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Catalonia is a tourist destination. But naturally, it is also many other things. It is an agricultural area, an industrial country, a logistics centre, a magnet for talent, a mosaic of landscapes, a research and knowledge transfer hub, a place of trade, and an area with long roots that is hospitable, complex and dynamic. Catalonia is many things at once and this diversity is one of its main strengths. But it is also a tourist destination. It is impossible to contemplate the Catalonia of today without taking into account the tourism sector. This means that the strategy for Catalonia must also take into account the strategy for the tourism sector, and that tourism planning must be aligned with the country’s broader objectives.
There is a long tradition of tourism in Catalonia and the social, economic, territorial and cultural structures linked to tourism go back a relatively long way, as Catalonia was a pioneer in the Mediterranean in visitor management. It has a long history of tourism thinking and knowledge, starting with the first so-called “tourist-attraction societies” and innovative tourism-focused urban planning and architecture projects to early debates on the limits and possibilities of tourism. This knowledge and know-how, gathered through experience and over much time, is one of the sector’s key assets and means that Catalan tourism is used to reinventing itself and is ready for innovation, self-criticism and the creation of mechanisms for renewal.
Tourism finds itself in a context of extremely complex change, due to both the modification of the factors that affect tourism dynamics and to the increase in the interrelations between tourism and the rest of the territory’s economic and social activities. Catalonia, which has long been an innovative destination and an international benchmark, must face the challenge of adapting to this new scenario. Catalan tourism is probably at a crossroads, at one of those moments in history when it is necessary to shift to a new scenario, a new model. In fact, the current context is one in which society as a whole is reformulating itself, and the proposal to change the tourism model is one more consequence of this scenario of transformation that affects society, economic systems, cultural patterns and environmental limits. We are in a society that aspires to be different and to build an alternative model, which means that we must also be able to propose a new tourism model based on the criteria of responsibility, sustainability and competitiveness of the sector.
The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is the sector’s response to this context of change – the roadmap for a new shared tourism model. The three processes that explain the context for a renewed tourism model are: (a) the need for a new productive framework adapted to the planet’s environmental limits; (b) the profound changes in visitor habits, in the use of leisure time and in social and cultural factors affecting how tourists value destinations, and (c) the stage of maturity of most of the country’s tourism products and destinations. All economic activities must address the environmental challenges of the coming decades, which are part of the European Union’s common policy priorities. Catalan tourism aims to be a strategic sector for the country in the fight against climate change, the decarbonisation of the economy, the conservation of biodiversity, energy efficiency, the rational use of increasingly scarce resources and the reduction of waste. The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is a firm commitment to a new tourism model that places environmental criteria at the centre of decision-making. It is also aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); all of the goals are reflected in the agreement and each of the proposals refers to at least one of the SDGs.
The EU’s emission reduction commitments and decarbonisation strategy mean the end of an era of tourism based on the use of fossil fuels, with a target date of 2050. The Catalan Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change 2021-2030 describes how climate change will affect the tourism sector through sea level rises, reduced snow cover and changes in thermal comfort, especially during the summer. Contributing to a reduction in emissions is a global strategy for the planet, but it is also a strategy for the survival of the tourism sector. This is why Catalonia has signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, which aims to reduce emissions by 2030 and decarbonise the sector by 2050.
Climate change mitigation and adaptation is one part of a complex system of redesigning tourism activity according to environmental sustainability criteria. For decades, tourism in Catalonia has been undergoing a process of reconversion and adaptation based on energy efficiency, the reduction of water consumption and water footprint, and waste reduction. Tourism can also contribute towards the conservation of biodiversity, following the principles of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Aichi Targets. The Catalan tourism sector has set itself the objective of progressively equalising average water and energy consumption and waste generation from tourism and that corresponding to its resident population.
The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is also the country’s response to a new social, demographic and cultural scenario in which greater value will be placed on leisure time, access to culture and open spaces, opportunities for personal relationships and encounters, people’s mental and spiritual health, and cultural offerings that enable personal fulfilment; in short, in reconnecting with the natural and cultural attributes that make up our identity. Tourism is an economic activity, but it is also a social and cultural practice that allows exchange, encounter, tranquillity and a break from routine. The ageing of the population, the reduction of the working day, the growing role of labour mobility and teleworking and the changing scale of values placed on leisure and recreation also go towards creating a scenario that forces us to redefine the country’s tourism model.
