Tourism Advertising in Times of Crisis: The Case of Spain and COVID-19

Abstract

The paralysis of tourist activity during the closure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic makes the communicative management of the crisis essential, especially for a country as reliant on tourism as Spain. The purpose of this research is to understand the values on which the communicative campaigns disseminated during and at the end of the “state of alarm” are built by applying an analysis based on those proposed by several authors focused on brand aspects, transmitters, persuasive and communicative elements, coherence, communicative objectives, and messages. The results show the existence of a national dialogue from the local and regional to the state level that aims to reinforce the image of the country and its main tourist demands while seeking to raise awareness (promise of consumption), through a message of hope, recovery, health, but also of enjoying the life associated with the tourist pleasures that Spain offers.

1. Introduction

Tourism advertising has collected, for decades, the social, political, and economic reality of tourist destinations and allows, insofar as it is part of persuasive communication (Marín et al. 2021; Sanz-Marcos 2020), to build a brand image (a “country brand” or a “city brand” or “citybranding”) for these destinations with the ulterior objective of introducing that tourist image in the mind of the tourist, as a potential and real consumer, achieving not only the visit and the desired behavior, but also that it is repeated (He and Luo 2020; Dávila-Lorenzo and Saladrigas-Medina 2020; Hernández 2019). Until the declaration, on 11 March, by the World Health Organization of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, the main barrier that tourism advertising had to overcome was the difficulty to differentiate itself in a crowded market (on a world level, but also locally), trying to maintain a difficult balance between the homogenization of the offer and its diversification and specialization (Arana et al. 2020), considering the susceptibility of the sector to any event, of any kind (Xin et al. 2019). Today, when in many countries, such as Spain for example, sanitary security measures are still in place to prevent outbreaks of the disease, the main obstacle to tourism, generally as an activity, is none other than reactivating an essential sector for many economies, whose impact is being greater than happened in the Chinese economy with the SARS epidemic in 2003 (Dombey 2004). This is not so from a social perspective.

For tourism advertising in particular, to disseminate and transmit the messages typical of tourist destinations from a commercial and consumer perspective, but also of tranquility and security, as new or urgent features of the brand image of the tourist destination (Armirola et al. 2020; Ramírez 2020).

In 2019, according to the World Tourism Organization, Spain rose from third to second in terms of tourist arrivals, maintaining second place in terms of income, which makes Spain the second largest destination in the world in terms of arrivals (as well as for income). The impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector has been noted worldwide; The UNWTO itself announced, in May 2020, a global fall of the sector of 22%, an impact that, at the Spanish level, will be drastic with regard to foreign tourism, a section that will subtract more growth from national GDP1, whose recovery forecast does not place similar numbers prior to the pandemic until at least one year ahead2.

All of this will not only force Spain to channel the commitment to and towards internal or external tourism and to national tourists, but also to set up communication campaigns and actions (tourism advertising and promotion), aimed at transmitting a safety message capable of reducing fear and the uncertainty generated by the pandemic (Moral-Moral 2021). These campaigns, as we will try to analyze in those selected for this work, interrelate common discursive elements, namely tourist policies of destinations, infrastructures, and tourist resources of all kinds (natural, cultural, heritage, etc.), with other elements of the so-called post-COVID-19 speeches, such as the appeal to a conducive environment as safe and guarantor of protection, health, and medical facilities (Jiang and Wen 2020), as one more quality of the tourist experience (Zelenka et al. 2021).

2. Theoretical Framework

2.1. Tourist Advertising

In this socio-historical context, when the globalized economy has been so affected, the competition between the different tourist destinations is focused on the construction of a distinctive and relevant brand image that encompasses the different spaces of its territory, which can be configured from the smallest scenario, understood as “city brand” (Castells 2005; Florida 2008; Sassen 2007; Soja and Kanai 2007), to other broader ones such as community or national ones, that is, the image of the tourist brand as an autonomous community and the image of the “country brand” in its entirety. In this sense, the Spain Brand, and the tourist image that it projects, not only acts as an “umbrella brand”, having communicative and tourist discursive elements typical of its different communities, provinces, and cities, but it also configures a discourse, and consequently, an own tourist image, differentiated from the sum of its parts, but maintaining discursive coherence, we continue to speak in communicative and tourist terms, which guarantees the identity and unity of the tourist image of Spain as a destination.

