The typological classification of tourist destinations: The region of Valencia, a case study

This study establishes a classification of the tourist destinations of the Region of Valencia in Spain. A cluster analysis has been conducted on a wide range of indicators related to the tourism activity of the destinations, which has then been applied a set of 60 coastal destinations and 482 inland municipalities in the region. Spatial reference frameworks are essential for applying and developing tourism planning and promotion policies. The results obtained reveal their sensitivity to the configurations generated by these data analysis techniques, the variables used in the analysis and the group of destinations taken as a reference for the classification. They also confirm the exceptionality of the case of Benidorm and the existence of tourism dynamics and processes that are manifested unequally across the territory. The latest advances within this technique are applied which will improve the robustness of the results.This research has been carried out within the framework of the research Project: Analysis of planning processes applied to smart cities and tourist destinations. Balance and proposal of a new methodology: Smart Tourism Planning (CSO2017-82592-R) under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (2018–2020)