Just recently, I spent a few days in Lloret de Mar—a beautiful Mediterranean destination my family has frequented for decades. Every visit brings a duality of emotions. I return refreshed, basking in the crystal-clear waters and enjoying new spots like the stunning Castell cocktail bar. But I leave upset, frustrated by the town’s stubborn adherence to an obsolete tourism model. Lloret de Mar continues to cling to mass tourism, and it’s a model that no longer makes sense. The numbers back this up. Lloret de Mar offers around 30,000 rooms , a staggering figure for such a small city. To put this into perspective, Barcelona has about 39,000 rooms , and New York, a global behemoth, has around 123,000 rooms, minus 16,000 used for non-hospitality purposes like immigration housing. Why does this matter? Because while Lloret de Mar remains anchored to an outdated concept , it misses opportunities for more sustainable and profitable models. The pre-pandemic tourism data shows little to n...
Placemaking With Purpose