To design a competitiveness master plan which caters for favourable conditions for the sector's self-sustaining development via the involvement of both public administrations and social and business interlocutors. The underlying principles of said master plan were to improve the efficiency of tourism and to consolidate the competitive position of Spanish tourism. This facilitated the involvement of both private and public sectors in its implementation as well as maximised economic and social gains from tourism.

To tackle the problem, THR applied a methodology which consisted of analysing the sector's competitiveness. This had previously been used both in Spain (Catalonia and Basque Country) and in other countries.

THR carried out the following tasks:

• Analysis of tourism under the Spanish economy.
• Design of a diagnostic of competitiveness.
• Establishing the plan's goals.
• Coordination of the plan's design and of international cooperation.
• Development of an innovation plan.
• Creation of a new product design plan.
• Creation of a commercialisation and sales plan.
• Design of an 'Excellence' plan.

THR developed a 'transformation map' with actions and programmes to be developed in the short, medium and long term in order for Spanish tourism sector to reach a desired state.

The results at the end of the project were:

• A pragmatic plan whereby the measures can be implemented from the moment they get approval.
• A cooperative plan: A plan that seeks collaboration with local and regional administrations through jointly financed actions. It also aims to achieve active participation from businesses and social organisations.