This image as a destination is configured through tourist advertising, the objectives of which are, roughly: to publicize or inform about a product, understood as a tourist destination, build a brand image, positioning against the competition, making the product tangible, transmission quality, the purpose of seasonally adjusted demand, elimination of stereotypes, and the resolution of eventual problems caused by unforeseen circumstances or crisis situations. That is, beyond its purely commercial work, it also aims to help in the management of problems that arose during the crisis caused by COVID-19, at least in terms of transmitting a message that benefits both the tourist image and the recovery of the activity of the destination it represents (Barrientos et al. 2018; Caldevilla-Domínguez 2014).

Tourism advertising, since most of the time, has a public institution as issuer and advertiser, and is considered institutional advertising and appears encompassed within the so-called institutional genres, where tourist texts originated in official organizations with the always aim to strengthen or position the image of a specific tourist destination. The campaigns combine the beliefs, ideas, and impressions that any person, as a potential tourist or consumer, can have of a place or tourist destination. These ideas, “are the basis for proposing others that allude in general terms to the reputation, fame or ideas that tourists have regarding a place and its possibilities for leisure and enjoyment” (de los Monteros et al. 2012, p. 1410). The image, therefore, “that exists beforehand in the mind of the potential user about a destination or a specific service will be decisive for the decision-making process and will affect the type of activity required, even if said image does not correspond to reality”. (Getino 2009, p. 39).

At present we are witnessing a professionalization of advertising communication of a tourist nature, as well as a high confluence of competing agents in this field: not only are other countries advertised as tourist destinations, but the Autonomous Communities themselves, provinces, cities, and municipalities compete in attracting travelers and tourists.

It is understood that tourism activity requires advertising for the dissemination of its services and attractions, with the ultimate aim of seducing potential demand and generating economic income for the host communities, being those communication and advertising activities that are consistent with the provision of tourist goods and services of the destination which most and best benefit potential tourists and local residents. Any advertising aimed at attracting tourists to a specific geographic area will establish a certain image of that place. In this sense, it is understandable that the recipients of advertising campaigns (tourists and local residents) are affected by their appreciation of tourist destinations and locations in terms of their motivations, perceptions, and decision-making, respectively (Emeri 2012).

It should be taken into account that, as we have already stated, tourist advertising messages not only seek to attract tourists, but they also achieve political objectives to the extent that territorial identities are built that allow differentiation from the competition. In this way, tourism communication becomes a doubly effective instrument. On the one hand, it generates income for an important sector of society; on the other hand, it serves the ideological interests of its propagators, disseminating concepts and values very close to the person in power at that time (Lora 2005). In relation to the current socio-health context, these ideological interests, without being emptied of their political component, are oriented more towards reducing fear and uncertainty; that is, they disseminate concepts and values that reassure and shape the image from the tourist destination to safety as a quality value.

During the months of recovery of normality, both in relation to the reactivation of the production sector and mobility and consumption and tourism experience, “country brand” or “city brand” projects become extremely important (Kolotouchkina and Blay Arráez 2015), understanding, at the same time, that the communicative and advertising actions derived from them are an essential link between destinations and tourists. An even more important link if we consider that a large part of the tourism discourse, of direct promotional impact, is no longer in the hands of the tourist destination or the issuer of the promotional tourist message, but is built from the experiences and expectations of travelers and tourists shared through social media. Therefore, the message that the issuer spreads must be aware of the opinion and feelings of its potential consumers in order to continue participating in the media discourse around tourism. The control, or rather, the management of this tourist discourse in the media, is essential when, in addition, it is carried out in a crisis situation.

