SITS - OTB: The OTB Sustainable Tourism Indicators System

A committee made up of the Barcelona Tourism Observatory, the CETT and the University of Barcelona, has carried out a process of purification, selection and transformation of the indicators with the aim of configuring the OTB Sustainable Tourism Indicators System (SITS-OTB). The validation of the content of the indicators has been based on expert judgement, and on the identified indicators in the study of play of the use of sustainable tourism indicators in Destination Barcelona.

This new instrument follows the following criteria:

• The indicators must be calculable for any geographical area: municipal, regional, Barcelona region and Destination Barcelona.

• The aim is to ensure that the indicators are general in order to avoid generating variations due to the intrinsic characteristics of each destination.

• Each indicator must be capable of being individually understood.

• A reliable and stable source must be available over time in order to update the data periodically.

• The final list of indicators must be equitable in terms of representation of:

  • The most important sustainability issues in Destination Barcelona.

  • All Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  • The three areas of sustainability: economic, sociocultural and environmental

Indicators table

The new SITS-OTB system is made up of 30 indicators linked to the 3 areas of tourism sustainability, corresponding to 21 issues, and which respond to the 17 SDGs: