The Consell de Mallorca and the World Tourism Organisation bring together the best specialists in tourism sustainability at the international summit 'Leading the Transformation' in Palma.
The Palau de Congressos de Palma has hosted the first day of the Sustainable Destinations Summit organized by the Fundació Mallorca Turisme del Consell, in coordination with the World Tourism Organization.
Leading the transformation' aims to promote knowledge of the best practices in environmental, social and economic sustainability that are being developed in the world. Speakers from different territories will exchange knowledge and experiences on the challenges of water and waste management, the circular economy, data analysis for sustainable decision-making and human development. The participants are representatives of institutions, private companies and civil society, including academics, entrepreneurs, journalists and professionals who lead sustainable initiatives around the world.
At the same time, Mallorca also projects itself internationally for two days as a sustainable destination. In total, there are 230 attendees. There are also another 100 people following it telematically.
The president of the Consell, Catalina Cladera; Isabel Oliver, from the Office of the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization and the mayor of Palma, José Hila, inaugurated the event, organized by the Fundació Mallorca Turisme and the UNWTO.
Cladera expressed her satisfaction that Mallorca is "the world capital of sustainable tourism during the celebration of this international summit" and assured that "we are not satisfied with that, we want to continue to be beyond this meeting".
"Mallorca has everything to be a reference in sustainable tourism," he said to the president.
"We are a leading destination worldwide, with quality and all year round, with a leading sector and we have already done pioneering work with laws such as those on climate change, waste and the new tourism law, and above all, we have institutions that mobilise resources to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable tourism model, with a historic investment by Fons Next Generation".
During her speech, the president took the opportunity to highlight the "shared will of the institutions, the private sector, economic and social agents and Mallorcan society to work towards a more sustainable, socially and economically sustainable model of environmental tourism". Finally, she pointed out: "We are working hand in hand with the UNWTO and we have already asked that this is not the last time we organise a meeting like this, that we can organise another one in the coming years".
"It is not by chance that we are in Mallorca, it is being in the right place" expressed Bel Oliver, referring to the work done in "innovation, adaptability of the tourism sector and the willingness of the governments of Mallorca, autonomous and Spain to promote tourism that respects human rights and is sustainable".
On the other hand, Hila explained: "It is an honour for Palma to host the Sustainable Destinations Summit, a topic of vital importance for our city and our islands. It is an opportunity to implement in our day-to-day life and will allow us to continue advancing and learning practices of environmental, social and economic sustainability".
Speakers and programme
The programme includes the presence as speakers of leading experts in each of the subjects under discussion.
On this first day, the Councilor for Transition, Tourism and Sports, Andreu Serra, began the presentations with the lecture "Mallorca, leading the transition to a regenerative tourism".
The first Panel discussion of the summit was followed by the presentation of institutional experiences in water management, such as those of the Balearic Islands (with Miquel Mir, Minister of the Environment and Territory), Valencia (with Jaume Mata, head of tourism sustainability at Visit Valencia) and the Maldives (with Asad Riza, Deputy Minister of Tourism). Aniol Esteban, director of the Marilles Foundation, and Stefan Gössling, professor at the School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University (Sweden), also participated. The moderator was Tolo Deyà, vice dean of the Faculty of Tourism of the UIB.
Representatives from the private sector (Sandra Benbeniste, Director of Sustainability EMEA-Iberostar Hotels, and Miguel González San Roman, Director of Business Development at Minsait/Indra) and institutions (Antonio Pérez, Mayor of Benidorm) also took part in solid waste management. In addition, the experiences of civil society in the United States were presented by Nina Bellucci Butler, CEO of Stina, and Andy Schroeder, co-founder of a project for the recovery of ocean plastics. The Panel discussion was moderated by Toni Munar (Turismoconsulting).
The afternoon will begin with presentations on circular economy, moderated by José María de Juan (Koan Consulting). Participants will include the president of Segittur, Enrique Martínez; the director of the Impulsa Foundation, Antoni Riera; the controller of Garden Hotels, Jaume Ordinas; and the deputy director of the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, Elif Balcı Fisunoğlu.
Finally, the first day of the summit will end with the block on Data Analysis for Decision-Making in Tourism Sustainability Initiatives. The debate will be moderated by Dolores Ordóñez, Managing Director at AnySolution, and will include Dirk Glaesser, Director of the UNWTO Sustainable Development Programme; Luis Javier Gadea, Director of Tourism Research, Development and Innovation at Segittur; José Javier Ramasco, CSIC Researcher at IFISC (CSIC-UIB); Sergio Guerreiro, Director of Knowledge Management and Innovation at Turismo de Portugal; and Carlos Cendra, Partner at Mabrian Technologies.
Sources: Consell de Mallorca
