– Maintaining these figures sustainably poses a challenge for both companies and the administration, not only at an environmental level but also a social one.
Reducing the carbon footprint, incorporating green energy, or promoting local commerce are some of the initiatives that companies are undertaking.
Moving towards more sustainable and healthier tourism, both environmentally and socially, must be a priority for both private companies and public administrations in Spain and the United Kingdom. This is one of the conclusions drawn from the bilateral tourism forum. The future of tourism: Institutional collaboration and innovation for sustainable growthOrganized by the British Chamber, Together with Cuatrecasas y Bunzl Distribution Spain.
The session addressed how to achieve sustainable tourism while maintaining current tourist flows, considering the various actors in the sector's value chain, not only from an environmental but also a social perspective. Recent years have seen tensions arise with society that have jeopardized the tourism model. "Working from a position of shared responsibility, rationality, and transparency between businesses and government is key to addressing this problem," the speaker emphasized. Rosa Bada de Turismo de Barcelona.
In this sense, from the Catalan Tourism Agency, Patrick TorrentHe highlighted the importance of social consensus to achieve a sustainable tourism model that everyone agrees on: “In Catalonia, we have developed the National Commitment to Responsible Tourism based on 67 actions ranging from sustainability and reducing water consumption to waste management and promoting accessible tourism for people with reduced mobility.” Tech Tourism Cluster, Ingrid Graells has highlighted the role that innovation can play in the development and consolidation of sustainability, particularly with emerging technologies such as blockchainAI or secure data management.
At the private level, companies are making efforts to promote local trade and production. Many companies such as Melià Hotels They opt for goods manufactured and invoiced near their centers, thus avoiding importing products from other countries: "This may affect the final price for the consumer, but we manage to reduce the impact and promote the local economy," they concluded.
Other companies like Bunzl Distribution Spain, Vueling o TUIThey are focusing their efforts on reducing their carbon footprint, within the global challenge of decarbonization. From the airline, Sandra Hors He cited as an example the great strides the aviation sector has made towards decarbonization and is working to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. In this regard, he explained how sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) are the key to this strategy since they can be used in current aircraft without the need for modifications to their engines and structures, thus allowing a reduction in CO2 emissions of 80%.
The United Kingdom is the leading source of tourists to our country.
British tourists consider Spain their preferred destination for trips abroad. So far this year, the 13 million UK tourists have already spent more than €15.000 billion on their holidays in Spain. Each British tourist spends an average of €179 per person per day, far more than the French or Germans, according to data provided by [source missing]. Lloyd Milen, British Consul General for Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Aragon and Andorra.
“There is no other country for the British like Spain,” he stated. The mile In his welcoming address, the consul noted, “A third of Britons have spent at least one night in Benidorm, and Barcelona has closer ties with London than with any other city in the world.” This demonstrates that relations between Spain and the United Kingdom extend beyond trade and investment. “The ties between our two countries are also strong in tourism, culture, and education,” he concluded.
The data from CaixaBank They confirm that the Spanish tourism sector is at pre-pandemic levels in terms of visitor numbers and well above 2019 levels in terms of tourist spending. "Spain is the second fastest-recovering country in the world's top 10 destinations, second only to Turkey," they noted. Cesar Heymann, economist at CaixaBank ResearchThe bank forecasts that the sector will grow at the same rate as the national economy: "If the country grows by 1,4% in 2024, the sector will grow by 1,5%," it stated. Cesar Heymann.
It should not be forgotten that the UK is the second largest European investor in Spain, after France. Over the last 25 years, the UK has invested more than €62.000 billion, while receiving another €60.000 billion from Spain. This brings the total bilateral investment to over €122.000 billion, according to data provided by [source missing]. Isabel Perea, regional vice-president of the British Chamber.
