Unemployment effects of economic crises on hotel and residential tourism destinations: The case of Spain

This paper analyses the effects of economic crises on tourism destinations from a city and regional point of view. The objective is to determine which kind of Spanish “Sun and Beach” tourism destinations, residential or hotel, has better weathered the most recent economic crisis in Spain, linked to the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8. For this purpose, the authors have analysed the increases in the unemployment rates of a pool of 138 tourist destinations located on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline. The main finding of the paper is that during the crisis, residential destinations experienced a greater destruction of employment than hotel destinations. This result is consistent with previous literature that indicates a better economic performance of the hotel tourism development model. •The impact of the most recent economic crisis on different Spanish tourism destinations is analysed.•The rise of the unemployment rate in residential and hotel specialised destinations are compared.•Economic crises negatively affect the performance of tourist destinations.•Residential destinations experienced a greater destruction of employment during the recent crisis than hotel ones.•The differences observed between the two types of destination are significant.