One of the most relevant characteristics of the transformation of the sector is the dissolution of the boundaries between tourism and non-tourism. The growth of new professional practices based on a greater capacity for job mobility; the digitalisation of companies and the consolidation of teleworking; mobility associated with personal motivations such as study, well-being or socialisation, and the value of leisure and free time in society have reshaped tourism practices. Catalonia must move from tourism management to a visitor economy which takes into account the opportunities and impacts of the various forms of mobility, tourist or otherwise. The visitor economy must manage the country’s capacity to attract talent, ideas, cutting-edge trends, projects and people.
The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism aims to reduce barriers that limit access to destinations in order to achieve universal access. Any restrictions on destinations must not violate the criteria of universality. The commitment puts people’s well-being at the heart of the tourism strategy. Tourism fosters deep contact with cultural resources, reconnects society with natural heritage, promotes social relations and improves the physical and mental health of visitors. Tourism is a tool for knowledge, enjoyment, self-awareness, well-being and socialisation. It enhances the quality of life of users, which is why it is necessary to preserve universal access systems and make them compatible with measures to protect destinations. The Catalan tourism sector must continue to reduce the economic, personal, social and cultural barriers that limit the universality of tourism: efficient and affordable public transport, accessible public spaces, information adapted to diversity, aid and incentive programmes for the most disadvantaged sectors and a tourist structure based around universal access.
Tourism has a place in residential and productive areas and must coexist with other economic and social activities. In the tourism sector, the geographies of production and of consumption are one and the same: consumers and producers come together in the same space. This overlap makes it necessary to adapt the rhythms of tourism to the needs and objectives of the local population. Mediterranean urban spaces are characterised by overlapping uses and the coexistence of activities in a complex mosaic of interrelationships. When tourism has an excessive weight in the economic and social structure of a territory, this endangers the viability not only of the socio-economic model, but also of tourism itself. Responsible tourism is tourism that is part of the economic, social and territorial structure of the area, is adapted to the conditions of the place and the needs of the resident population, and essentially takes into account both the positive and negative impacts of the activity, identifies the negative externalities it generates and reduces them as far as possible.
There is a high degree of maturity in most of the country’s tourist destinations and tourism typologies. This maturation has highlighted some of the imbalances in the tourism system: damage to the landscape caused by certain tourist activities, the obsolescence of part of the country’s tourist facilities and services, the quality of the employment offered, and the environmental imbalances resulting from tourist transport and from the over-consumption of water and energy. For years, the Catalan tourism sector has been making an effort to reconvert tourism companies and orient them towards sustainable and responsible tourism, with some very notable success stories but also with errors. The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is a response from the sector to accelerate this process of reconversion and to orient tourism businesses and institutions towards a sustainable and responsible model.
Catalonia is a diverse country. It offers a mix of contrasting landscapes, complex historical processes and a very rich geography, meaning that the country’s landscape and territorial and social structures are characterised by diversity. The result is also an extremely wide range of tourist areas, ranging from the attraction that is Barcelona to the coastal resorts, the network of medium-sized cities, wine tourism, the dense offering of rural tourism, the country’s port system, snow tourism and the offering provided by large tourist facilities.
Although Catalonia has achieved a position of leadership in products as diverse as urban tourism, coastal tourism, active and nature tourism, gastronomic tourism and rural tourism, the development of the tourism sector is essentially based on a very specific type of tourism: seasonal coastal tourism and urban tourism in Barcelona. The Catalan tourism sector is committed to promoting the diversity of products, establishments and destinations, within the framework of a common strategy. The National Commitment is based 5 on the principle that the main asset of tourism in Catalonia must be diversity, because it reflects the diversity of the country and reduces the vulnerability of the sector to external changes. Diversification should be the cornerstone of the country’s tourism product strategy as well as its communication and promotion strategies. One of the fundamental pillars of the strategy is the capacity to link different elements together to create dense networks of diverse products and spaces. This diversity also requires the capacity to adapt the regulations to the particular characteristics of each environment.
