Creation of mass sun-and-beach tourism in Spain: the definition of the tourist product through architecture

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze Spain’s success in developing mass tourism between 1950 and 1965. Design/methodology/approach This analysis will be carried out from a marketing point of view using the paradigm of the four Ps: product, price, promotion and place, but focusing on the product since, as will be seen, the three other variables had a much lesser impact at that early stage. The product, in holiday tourism, is the destination, a combination in which the main protagonist is the hotel. The authors will analyse the main characteristics of the tourist accommodation on offer in Majorca and Ibiza in two ways: by studying the general statistics on the one hand, and on the other, through the detailed description of two hotel projects focused on the same tourist market but conceptually very different. In the first, a British design from 1956, we see the seed of what could have been and was not. Spain could have been filled with enclave-type tourist destinations with little connection to the local economic network. The second hotel design, on the other hand, shows us the ideal establishment for the exploitation of mass tourism in open destinations. Findings In Spain, mass tourism was explosively successful because the local business community was able to offer a very attractive product. Originality/value The authors use the architectural designs of two hotels as the central axis of the description of the Spanish tourism product.