2.2. Tourism Destination Marketing and Communication in Time of Crisis

The global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, although comparable to other crises or disasters, whether natural or caused by humans, has a “deeper dimension, individually and socially, since it affects, not only the survival of people but also society in all its dimensions. Its impact effects will condition tourism activity as we know it since it is directly affecting the mobility of people, the essence of tourism”. (Navarro Jurado et al. 2020, p. 1).

The crisis and health emergency have also highlighted an informational and communicative crisis and emergency, because, although they were already known and even studied phenomena (Zannettou et al. 2019; Sánchez Cotta 2019), during the pandemic we have been able to attend a notable increase in hoaxes and false information (Pennycook et al. 2020; Salud sin Bulos 2020), with the intention of misinforming, that is, generating and disclosing false or incorrect information with the malicious intention of deceiving. Such has been the situation that, at the time the pandemic was declared, the WHO warned of an “infodemic” or lack of truthful information published and disseminated both in the media and on social media (Critikián and Núñez 2021; Martínez-Rolán et al. 2019) (social networks and digital platforms)3.

From the theories of persuasive communication and public relations, mainly, crisis communication has been studied due to the effect and impact it has on the brand image and the reputation of organizations, in this case, of the tourist destination and its issuer (Caldevilla-Domínguez et al. 2020).

For Fita (1999, p. 194), the crisis or emergency, as a sudden change and disaster of balance and normality, endangers the image and reputation of an organization, generating a conflict that will always have a public and media dimension, moreso if the crisis is caused by causes beyond the organization. In other words, the initial impact of the crisis and health emergency caused by the pandemic has a general impact and scope, and it is the management of communication during that crisis that determines the image and reputation during and after it. Communications, in our tourist-type object of study, or issued from a tourism management organization, aims to ensure good communication management during the crisis, guaranteeing a message, as we will see, of tranquility, security, hope, and gratitude, while maintaining the image and reputation of the tourist destinations they represent, without being blurred by uncertainty.

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed that tourism is not a priority. Limited, if not paralyzed, the mobility of travelers, the management of the crisis is oriented, at first, to the impact and losses that will affect the sector economically, in addition to many other activities structured around tourism (Navarro Jurado et al. 2020; Arbulú et al. 2021). The most tangible negative consequences are the priority (Dolphin 2000). In fact, the economic perspective, a study of the economic effects of crisis on tourism as an industry, is usually the most common, both during and after emergencies (Ritchie 2008; Becken and Hughey 2013; Nguyen et al. 2016). Although there are not many who articulate their speeches around the impact on the sector and the consequent scenarios of social vulnerability in the affected tourist destinations (Aledo et al. 2020)4.

Little by little, it is necessary to manage the impact that the crisis has on the image of tourists, the “mental structure that the public have been forming as a result of the communicative inputs that have been arriving from the organization itself or from other organizations such as the media” (Jiménez Morales and San Eugenio Vela 2009, p. 111), i.e., the dominant tourist image during the crisis is that of an absolute stoppage of activity, in economic and production terms, but also in terms of consumption and experience. An image that little by little has been transformed into a reduction in consumption possibilities, limiting the tourist experience. In other words, communication in a crisis, in relation to tourism, has been so important in configuring consumption options (trips, experiences, etc.) that, after only a few hours after the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, announced (on Saturday, 23 May) the possibility of enjoying national tourist destinations with almost total freedom since the end of June, the search for hotels and other hospitality services within Spanish borders increased by 142% (Hosteltur 2020). As can be understood, “crisis management is inseparable from communication management” (Cierva 2009, p. 1624).