The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is ultimately a commitment to innovation in the tourism sector, based on the pillars of sustainability and digitalisation. The productive changes arising from automation, the incorporation of the Internet of Things and sensors, the impact of new materials, data management, the incorporation of AI, the use of augmented reality and virtual reality systems and new mobility technologies are giving rise to a new productive system that requires major inputs of R&D&I. Catalonia aspires to be a benchmark in the area of tourism knowledge management thanks to the interrelation between the tourism sector and the fields of technology and knowledge.
The process of drafting the Commitment began in February 2022, with the creation of working groups made up of experts from the tourism sector and other areas of culture, the economy, society, the environment and the territory. The initial document was drawn up on the basis of contributions from the working groups and nearly one hundred multidisciplinary documents related to culture, landscape, energy, climate change, mobility, the knowledge society, infrastructures and technology. This initial document was reviewed by business associations and trade unions related to tourism, by territorial and sectoral institutions and by social, environmental and civic associations and organisations. The review phase has allowed more than 200 amendments to be made to the initial document, most of which have been incorporated and have helped to improve the document to adapt it to the diversity of stakeholders involved in the tourism process. The National Commitment for Responsible Tourism is therefore a process involving collective participation and an effort to reconcile very different projects and views of the country. It is a shared project with different starting points, which has only been possible thanks to the efforts made by all parties to reach a common agreement.
With this Commitment, Catalan tourism is embarking on a process of collective transformation to create a new model that is environmentally responsible, socially just, territorially balanced and reconnected with the country’s identity, which takes advantage of the capital that has been built up and corrects some of the mistakes of the past. Catalan tourism aspires to be a solution rather than a problem. The sector’s response to the current social, environmental and economic challenges will only be possible with a strong commitment between public administrations, businesses and society within a framework of collaboration and cooperation to achieve shared objectives, and if it can attract talent, capital and ideas that make tourism one of the key sectors of the new country model.
Catalonia is a tourist destination. But naturally, it is also many other things. It is an agricultural area, an industrial country, a logistics centre, a magnet for talent, a mosaic of landscapes, a research and knowledge transfer hub, a place of trade, and an area with long roots that is hospitable, complex and dynamic. Catalonia is many things at once and this diversity is one of its main strengths. But it is also a tourist destination. It is impossible to contemplate the Catalonia of today without taking into account the tourism sector. This means that the strategy for Catalonia must also take into account the strategy for the tourism sector, and that tourism planning must be aligned with the country’s broader objectives.
There is a long tradition of tourism in Catalonia and the social, economic, territorial and cultural structures linked to tourism go back a relatively long way, as Catalonia was a pioneer in the Mediterranean in visitor management. It has a long history of tourism thinking and knowledge, starting with the first so-called “tourist-attraction societies” and innovative tourism-focused urban planning and architecture projects to early debates on the limits and possibilities of tourism. This knowledge and know-how, gathered through experience and over much time, is one of the sector’s key assets and means that Catalan tourism is used to reinventing itself and is ready for innovation, self-criticism and the creation of mechanisms for renewal.
Tourism finds itself in a context of extremely complex change, due to both the modification of the factors that affect tourism dynamics and to the increase in the interrelations between tourism and the rest of the territory’s economic and social activities. Catalonia, which has long been an innovative destination and an international benchmark, must face the challenge of adapting to this new scenario. Catalan tourism is probably at a crossroads, at one of those moments in history when it is necessary to shift to a new scenario, a new model. In fact, the current context is one in which society as a whole is reformulating itself, and the proposal to change the tourism model is one more consequence of this scenario of transformation that affects society, economic systems, cultural patterns and environmental limits. We are in a society that aspires to be different and to build an alternative model, which means that we must also be able to propose a new tourism model based on the criteria of responsibility, sustainability and competitiveness of the sector.
