Clúster

The Galicia Tourism Cluster has collaborated in the drafting process of the document.

Companies in the tourism sector that want to advance along the path of sustainability have a new tool to do so. It has just been made available to them by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and the Secretary of State for Tourism through Segittur (state trading company for the management of innovation and tourism technologies), an entity that has just launched a Guide for the preparation of sustainability reports in tourism SMEs. In the work carried out to prepare this guide, the Galicia Tourism Cluster has collaborated with a dozen other representatives of the sector from all over Spain.

Segittur explains that the sustainability reports include the “environmental, social and economic performance” of the company and allow its customers and users to know how it acts in the field of sustainability. At present, only large companies are obliged to prepare them, but the guide will allow small and medium-sized companies to anticipate a possible regulatory change in this regard. In addition, the voluntary preparation of a sustainability report “provides recognition, a good image, a high reputation and generates trust among stakeholders”, allows companies that do so to “create a brand image that is associated with efficient sustainability management” and can attract consumers who are looking for tourism proposals and experiences that “have a positive impact on the social, environmental and economic spheres”.

The sustainability report should include aspects related to the company’s business model (description, results, risks, logistics…), its environmental policies (waste management, use of resources, biodiversity protection measures…), personnel management (employment, work organisation, safety, training…), human rights (compliance with ILO conventions), the fight against corruption (anti-money laundering measures, contributions to NGOs…) and its commitment to society. .) and commitment to society (sustainable development, consumers, tax information…).

The guide prepared by Segittur not only includes a detailed description of the structure that the report should have (management letter, company presentation, table of contents, entity profile, internal management, etc.), but also the steps to follow to gather the necessary information and some real examples of good practices taken from the sustainability reports of several companies. In addition, the guide is complemented by a toolkit for the preparation of the report that can also be downloaded from the Segittur website.