Within the strict tourist field, there are no precedents for the current crisis caused by COVID-19, although “a cross-sectional reading allows us to identify points of agreement between those studies on other tragic catastrophes experienced, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, macro-fires... even terrorist attacks” (Navarro Jurado et al. 2020, p. 2). This time, there are substantial differences, and “we do not know when this crisis will end, which forces us to formulate different scenarios with different levels of destruction of wealth and suffering“ (Navarro Jurado et al. 2020, p. 2). Given the prevailing distrust, fear and risk, it is only possible to guarantee, even if it is on paper, security and trust from the scientific discourse (Ritchie 2004; Mair et al. 2016; Calgaro et al. 2014). Therefore, from these other types of emergencies data can be extracted on the impact on tourist services (Tsai and Chen 2011), as well as having examples of the most suitable strategies for recovering the image and reputation of a tourist destination affected by a crisis (Wang and Ritchie 2012). Also, on the new models that will be imposed from a Social Responsibility perspective (Vargas 2020; Hassan and Soliman 2021), new models that integrate different approaches that have already been studied and applied in the improvement and empowerment of tourist destinations (Soteriades 2012), where they become very important, although they already had it, and perhaps more after home confinement in use of the digital environments, especially social media (Hays et al. 2013), as a form of permanent contact with tourist.

3. Methodology

Our analysis is included in the studies on the management of institutional advertising, public interest advertising, in our case, tourism, of a qualitative nature due to its textual and content component. (Bardin 2002; Piñuel 2002), stopping in the discursive elements contributed from the communicative, advertising, and marketing spheres applied to tourism or the tourist brand image.

The preceding analyzes and sources cover different perspectives, public and institutional communication in which tourism advertising fits whose origin is in public administrations. (Arena 1995; Salerno 2000; Sotelo Enríquez 2001; López 2001; Viedma 2003).

The study of the brand image and tourist image (Freire 2007; Jiménez Morales and San Eugenio Vela 2009; Brent and Hudson 2009; de los Monteros et al. 2012; Palacio and Molina 2015), including strategic, conceptual, and analytical proposals (González 2008; Campubrí et al. 2009).

We also differentiate studies that build the image from the perception of the public to whom it is directed or affected (Therkelsen and Gram 2008), and from the tourist space or territory itself (Anholt 2008; Lora 2005; Martínez Pastor 2013); the responsibility of public institutions when creating a (tourist) brand image of the country as a destination that permeates in a downward direction, establishing coherence with the brand images of communities or cities, but without losing their own identity (Hankinson and Cowking 1993; Anholt 2008, 2011).

Methodologically, a qualitative study is applied on the chosen campaigns, selected based on criteria in accordance with the characteristics of each one of them, which promote a certain image of a tourist brand in a context of very marked crisis, the pandemic caused by COVID-19, which unifies the very conditions in which the texts were produced.

Starting from the analysis tables proposed by Alonso González (2008) and Martínez Pastor (2013), we specify the variables to be analyzed as follows:

• Brand; it will allow us to know if the campaign corresponds to “country brand” or “region brand”, or if we use the terms of Alonso González, “umbrella brand” or “pedestal brand”.
• Transmitter; it will allow us to know how the issuer is reflected in the text.
• Persuasive and communicative elements, such as: campaign logo or slogan, images, texts, protagonists of the campaign, use of music, and voice-over.
• Internal and external coherence, that is the suitability of the campaign.
• Advertising and communication objectives; In other words, the aim is to build or reinforce a tourist brand image, to inform, convey quality, and so on.
• Message; what it transmits, as an objective and in essence, regarding the context of crisis and health emergency as a consequence of the pandemic. Here we will consider, as a tourist message, what is the promise launched to its potential consumers: security, tranquility, reunion, and so on.

We will follow this analysis scheme to guarantee that each of the elements and variables are subjected to the same observation criteria.

4. Analysis and Results

The selection criteria of the analyzed campaigns (see Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5) respond to, on the one hand, being campaigns issued during confinement and the “State of Alarm” decreed in Spain on 14 March 2020 (still in force, but it is its last phases, at the moment to write these words), come from different levels of public administration (country, community, and city) and represent essential tourist destinations for the tourism sector and activity in our country.