The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is the sector’s response to this context of change – the roadmap for a new shared tourism model. The three processes that explain the context for a renewed tourism model are: (a) the need for a new productive framework adapted to the planet’s environmental limits; (b) the profound changes in visitor habits, in the use of leisure time and in social and cultural factors affecting how tourists value destinations, and (c) the stage of maturity of most of the country’s tourism products and destinations. All economic activities must address the environmental challenges of the coming decades, which are part of the European Union’s common policy priorities. Catalan tourism aims to be a strategic sector for the country in the fight against climate change, the decarbonisation of the economy, the conservation of biodiversity, energy efficiency, the rational use of increasingly scarce resources and the reduction of waste. The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is a firm commitment to a new tourism model that places environmental criteria at the centre of decision-making. It is also aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); all of the goals are reflected in the agreement and each of the proposals refers to at least one of the SDGs.
The EU’s emission reduction commitments and decarbonisation strategy mean the end of an era of tourism based on the use of fossil fuels, with a target date of 2050. The Catalan Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change 2021-2030 describes how climate change will affect the tourism sector through sea level rises, reduced snow cover and changes in thermal comfort, especially during the summer. Contributing to a reduction in emissions is a global strategy for the planet, but it is also a strategy for the survival of the tourism sector. This is why Catalonia has signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, which aims to reduce emissions by 2030 and decarbonise the sector by 2050.
Climate change mitigation and adaptation is one part of a complex system of redesigning tourism activity according to environmental sustainability criteria. For decades, tourism in Catalonia has been undergoing a process of reconversion and adaptation based on energy efficiency, the reduction of water consumption and water footprint, and waste reduction. Tourism can also contribute towards the conservation of biodiversity, following the principles of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Aichi Targets. The Catalan tourism sector has set itself the objective of progressively equalising average water and energy consumption and waste generation from tourism and that corresponding to its resident population.
The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is also the country’s response to a new social, demographic and cultural scenario in which greater value will be placed on leisure time, access to culture and open spaces, opportunities for personal relationships and encounters, people’s mental and spiritual health, and cultural offerings that enable personal fulfilment; in short, in reconnecting with the natural and cultural attributes that make up our identity. Tourism is an economic activity, but it is also a social and cultural practice that allows exchange, encounter, tranquillity and a break from routine. The ageing of the population, the reduction of the working day, the growing role of labour mobility and teleworking and the changing scale of values placed on leisure and recreation also go towards creating a scenario that forces us to redefine the country’s tourism model.
One of the most relevant characteristics of the transformation of the sector is the dissolution of the boundaries between tourism and non-tourism. The growth of new professional practices based on a greater capacity for job mobility; the digitalisation of companies and the consolidation of teleworking; mobility associated with personal motivations such as study, well-being or socialisation, and the value of leisure and free time in society have reshaped tourism practices. Catalonia must move from tourism management to a visitor economy which takes into account the opportunities and impacts of the various forms of mobility, tourist or otherwise. The visitor economy must manage the country’s capacity to attract talent, ideas, cutting-edge trends, projects and people.
The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism aims to reduce barriers that limit access to destinations in order to achieve universal access. Any restrictions on destinations must not violate the criteria of universality. The commitment puts people’s well-being at the heart of the tourism strategy. Tourism fosters deep contact with cultural resources, reconnects society with natural heritage, promotes social relations and improves the physical and mental health of visitors. Tourism is a tool for knowledge, enjoyment, self-awareness, well-being and socialisation. It enhances the quality of life of users, which is why it is necessary to preserve universal access systems and make them compatible with measures to protect destinations. The Catalan tourism sector must continue to reduce the economic, personal, social and cultural barriers that limit the universality of tourism: efficient and affordable public transport, accessible public spaces, information adapted to diversity, aid and incentive programmes for the most disadvantaged sectors and a tourist structure based around universal access.
Tourism has a place in residential and productive areas and must coexist with other economic and social activities. In the tourism sector, the geographies of production and of consumption are one and the same: consumers and producers come together in the same space. This overlap makes it necessary to adapt the rhythms of tourism to the needs and objectives of the local population. Mediterranean urban spaces are characterised by overlapping uses and the coexistence of activities in a complex mosaic of interrelationships. When tourism has an excessive weight in the economic and social structure of a territory, this endangers the viability not only of the socio-economic model, but also of tourism itself. Responsible tourism is tourism that is part of the economic, social and territorial structure of the area, is adapted to the conditions of the place and the needs of the resident population, and essentially takes into account both the positive and negative impacts of the activity, identifies the negative externalities it generates and reduces them as far as possible.
