Paper short abstract:

This paper addresses how the focus of the current economy on the commodification of intangible assets has affected the way natural spaces are envisaged as goods and services that bring deliver products to tourists through brand and marketing strategies.

Paper long abstract:

In recent decades, so-called ‘nature tourism’, linked to the diverse lifestyles and expectations of a demanding consumer in search of the manifold experiences offered by the market, has steadily increased. The new rules of engagement of the neoliberal economy have led to privatisation, commercialisation, and the deregulation of boundaries between civil society, the state and the market. This has driven three interrelated processes which have also affected natural spaces: the anxiety to be recognised; a race for the ‘production’ of intangible assets; and an obsession with branding. As a result, remaining part of the economic playing field appears to have occupied all policy-making, and no cultural practise seems to have escaped this new market-logic towards intangible assets. With it, the creation of brands has generated a competition in which each region seeks for badges of identity with the aim of offering a distinct and attractive product, developing around their chosen brand a powerful marketing of ‘the natural’. In this paper we present a comparative analysis of the development of programs, brands and logos within the network of nature reserves of three regions of Spain: Andalusia, Catalonia and the Valencian Community. In this way, we will describe the commercialisation of a product converted and then classified as ‘natural’ through the branding process, and analyse the implementation of programs in these three territories, comparing their ethos and norms. Finally, we will examine the different operating strategies and actions taken to achieve their objectives.