Therefore, the chosen campaigns are:

• “Spain awaits you”, developed by Turespaña (Spanish Tourism Institute).
• “Andalusia wants you at home”, developed by the Junta de Andalucía.
• “Itxaropena (Esperanza)”, created by the Basque Government (Department of Tourism, Commerce, and Consumption).
• “#Much to live”, a campaign designed by the Gran Canaria Tourist Board (Canary Islands).
• “Together we have never lost. Thank you, Madrid”, issued by the Madrid City Council.

We present the results below (see

Table 1. Analysis of the campaign “Spain Awaits You”.

Brand	Country brand, which represents the Spain Brand. Also, “umbrella brand”.
Transmitter	Represented through the logo of Spain designed by Miró in 1983.
Persuasive and communicative elements	The slogan appears at the end, with the characteristic ‘pad’ of social networks. Voice-over is used which is, at the same time, subtitled. It refers to common tourist scenarios (coves, mountains, villages, sunny landscapes, etc.), and introduces aspirational elements (dreaming, the Antonio Machado quote, etc.) The images belong to recognized tourist destinations, interspersing others of an intimate nature that refer to those aspirational elements (reverie, road, etc.). Anonymous, but not real, protagonists (commercial campaign). Dynamic music that invites reflection and action.
Coherence	Suitability of the campaign, launched late in the confinement to materialize and strengthen national tourism.
Goals	Reinforce the (tourist) image of Spain.
Message	Hope and reunion, with destinations and with the activities of tourism. The motto “Spain awaits you” introduces the possibility (promise) of tourism, that is, it builds, together with the rest of the element, a positive scenario for the recovery of normality (tourist and, it is understood, general).

,

Table 2. Analysis of the campaign “Andalusia Wants You at Home”.

Brand	Region brand, Autonomous Community of Andalusia; “Pedestal mark.”
Transmitter	Represented throughout the campaign through the ‘A’ logo of the Junta de Andalucía; finally, through the own logo of the tourist actions of the Autonomous Community.
Persuasive and communicative elements	To the tourist motto “Andalusia loves you” has been added “at home”, using the same colorful typography, but framing it in a sketch that represents a house. Voice-over is used which is, at the same time, subtitled. Among the references to its own tourist settings (beaches, landscapes, cities, culture, art, etc.), it introduces elements of identity value (‘special light’) typical of its people and their characteristic (tourist) spaces. The images belong to places of tourist interest typical of the region, in addition to interspersing others of protagonists enjoying the Andalusian pleasures (joyful, fun, full tourist experience, etc.). Anonymous, not real, protagonists (commercial campaign). Dynamic, joyful music, which moves because of the fullness shown, even when it cannot be enjoyed.
Coherence	Appropriateness of the campaign to raise awareness of confinement (it eliminates the obligation for the commitment and solidarity to stay at home as a value of that ‘special light’ of Andalusian citizens), in addition to introducing the idea of returning to these tourist pleasures.
Goals	Reinforce the (tourist) image of Andalusia; awareness and commitment that integrates into that image all its recipients, from the region or potential visitors.
Message	Awareness and reunion. Confinement commitment defined as identity and solidarity value, in addition to the promise to once again, enjoy the Andalusian pleasures (joy and passion) among them and “shared with the whole world”.

,

Table 3. “Itxaropena” campaign analysis.

Brand	Region brand, Basque Country Autonomous Community; “Pedestal mark.”
Transmitter	Represented through the logo and image of the Basque Government.
Persuasive and communicative elements	The campaign is called “Itxaropena” (hope), but the slogan that appears at the end is “Euskadi awaits you, we will see each other again, keeping the typography of the initial title. Voice-over, subtitled, is used. It establishes its discourse around hope, related to the conjunctural feeling of confinement, and with tourist scenarios typical of the Basque Country (landscapes, mountains, valleys, waters, beaches, food, and flavors, etc.). It relates the hope of enjoyment of these own tourist products with the hopeful feeling of recovery of freedom (understood in this context). The images represent scenarios and activities characteristic of the tourist options of the region. Anonymous, not real, protagonists (commercial campaign). Dynamic music that introduces sounds typical of Basque musical culture.
Coherence	Appropriateness of the disseminated campaign when the possibilities of mobility, and with them tourism, is a reality.
Goals	Reinforce the (tourist) image of the region, of Euskadi.
Message	Hope, as a feeling and as a reunion action through what defines Basque tourism.

