Taking sustainable tourism further during ITC’s third training with SMEs

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Spanish SMEs have gathered together in Valencia for ITC’s third training within Tourisme’s project. For three days, the companies could join lessons and workshops to improve their business sustainability. This third training also focused on environmental and sustainable tourism certifications such as those offered by AENOR, Biosphere Tourism, or Bioscore. This event was held in the CdT Valencia facilities, the regional tourism organization.

This time around, activities focused on practical aspects, such as communication of sustainable activities and design of sustainable travels. However, to enrich this experience even further, many visits were scheduled, so companies could know in the first person about other initiatives aimed to create more sustainable touristic experiences.

 

Workshops to improve our sustainability

The first day started with the introduction of SEIMED, which is the regional point in Valencia for the Enterprise Europe Network. They provided some useful information about the services they offer to companies in the internationalization and sustainability fields. Marco Zurita from Red Española Pacto Mundial also gave a speech on the key aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals that companies could find useful to take into account.

After that, companies merged into groups to participate in two different workshops. Two of them had the opportunity to learn and share knowledge about key aspects of how to communicate sustainability and corporate social responsibility, one of them was held online. Meanwhile, the third group joined a workshop about designing sustainable travels. 

In the afternoon, they visited Casa Montaña which was established back in 1836. Since then, this business has obtained different certifications that prove its commitment to excellence. Our SMEs could exchange experiences about it. Before the end of the first day, our beneficiaries were also introduced to urban sustainability through a visit to Las Arenas Balneario Resort. Last, but not least, the group had the opportunity to enjoy a sensorial guided tour in the beach area provided by In Valencia, one of the SMEs beneficiaries.

 

Getting into sustainability certifications and more

During the second day, the companies got a rich insight into sustainability certifications, such as those offered by AENOR, Biosphere Tourism, and Bioscore. All of them were introduced in different sessions which were accompanied by other activities aimed to teach the beneficiaries about tools to improve their impact, like a talk from Visit Valencia about the regional actions taken to minimize the environmental impact of tourism in Valencia.

Later that day, the entire group visited Mar de Fulles, a business that was born with sustainability in mind. They have developed an entire philosophy around it, as well as specific actions like self-sufficiency energy, ecological agriculture, fair trade, and using local products. This very successful case allowed companies to share experiences and good practices around it.

 

Heritage, Fitur, and beyond

For the last day of the training, our beneficiaries had a closer look at other related projects like ARCH Project within Las Naves facilities, which they later visited. This one is an EU-funded research project that aims to protect areas of cultural heritage from hazards and risks, which is also a form of sustainability when we talk about sustainable tourism, especially in urban areas or heritage sites. Besides, beneficiaries also joined a brief introduction to Misión València 2030 to learn about specific sustainable goals within the Comunitat Valenciana.

Before departure, all the companies got to know what steps are being taken until the last TOURISME training for Spanish beneficiaries which will be Fitur 2023. If you want to stay informed of all our updates, take a look at our website and follow us on social media.

 

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SMEs learnt about sustainability certifications during the second day
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Besides the lessons and workshops, SMEs enjoyed experiences and visits around sustainable tourism to discover good practices and more

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