FITUR was the place chosen to host the representatives of the Biosphere Destination Community, a meeting which was attended by Javier Benayas, Professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and Xavier Font, Head of the Technical Tourism Office of the Barcelona Provincial Council, as well as representatives from places such as Tenerife, Gijón, Maraey, Alentejo and Mafra, among others.
In this 2023, the Biosphere Destination Community had a meeting moment during the last Fitur, where the importance of sharing experiences to advance in sustainability was highlighted, emphasizing the recent creation of the Ibero-American Network of Sustainable Destinations; an initiative that promotes a new model of tourism competitiveness.
Biosphere Destination Community is the world's largest international community of destinations working towards sustainability in the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals through the Biosphere methodology. An international group of more than 40 destinations such as Barcelona, Tenerife, Gijón, Maraey, Alentejo and Greater Victoria, among others. The last FITUR International Tourism Fair was the perfect excuse to bring together their representatives and teams, professionals who work, after all, to promote more sustainable tourism models.
In this regard, Javier Benayas, professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, highlighted the role of education in sustainability: "Change is only possible if it is promoted through education," he explained. Benayas, who actively collaborates with the RTI and Biosphere for the development of models aligned with the 17 SDGs, also spoke of the usefulness of the Biosphere methodology for destinations since "it is in the territories where we are most advanced and where we have the furthest to go".
"The responsibility of the administrations is immense. We must help companies to be aware of what sustainability means and what benefits it entails", Xavier Font, Barcelona Provincial Council.
Xavier Font, head of the Technical Tourism Office of the Barcelona Provincial Council, spoke about the important role of destinations as communicators: "We must promote sustainable development as a community. We are in a territory in which changes are constantly taking place, and activity cannot be delocalised. We must promote and share good practices between companies, administrations and local residents to create a joint involvement", said Font in his speech. "The responsibility of administrations is immense. We must help companies to be aware of what sustainability means and what benefits it brings".
