An integrated CRITIC-VIKOR model for overtourism assessment in Spain: post-COVID-19 sustainable actions

ABSTRACT

The tourism industry has developed rapidly in recent decades. This boom has led to overtourism in some tourist areas of Spain. The COVID-19, on the other hand, has paralysed the sector and must be reactivated without reproducing past errors. Overtourism remains open to subjective interpretations due to the paucity of precise measurements. This emanates from the fact that overtourism lacks a realistic set of indicators to quantitatively measure its negative impact. The main objective of this paper is to provide a set of indicators that allow reviewing and redirecting decision-making at the business and political levels. An integrated MCDM approach has been applied namely the CRITIC method for calculating the weights of the indicators, and the VIKOR method for assessing the alternatives. The case study of Spain provides useful insights, and the obtained results demonstrated that the economic indicators hinder sustainable development and contribute to worsening the tourist attitude. Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.