Canary Islands Institute of Technology embraces TOURISME’s first international in-person event

Spanish companies and the international consortium are gathered at Tenerife with the online participation of EISMEA Project Officer, Alan Vella.

The Canary Islands Institute of Technology (ITC) has embraced Tourisme’s first international in-person event at Tenerife the 27th of April. 18 selected companies from all over Spain have come to this first training to learn about sustainability and new tourism models. They all are small and medium companies from the hospitality industry. Some of them are staying places like hotels or travel agencies.

During this first day, they have been welcomed by the ITC team, as well as EISMEA project officer, Alan Vella, who also offered an introduction to the project itself and its goals. After that, companies were taught about issues like the implantation of the Sustainable Development Goals on the hospitality industry, greenwashing or even ecolabels they can apply to.

Training continued as planned to a second session which focused on tourism’s environmental factors. Tourisme project aims to give to SMEs tools and information they can work with in order to develop their business models in a more sustainable way.

During the afternoon sessions, participants enjoyed a visit to learn more about good practices and success cases in Tenerife. One of them was Bodegas Monje, which is a local company that brings together traditional wine making with innovative experiences for tourists. Besides, they also had a chance to visit Hotel Tigaiga, that is known for their sustainable management.

In addition to those visits, participants also discovered a local project which promotes an innovative model for travelling and tourism, Salitre, Almagre y Azufre, which is based on ‘slow tourism’ concept.

For the next day, 28th April, companies will continue the training on some issues on which the Canary Islands are leading the way, like circular economy. It is also scheduled a workshop for eco-design that will teach how to create eco-conscious travel plans. Finally, in the afternoon it will be opened the Matchmaking Event with some in-person meetings to share experiences and ideas.

Tourisme project is funded by the European Union COSME Programme. It supports tourism SMEs development and sustainability. And the main tool to achieve this goal is through active training, connection among companies and environmental certifications.

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