COVID-19 as a stimulus for growth? The Spanish journalistic treatment of tourism during confinement

Figures & data

Figure 1. The frequency of Spanish newspaper articles on COVID-19 and tourism.Source: Own elaboration.

Figure 2. Word cloud by frequency in headlines. Source: Own elaboration.Note: The word tourism includes two related terms touristic and tourist.

Table 1. Thematic content of the labels

Category	Content
Estimate	Quantitative data predicted for a future stage.
Assessment	Quantitative data referring to a past stage which is analysed and assessed.
Overall reflection	Interviews and reports of experts.
Closures & cancellations	Temporary and definitive closures of tourism elements and companies, cancellations by the demand and the consequences.
Reopening & reactivation	Reopening of tourism elements and companies, reactivation of the sector, approaches and consequences.
Infections	Outbreaks, infected customers, measures to prevent the infection of residents, fear of infection. Medicalised hotels, quarantine centres.
Borders	Quarantines, repatriation, control and closure of borders, international measures.
FreeCOVID	Stamp and labels. Air and public health corridors TiG Safety measures: Tests, physical protective equipment, capacity restrictions, etc.
Plan	Reactivation plans, state pact and coordination between sectors. Economic measures, tourism modes, phases and de-escalations. Promotion plans: Initiatives, campaigns and promotional plans of the destinations, generation of new tourism products. Actions of the property sector and reconversion of housing used for tourist accommodation.
Subsidies	Temporary lay-offs and economic and tax subsidies for companies and destinations.
Demand	Contribution of the perspective of the tourists.

Source: Own elaboration.

Figure 3. Semantic network contrasting confinement and recovering growth measures. Source: Own elaboration.

Figure 4. Frequency of each thematic typology in the news. Source: Own elaboration.

Figure 5. The frequency of Spanish newspaper articles on COVID-19 and tourism by approaches.Source: Own elaboration.

Figure 6. Map of the spatial distribution of the number of news items published in the period analysed.Source: Own elaboration.

Table 2. Comparison between the amount of news about overtourism areas (consolidated coastal and urban destinations) and undertourism areas (interior)

	Overtourism		Undertourism
	TOTAL	%	TOTAL	%
Number of news items	1,079	100.00	735	100.00
Subsidies	77	5.58	43	5.85
Closures and cancellations	98	7.11	41	5.58
Infections	91	6.60	46	6.26
Demand	11	0.80	35	4.76
Estimates	91	6.60	66	8.98
FreeCOVID	190	13.78	124	16.87
Borders	46	3.34	19	2.59
Plan	128	10.28	76	10.34
Promotion	96	6.96	95	12.93
Reopening	124	8.99	90	12.24
Reflection	44	3.19	14	1.90
Assessment	83	6.02	86	11.70

Source: Own elaboration.

Figure 7. Frequency with which each actor appears in the news (%). Source: Own elaboration.