Med Pearls – the new European Plan for Sustainable Tourism
- The Catalan Tourism Agency is participating in a pilot project promoted by the European Commission to promote sustainable tourism.
- Among its aims is the de-concentration of tourist flows and the seasonal adjustment.
- The project has a global budget of €3 million and will last 36 months.
- The initiative is aimed at destination management companies and startups that develop solutions for tourism experiences.
The proposal of the Catalan Tourism Agency has been one of the four projects selected from the 67 initiatives submitted to the European Commission’s call, in the “ENI CBC Mediterranean-Sea Basin” program. This is the European project Med Pearls – an initiative that seeks to promote sustainable tourism through 26 destinations in 13 areas of the Mediterranean.
For the project, Catalonia has selected the Anoia (Barcelona), Les Garrigues (Lleida) and the Ribera d’Ebre (Tarragona).
Through this initiative, 26 tourism experiences will be created called “the pearls of the Mediterranean” and will serve to position the region as a destination for slow tourism.
The objective is to attract responsible and sustainable tourism that promotes and involves local economies and respects the cultural and natural values of the places visited so that the destinations will be areas of low tourist density but with high potential.
The objectives are: –
- the de-concentration of tourism from the most popular tourist destinations to lesser-known places; and to boost the area for off-season tourism,
- the diversification and valorisation of local heritage, innovation through new technologies and the development of the local economy.
The project, which has a global budget of €3 million and will last 36 months, is aimed at destination management companies and startups that are capable of developing ICT solutions to integrate them into tourism experiences.
Catalan companies that are part of the pilot test will receive training in the creation of tourism products, receive technological advice, participate in fairs, workshops and activities and become part of a cross-selling program with the rest of the members.
Source: Hosteltur
