The BST Programme Holds its Annual Meeting

25-04-2018 | Barcelona Sustainable Tourism

In March Barcelona Sustainable Tourism (BST), the Turisme de Barcelona sustainability programme, held its annual meeting in the Born Cultural Centre, where it demonstrated the benefits of incorporating sustainability into business and the importance of its social return on investment. The event was used to call to expand the sustainability and social responsibility component in tourism management.

The city councillor for Tourism, Trade and Markets, Agustí Colom, the deputy director of Turisme de Barcelona and person responsible for the BST programme, Albert de Gregorio and the president of the scheme, Maria José Pujol, defended the need for social and environmental sustainability in the field of tourism. Colom highlighted the work "to develop a process to ensure the destination complies with the criteria for economic, social and environmental sustainability, aimed at tourism businesses and operators". De Gregorio accepted the challenge of increasing the number of members registered for the sustainability scheme and expanding its scope, while the president of Turisme de Barcelona, Joan Gaspart, closed the event with a reminder of Barcelona's prestige as a destination and referring to sustainability as an inherent part of this prestige. He is optimistic about this approach and sees the new secretary of the UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili, as a clear "ally when it comes to doing things well".

In the debate "Join the alliance of sustainable businesses" the main United Nations guidelines for the tourist industry were explained, including gender equality, decent work, economic growth, responsible consumption and production and alliances to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. The importance of CSR was also discussed; a CETT study was presented, according to which 55.3% of travellers would like to choose a destination which cares for its environmental surroundings and contributes to development of the community.