The Lanzarote Foreign Promotion Society (SPEL) established this Tuesday the Sustainable Tourism Working Group, which will also include entities, organizations, companies and establishments involved in sustainability, with the aim of positioning Lanzarote as a sustainable destination and international benchmark in responsible tourism. This action, they point out from the entity, has been carried out, "within the strategy that Turismo Lanzarote is carrying out to create differentiated products that provide added value and qualify the tourism that visits us."
Likewise, the creation of this table "is a requirement of the Biosphere standard (Biosphere Responsible Tourism), the prestigious certification that Lanzarote has, in order to monitor and comply with the action plan derived from the audit processes and renewal of the distinctive itself", said the CEO of SPEL, Héctor Fernández.
This first meeting was attended by Héctor Fernández himself and several members of the Turismo Lanzarote team, as well as the general director of the Institute of Responsible Tourism (ITR), Patricio Azcárate; the president of the Association of Hotels and Apartments of Lanzarote (Asolan), Susana Pérez; the director of Lanzarote Airport and the Head of the Directorate's Office, Manuel Vinagre and Cristina García, respectively, representing Aena; in addition to representatives of the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce, the Lanzarote Aetur Federation of Tourism Entrepreneurs, as well as the University School of Tourism of Lanzarote (EUTL).
Likewise, members of the Zonzamas Environmental Complex and Geopark and Chinijo Archipelago also attended this first meeting, as well as representatives of the Biosphere Reserve Area, Saborea Lanzarote and other departments of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, including the Data and Transport and Mobility Center, as well as the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers (CACT).
An "unwaivable" objective for Lanzarote
According to a statement, these working groups will have among their objectives, through close public-private collaboration, to share proposals and discuss the different promotional actions to be carried out with the main purpose of optimizing and improving the positioning of Lanzarote as a sustainable tourist destination. The idea is that more entities, organizations and establishments related to services and benefits in terms of sustainability will be incorporated in the future.
"This initiative responds to what is one of the main lines of action contemplated within the strategy of qualifying our destination with products that distinguish us, beyond sun and beach, in order to attract a type of tourism that is willing to leave more spending in a destination that values and appreciates. Respectful management of the environment and responsible development of the tourism industry, the island's main engine that directly or indirectly moves 90% of the island's economic activity, is not only a desire or aspiration of a sustainable destination, but for Lanzarote it is an unwaivable objective," said the Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Echedey Eugenio.
In this sense, Eugenio pointed out that it has been found "that the perception abroad that we are a unique and different island, an image closely linked to our long history of international recognitions that we have received in terms of sustainability, is a strength with which we start and that we must develop in a professional and verifiable way." "The creation of this working group precisely means launching this objective in which we must work together and involve everyone, public institutions and the private sector, if we want to provide ourselves with credibility and rigor as a sustainable destination, in an extremely competitive world such as the tourism market, increasingly demanding and committed to the environment," said the CEO of SPEL, Héctor Fernández.
Action Plan
During the course of this first working group, in addition to establishing the operation of its functioning and outlining the main lines of the roadmap that will serve as the basis for the initiatives to be carried out, the 'Sustainable Tourism Action Plan 2017-2018' was presented, a document that addresses different lines of action, including communication, co-marketing, product clubs, sponsorships and projects, based on the recognition that "the conservation and dissemination of the island territory as a sustainable destination and marked by a landscape as beautiful as it is unusual is also one of SPEL's lines of work."
On the other hand, the meeting also proceeded to report on the review of the Biosphere 2017 certification audit, and the results of the International Conference 'Sustainability as a key factor in the Competitiveness of the Tourism Industry' were announced, which, organized jointly by Turismo Lanzarote and the Institute of Responsible Tourism (ITR), turned Lanzarote last October "into the world epicenter of sustainable tourism."
Outstanding sustainable trajectory
Turismo Lanzarote highlights that the island's identity "is closely linked to the distinction that Unesco granted it in 1993 as a Biosphere Reserve, and to the successive milestones and recognitions received in this area."
In this sense, they recall that the island hosted the celebration of the historic World Conference on Sustainable Tourism in 1995, from which the first World Charter on Sustainable Tourism emanated, with which Lanzarote initiated the global debate on the means and instruments necessary for the conversion towards sustainable tourism not only on the island, but internationally. As a result of this Conference, the Institute of Responsible Tourism (ITR) was created in 1998. After passing the Early Adopter process (or pilot experience), in 2015 Lanzarote became the first global destination in the world to receive the prestigious Biosphere Responsible Tourism certification, under the endorsement of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), an award that represents the global recognition of Unesco and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in this area.
Likewise, it is recalled that, since the last edition of Fitur, Lanzarote is integrated into the Biosphere Destination Community, an initiative that brings together all the Biosphere destinations in the world, "which will mean an important boost to the island as a sustainable tourist destination."