There is a high degree of maturity in most of the country’s tourist destinations and tourism typologies. This maturation has highlighted some of the imbalances in the tourism system: damage to the landscape caused by certain tourist activities, the obsolescence of part of the country’s tourist facilities and services, the quality of the employment offered, and the environmental imbalances resulting from tourist transport and from the over-consumption of water and energy. For years, the Catalan tourism sector has been making an effort to reconvert tourism companies and orient them towards sustainable and responsible tourism, with some very notable success stories but also with errors. The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is a response from the sector to accelerate this process of reconversion and to orient tourism businesses and institutions towards a sustainable and responsible model.
Catalonia is a diverse country. It offers a mix of contrasting landscapes, complex historical processes and a very rich geography, meaning that the country’s landscape and territorial and social structures are characterised by diversity. The result is also an extremely wide range of tourist areas, ranging from the attraction that is Barcelona to the coastal resorts, the network of medium-sized cities, wine tourism, the dense offering of rural tourism, the country’s port system, snow tourism and the offering provided by large tourist facilities.
Although Catalonia has achieved a position of leadership in products as diverse as urban tourism, coastal tourism, active and nature tourism, gastronomic tourism and rural tourism, the development of the tourism sector is essentially based on a very specific type of tourism: seasonal coastal tourism and urban tourism in Barcelona. The Catalan tourism sector is committed to promoting the diversity of products, establishments and destinations, within the framework of a common strategy. The National Commitment is based 5 on the principle that the main asset of tourism in Catalonia must be diversity, because it reflects the diversity of the country and reduces the vulnerability of the sector to external changes. Diversification should be the cornerstone of the country’s tourism product strategy as well as its communication and promotion strategies. One of the fundamental pillars of the strategy is the capacity to link different elements together to create dense networks of diverse products and spaces. This diversity also requires the capacity to adapt the regulations to the particular characteristics of each environment.
The National Commitment to Responsible Tourism is ultimately a commitment to innovation in the tourism sector, based on the pillars of sustainability and digitalisation. The productive changes arising from automation, the incorporation of the Internet of Things and sensors, the impact of new materials, data management, the incorporation of AI, the use of augmented reality and virtual reality systems and new mobility technologies are giving rise to a new productive system that requires major inputs of R&D&I. Catalonia aspires to be a benchmark in the area of tourism knowledge management thanks to the interrelation between the tourism sector and the fields of technology and knowledge.
The process of drafting the Commitment began in February 2022, with the creation of working groups made up of experts from the tourism sector and other areas of culture, the economy, society, the environment and the territory. The initial document was drawn up on the basis of contributions from the working groups and nearly one hundred multidisciplinary documents related to culture, landscape, energy, climate change, mobility, the knowledge society, infrastructures and technology. This initial document was reviewed by business associations and trade unions related to tourism, by territorial and sectoral institutions and by social, environmental and civic associations and organisations. The review phase has allowed more than 200 amendments to be made to the initial document, most of which have been incorporated and have helped to improve the document to adapt it to the diversity of stakeholders involved in the tourism process. The National Commitment for Responsible Tourism is therefore a process involving collective participation and an effort to reconcile very different projects and views of the country. It is a shared project with different starting points, which has only been possible thanks to the efforts made by all parties to reach a common agreement.
With this Commitment, Catalan tourism is embarking on a process of collective transformation to create a new model that is environmentally responsible, socially just, territorially balanced and reconnected with the country’s identity, which takes advantage of the capital that has been built up and corrects some of the mistakes of the past. Catalan tourism aspires to be a solution rather than a problem. The sector’s response to the current social, environmental and economic challenges will only be possible with a strong commitment between public administrations, businesses and society within a framework of collaboration and cooperation to achieve shared objectives, and if it can attract talent, capital and ideas that make tourism one of the key sectors of the new country model.
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