Sustainable Tourism

Introduction

Tourism is an industry with significant influence and participation in the global economy; indeed, there are many communities across the world almost entirely dependent on it. Tourism is experiencing continuous expansion both in terms of the number of travellers and the amount of income generated in each destination, and like many other industries it faces important challenges in order to improve its sustainability and resilience, being closely linked to the consumption of resources.
     
The use and management of resources needs to be sustainable in order to exert a positive influence on the social, economic and environmental development of the territory and the receiving community.
    
Despite the economic benefits generated by the sector, conventional tourism also produces various negative effects; these having a major impact given the magnitude of the industry. Examples include the pollution of natural reserves, exploitation of resources, erosion, displacement of the resident population, generation of significant amounts of waste, high levels of energy consumption, and so on. In this context, the importance of sustainable tourism is gaining more and more traction and recognition.

The World Tourism Organisation defines Sustainable Tourism as follows: "Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities".

Services Offered

  1. Preparation of a SITUATION ANALYSIS regarding the resource use and management, with the aim of identifying opportunities for improvement and measuring the current carbon footprint.  
  1. Development of a STRATEGY of Sustainable and Resilient Development, depending on the results of the analysis.
  2. Development and implementation of ACTION PLANS as a management tool with concrete measures to optimise the use and management of resources, reduce the carbon footprint and adopt concepts of the Circular Economy, with actions that provide benefits in the short, medium and long term.
  3. Development and implementation of an INDICATOR PLATFORM to measure the evolution of the work being executed and the design and implementation of an annual Sustainability REPORT.
  4. Prepare access to international certification in recognition of the work carried out.  

Objectives

  1. Obtain a clear understanding from the analysis of the sectors requiring optimisation in order to be more sustainable.
  2. Initiate participatory processes with the key actors of each organisation in order to collectively define a common vision and a sustainability policy that has the support and commitment of all.
  3. Commence an integral and transversal process with working teams in order to train and qualify them around sustainability, its importance, and how each one of them can be part of the solution.
  4. Position the community, organisation and/or entity as regards work carried out and effort made in the interests of being more sustainable and resilient.
  5. Contribute to local, regional and/or national efforts for the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Principal Benefits

  1. Contribute to the balance between the community's social, economic environmental development.
  2. Generate economic benefits from optimising the use and management of resources.
  3. Promote conservation of the natural, historical, cultural and gastronomic heritage of the community.
  4. Support the development of other local industries and services by integrating them within the tourist activity.
  5. Obtain a specific plan for the efficient and effective management of the industry.
  6. Execution of concrete actions that will bring tangible results for the benefit of the whole community.
  7. Generation of employment and consumption of local products.
  8. Incorporation of environmental values in the company identity.