Local perceptions of tourism planning: the case of Cuellar, Spain

The rapid and unplanned speed of development that took place on the Mediterranean Coast of Spain, after WWII led to some well documented negative impacts. In the closing decade of the 20th century, however, the Spanish Government took steps to rationalise development by adopting a more sustainable and planned approach. This includes the twin-track formulation of new tourism development plans to improve the quality of the well established Spanish tourist resorts (Plan de Excelencia Turistica), and develop new tourist resorts in municipalities where tourism activity did not exist (Plan de Dinamizacion Turistiea). Taking the inland village of Cuellar, which acted as a pilot for the national scheme, this paper draws on primary evidence in the form of nonprobability sampling, to provide some insights into local perceptions about the way the first Plan de Dinamizacion Turistica was approached. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.