,

Table 4. Analysis of the campaign “#Much to live”.

Brand	Region brand, Gran Canaria province; “Pedestal mark.”
Transmitter	Represented through the institutional logos of the Cabildo and the Gran Canaria Tourist Board.
Persuasive and communicative elements	The slogan, coinciding with the title of the campaign, appears at the end including the ‘pad’ of the (textual) language used in social networks. The voice used, not subtitled, recreates a conversation between mother and daughter, diegetic at the beginning, extradiegetic at the end, when the mother’s voice is actually the voice of Gran Canaria. It appeals to the activities that can be shared in and with the region (tourist destination), which is supported by being close to and in the Canarian inhabitants themselves. The images combine commercial formats with other more ‘domestic’ or ‘mobile, trying to reproduce the video call conversations so typical of confinement. They refer to places and tourist spaces characteristic of the region. Non-real anonymous protagonists (commercial campaign) are combined with real anonymous protagonists (images collected from real life), which involve different formats. Rhythmic and upbeat music that invites action (described in the images).
Coherence	Suitability of the campaign, remembering, in the days prior to summer planning, the proximity (“I will always be close, I will always be in you”) of the region.
Goals	Reinforce the (tourist) image of Gran Canaria.
Message	Closeness, hope, and reunion. The recreation of a mother (earth) with her daughter appeals to the closeness that the region’s own voice underlines at the end of the campaign (“I will always be in you”). The hope of the reunion communicating the lack of a final date for the confinement, but one less day to enjoy and share again (a coffee, a cove, a meeting, a game, etc.).

and

Table 5. Campaign analysis “Together we have never lost. Thank you, Madrid”.

Brand	Region brand, which represents the city of Madrid; “Pedestal mark.”
Transmitter	Represented during the campaign through the shield of the city; in the end, through the shield and the spelling of the city.
Persuasive and communicative elements	The slogan “Thank you, Madrid” appears at the end, framed in the frame of a window that has been so much a protagonist during the actions in solidarity with the confined citizens. It appears accompanied, in addition, in off, by the applause that the Madrilenians dedicated every afternoon to the health personnel. Voice-over, subtitled, is used. It appeals, with a markedly emotional character, to unity, starting with the simplest action, confining oneself, until the recovery of the city in a common way, to enjoy the characteristic activities (walks through the retreat, terraces, and canes, nightlife, etc.). The images represent their own scenarios and activities, as well as combining some of a commercial nature with other real activities. Anonymous protagonists, sometimes not real (commercial campaign), other real (municipal public activities). The final off of the applause is also real. Emotional music.
Coherence	The suitability of the campaign in gratitude to all the Madrilenians who have suspended all activity, leisure, and tourism can be understood during the health emergency. It is launched when the de-escalation and recovery of normality begins.
Goals	Reinforce the (tourist) image of Madrid, integrating its citizens.
Message	Awareness, through the recognition of the effort, including the black ribbon on the shield of the city present throughout the campaign. Hope in solidarity during the confinement and hope (promise) in the reunion (“we will unite again in an Invincible Madrid”). Recognition and gratitude of the city with its inhabitants, using, in off, the applause with which, now, the city thanks them for the effort made.

).

5. Conclusions

After analyzing the campaigns chosen for the sample, the following conclusions are obtained. In the first place, as a main practical conclusion, the importance of carrying out tourist advertising even when travelling in not possible becomes evident. This happens through an advertisement that aims to reinforce the image of the tourist destination to avoid its depreciation and remain in the mind of the tourist as a differentiated place. Secondly, also as a practical conclusion, in the exercise of tourism advertising communication there is emotional advertising, namely, an appeal to feelings, such as hope, the illusion for the future, resorting to the personalization of the destination (“Spain awaits you”, “Andalusia loves you”) or arguing about the experience (“Together we have never lost”). Tourism advertising goes one step further than promising the experience of the destination, making it one more entity, as well as the target public, whom it directly questions and cites for the future reunion. It is easy to conclude that tourism communications underline this emotional character, more abstract, as a consequence of the experienced pandemic, but we can also conclude that this discourse will remain, since it offers a dimension that is above the characteristics of tourist destination.

