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Given the great tourist attractiveness of Spain at international level, tourism has become one of the main sources of income and employment, as well as a basic pillar of the Spanish economy. With these ideas in mind, this paper aims to study how the different promotion strategies implemented in the industry have influenced the evolution of tourism in Spain since the early 20th century.

The research is a general review, providing a historical examination of the diverse promotion strategies deployed in the tourism industry in Spain over the past decades. It focuses on the descriptive approach of these strategies and their implications throughout the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.

The findings reveal a shift in recent years from strategies focused on Marketing 1.0 to strategies that, apart from being centered on consumer values (therefore, Marketing 3.0), are beginning to rely to a greater extent on information and communication technologies (ICT) and sustainability, more in line with the more recent Marketing 4.0 and even Marketing 5.0.

This work has many implications for the management of public and private operators in the industry, including the need to incorporate the latest marketing trends – most notably the advances in ICT and sustainability.

The study offers an in-depth understanding of how marketing strategies have been used in the tourism sector in Spain from the end of the 19th century to the present day, which is highly original compared to previous studies.

The heritage and tourist attractiveness of Heritage Cities have aroused interest in establishing mechanisms to enhance their value based on the development of sustainability policies. The socioeconomic and socioenvironmental valuation of these heritage sites has become a necessary tool for decision-making.

Following the recommendations of International Council on Monuments and Sites – ICOMOS, this paper proposes a series of indicators and an exploratory model to define the factors that contribute to their valuation. Following the partial least squares structural equation modelling methodology, information was obtained from 363 intramural residents in the three Heritage Cities that currently have management plans in Spain.

The results show the importance of specifying indicators of sustainable mobility and socioeconomic and socioenvironmental sustainability for an adequate valorisation of heritage sites.

To this end, it is necessary to follow the guidelines of international bodies such as ICOMOS in relation to the management plans.