Cluster

Its aim is to help the sector move towards a new tourism model that is more aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda and to guarantee its continuity and future.

The initiative has a sponsorship programme, with more than 300,000 euros, funded by the Xunta, to help companies create new sustainable tourism products.

Representatives of four member companies, the meteorologist Martín Barreiro, the director of Galician Tourism and the president of the Cluster took part in a presentation day.

Santiago de Compostela, 25 October 2022. The Galicia Tourism Cluster has presented this morning the progress of the Galicia Destino Sostible Product Club, which was launched last July, in collaboration with the Galicia Tourism Agency, to promote sustainable tourism in the Community and make the destination a benchmark in this field at national and international level. The new product club was also created in conjunction with a sponsorship programme that provides the Galician tourism sector with 312,000 euros in aid to encourage companies to create new sustainable tourism products.

In three months fifty companies from the subsectors of accommodation, restaurants, travel agencies and complementary tourism providers have joined the initiative. And more than thirty sustainable products created for the Club are already available on the website www.galiciadestinosostible.com.

The new Galicia Destino Sostible club was born with the vocation of acting as a hub that integrates the entire sustainable tourism offer of the autonomous community. Through its website, it connects tourists and companies, facilitating access to the entire sustainable tourism offer in Galicia and acting as a guarantee, not only of sustainability, but also of quality.

This was highlighted this morning by the president of the Galicia Tourism Cluster, Cesáreo Pardal, who was in charge of closing a conference inaugurated by the director of the Galicia Tourism Agency, Nava Castro, to present the progress of this initiative to the sector and the general public. After the conference of the physicist specialist in meteorology, Martín Barreiro, on sustainability, a round table was held in which the chef Pepe Vieira, from the field of restoration; Jesús Picallo, owner of the Hotel O Semáforo de Fisterra; Pablo Mariño from the travel agency Bluscus; and Amelia García from Atlantis Adventure, specialised in complementary offer, explained their experience after joining the Club from the perspective of their different business areas.

Any Galician company belonging to the subsectors categorised as accommodation, restaurants, travel agencies and providers of complementary tourism offerings that meet the requirements can join the product club. Companies that already have an official sustainability certification (S of the ICTE, Biosphere, Green Key, Eu Ecolabel, Green Globe21, Travellife, Rainforest Alliance Certified, Estrella Verde da Guía MICHELIN, etc.) or an environmental certification (ISO 14000, EMAS, etc.) can join the club directly, as these are considered qualifying requirements. Companies that do not have any of these certifications can also join the club as long as they comply with 100% of the mandatory requirements and at least 33% of those considered assessable.

Among the advantages of belonging to the new product club, as well as others such as promotion, training and networking, is access to funding aimed at promoting the creation of new sustainable tourism products in Galicia. These financial aids have been granted by the Cluster to the first companies that joined the Galicia Destino Sostible Club.

Galicia Destino Sostible seeks to help the Galician tourism sector to move towards a new tourism model more aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda and to value its commitment to Galicia, promoting the social and economic development of the region and respecting and encouraging the culture and tradition of the area and its people; its commitment to the environment, protecting the biodiversity of the territory, fighting against climate change and minimising the impact of the activity; and its commitment to good governance, adopting good practices that guarantee inclusion, transparency and competitiveness in companies.

The president of Galicia Tourism Cluster, Cesáreo Pardal, stressed that “we want to promote a new, more sustainable tourism model and make Galicia a benchmark destination for sustainable tourism at regional, national and international level”. Pardal stressed that “we know that the tourist profile has changed and there are more and more travellers concerned about climate change and the footprint of their actions on the planet who demand a new, more sustainable tourism model” and added that “as a sector we must move in this direction to be able to respond to these demands. We owe it to our visitors, but also to ourselves as a sector, as companies, and to our land and community. It is the only way, moreover, to guarantee the future of tourism and the sector”.