The future is presented as the promise, which, as has been said, turns to the past to demonstrate its capacity and competence to offer an unforgettable tourist experience. Regarding aesthetic resources, the images of the places prevail over those of the people, largely due to the limitation when recording, but also with the intention of showing the qualities of the «product» in a basic motivational strategy, as, at this point, the basics become exceptional. A close, familiar communication tone is observed.

From a theoretical point of view, the main conclusion, obtained from the analyzed campaigns, is the reorientation in the most common tourism communication and advertising discourse, until now focused in highlighting the options, characteristics and conditions of the destination. For further elaboration ‘human’, which appeals to a more emotional and sentimental part, tightening the bond that could exist between destination and tourist and that, it is very likely, will be maintained over time.

At the end of this work, and without us being able to dedicate the appropriate space to it, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State of Global Spain have launched the “Spain For Sure” campaign (see Figure 6), in which internationally known faces of the world of science, gastronomy, art, sports, business, etc., to launch a message that, based on the characteristics of the previous campaigns analyzed, and addressing those 84 million visitors that our country had in 2019, combines the characteristics of Spain as a tourist destination (gastronomy, art, culture, passion, and enjoyment of life, etc.), with the characteristic that will define, in the short term, the potential tourist products (that is, safety), reflecting the confidence that Spain must inspire through the play on words of the campaign slogan, which could be translated as “Spain, of course” as “Spain, safe”.

This last campaign (see

Table 6. Analysis of the campaign “Spain For Sure”.

Brand	Country brand, which represents the Spain Brand. Also, “umbrella brand.”
Transmitter	Represented through spanish ‘know faces’ of sports, gastronomy, business, among others.
Persuasive and communicative elements	Various personalities speak to the camera about some of the strengths of Spain, as a country and as a tourist destination. The slogan appears at the end and concludes that it is a safe place, a safe tourist destination, a safe country. Famous protagonists (commercial campaign). Typical spanish music, easy to recognize.
Coherence	Some of the most international faces of Spain communicate the viability of Spain as a country that has emerged from the crisis and a safe tourist destination.
Goals	Reinforce the image of Spain.
Message	Spain has emerged from the health crisis, it is a strong country with excellent public health system, with prestigious researchers, with internationally recognized gastronomy, in short, it is a destination to visit safely.

) can be the next step to be able to know the real terms, that is, the data obtained in the main Spanish destinations, the effectiveness of the campaigns, especially in the trend of domestic tourism destinations, putting in comparison these last two years (2020 and 2021), opening the doors to a more extensive study once international tourism recovers, it recovers with total normality. We find here both our main limitation of research and the next step, that is, the main line of future research work that opens with this paper. As we do not have the relevant data for the 2021 tourist season, we cannot verify its effectiveness, nor can we include it in a context of study and concise work, since an increase in inland tourism is expected as there are still limitations in international travel. Be that as it may, the future line of research would be to contrast the pre-pandemic data with those obtained in the summer of 2020 and those of the current season, a season that is to be extended well into the fall of 2021 (at least that is the feel perceived at the close of this paper). Another possible way of future research is, of course, the analysis of the tourist campaigns and communications of other countries similar to Spain as a tourist destination (like Italy, for example), comparing the campaigns in terms of communication as well as the tourist data and results (mainly economic).

Ultimately, these campaigns allow maintaining a relationship with the tourist even when is not possible to travel, so that when the time comes, the attitude is positive and the trip takes place. Not carrying out this advertising means losing everything built, weakening ties with tourists, increased by a situation of fear and uncertainty. More than ever, it is time to communicate to overcome these feelings and thus strengthen the tourist destination.