tourist destinations