Partnerships and the SDGs in a cross-border destination: the case of the Cerdanya Valley

This paper seeks to identify the potential that cross-border tourism partnerships may have for destination integration and how it may contribute to advancing SDG goals in these regions. It takes the cross-border Cerdanya Valley as a case study. Tourism development in this region initially evolved without much regard for SDGs, nor for cross-border destination integration. This started to change with the emergence of a community-led cross-border tourism partnership. However, despite the best intentions of those involved in the partnership, it ended in stagnation, and a business-led cross-border cluster ensued. The paper analyses these developments and modes of partnership to (i) identify the dimensions of cross-border destinations that either foster or hinder the contribution to SDGs and (ii) determine how different modalities of cross-border partnerships (SDG17) deal with these hindrances and opportunities for attaining SDGs. Over an eight-year period, data were collected through interviews with the main stakeholders, including tourism entrepreneurs and representatives of communities and local governments, as well as through participant-observation. Results show that areas of concern for partnerships willing to integrate cross-border destinations that contribute to SDGs include the size and peripherality of the region, cross-border complementarities, uneven development, institutional similarities/dissimilarities and methodological nationalism.