Minister Javier Hurtado highlights the commitment to sustainable tourism in the Basque Country at the 3rd Turespaña Convention
The Minister of Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Javier Hurtado, participated in the inauguration of the 3rd Convention of Turespaña, which has chosen San Sebastian as the venue for the event entitled “The sustainable transformation of tourism”.
The Minister recalled that the Basque Country has managed to develop a sustainable tourism model in which what matters is not how much we grow, but how we grow, “in a seasonally-adjusted manner — 1.7% from July to August, 15% from January to June — throughout the territory and with a greater increase in international tourism, on which we have focused our efforts”.
The Minister emphasised that we must continue to promote a model which we believe in and which is based on sustainability in its three aspects: environmental, socio-cultural and economic, “because it is essential that it has an impact on local development and reaches all municipalities”.
Thus, the Minister recalled, “in the Basque Country we are moving towards being an increasingly sustainable and competitive destination. With projects such as the Intelligent Tourism Destination and the Tourism Intelligence System; with new tourism products aimed at diversifying supply, de-seasonalisation and the movement of flows. And we have achieved this through our commitment to a governance model that is embodied in the Basque Country Tourism Code of Ethics, which we were pioneers in establishing, endorsed by the World Tourism Organization. This is a Code which more than 621 Basque companies have already signed up to, in order to continue with joint efforts to boost the competitiveness and sustainability of tourism in the Basque Country. For all these reasons, we are proud that this 3rd convention is being held here and, above all, thanks to Turespaña, with whom we collaborate regularly and share projects, because sustainability must be based on governance and cooperation,” he concluded.