Lloret Turisme held a one-day conference yesterday at the Marsol Hotel in order to unveil the European Greentour project to the destination’s private sector. This EU-funded initiative, with a budget of €1,172,000, is aimed at improving the sustainable development of destinations.
The event was attended by around 20 representatives of companies from the accommodation sector (Hotel Acapulco, Grup Frigola, Evenia Hotels, Hotel Xaine, Albamar i Almirall, Marsol Hotels and Samba Hotels), the restaurant sector (El Trull, Law Holding and Punta Garbí) and the leisure activity sector (Law Holding and Oh!lé Group), along with members of the Hotel and Restaurant Guild of Lloret de Mar and of the Southern Costa Brava Quality Plan initiative.
The presentation showed those present how they could sign up to a project that provides free tools for calculating the environmental impact generated by their establishments, with a view to achieving greater environmental, social and economic sustainability. The project therefore adopts a comprehensive, medium-term approach.
Elizabeth Keegan, Manager of Lloret Turisme, the destination’s tourism promotion body, explained that “This is a fantastic opportunity for our establishments. Our colleagues at the UNESCO chair, who are coordinating the project, have explained that the results obtained through this tool are overwhelmingly positive and that it would be extremely expensive to carry out this process on an individual basis. Given that Lloret de Mar is a partner of the project, our establishments are entitled to take part in the initiative. Moreover, they’ll be able to compare themselves with other companies in the same sector in order to discover the environmental impact of their facilities.” In addition to the Lloret-based companies already involved in the project (Samba Hotels, Hotel Acapulco), a further group of Greentour project members (Marsol Hotels, El Trull restaurant and Pitch & Putt Golf Lloret) have taken part in the pre-pilot phase. Lloret Turisme and Lloret Town Council are also participating through public facilities of the destination, such as Santa Clotilde Gardens, in order to improve the management of the town’s natural and cultural heritage.
The Greentour project aims to create alliances between tourist destinations (including UNESCO-listed heritage sites) in Spain, France, Andorra and Portugal, and between technical partners with a proven track record in the study, development and implementation of environmentally efficient systems. The goal is to work towards achieving a new environmental, economic and social model that both informs the consumer and obtains their commitment to the area in which they are carrying out their tourism activity. In addition to Lloret de Mar (Catalonia), other pilot destinations are taking part in the project, such as Ordino (Andorra), Massif du Sancy (Auvergne), Camino Lebaniego (Cantabria), Rias Baixas (Pontevedra, Galicia) and Guimarães (Portugal), all of which boast impressive natural and cultural heritage. The destinations will serve as ambassadors of the ecolabel in the SUDOE area. The project is scheduled to last 28 months and has been allocated a budget of 1,172,000 euros.
Jaume Dulsat, the Mayor of Lloret, stated that “This positioning of the destination in the area of sustainability represents an opportunity for everyone, including for companies, in order for them to know where they stand in terms of sustainability and on this basis engage in the issue and begin to act accordingly.”
