Title: The market of companies providing tourist information services for Spanish public administrations in the period 2018-2022

Authors: Carlos Garulo

Addresses: Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios de Protocolo (IMEP), attached centre to Miguel Hernandez University (UMH), Arzobispo Loaces 3, 03003 Alicante, Spain

Abstract: The public administration resorts to outsourcing tourist information services when it does not have its own means to provide them adequately. The aim of this research is to analyse the market of companies that have participated in the tendering processes for tourist information services in Spain in the period 2018-2022, in order to understand the profile of companies currently managing this service and the types of tendering processes that have been carried out. The data suggest a positive trend towards the outsourcing of these services, as well as a predominance of diverse criteria (both qualitative and quantitative), and a higher success rate of companies specialised in culture and/or tourism, followed by other types of companies and multi-service firms. A total of 257 tenders were analysed, with 217 different bidders, and 98 of them were awarded contracts.

Keywords: outsourcing; services; public procurement; Spanish tenders; tourist information.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPM.2025.148609

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2025 Vol.24 No.2, pp.260 - 277

Received: 08 Jul 2024
Accepted: 07 Aug 2024
Published online: 15 Sep 2025 *

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