Commitment for sustainable tourism Barcelona Biosphere

Since 2017, the Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce (Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona), in collaboration with the Barcelona Provincial Council (Diputació de Barcelona), encourages companies and entities in the tourism sector in the province of Barcelona to work and develop their operations and economic activities under the standards and criteria of the certification in sustainability Biosphere. This certification continues the implementation of SICTED at the destination and consists of promoting individualized technical assistance to many entities in four regions of the province of Barcelona: Barcelonès, Maresme, Baix Llobregat and Vallès Oriental.

The types of companies that can participate in this certification are mainly touristic and range from hotels, tourist apartments, guides, rural houses, campsites, tourist transportation, beaches, tourist offices, restaurants, travel agencies, active tourism companies, museums, interpretation centers and nautical bases, among others.

Individualized technical assistance, although to a lesser extent, is repeated year after year to ensure that the volume of companies and entities that obtain certification can renew their commitment annually. For this reason, the Chamber of Commerce and the Barcelona Provincial Council are publishing a tender to allow the participation of tourism consulting companies in the implementation of the certification (both for new accession and renewal) through appropriate advice. And, in this scenario, Pax# has been advising tourism organizations on this certification since its inception and until the current date (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024).

Since the beginning of the project, the Pax# team was trained to be able to carry out consultancy based on the specific methodology and stipulated contracting protocols, and since then, each year it has been perfecting its support service.

The process followed consists of, after the initial introductory training issued by the Chamber of Commerce, the people responsible for each organization are contacted by the assigned consultants in order to close a calendar of assistance that will best suit both the needs of the project, the entity’s own activity, and the people involved. The meetings are held electronically and in person and begin with knowledge of the entire procedure to obtain the certification, the best practices manuals, the characteristics of each requirement, the provision of evidence and the management of the online platform. Each Manual consists of 5 groups of questions or compliance requirements that are classified as: Climate change, Environment, Social, Economy and Culture.

An important point of the procedure is the preparation of the Annual Improvement Plan, where this set of concrete actions is defined as being implemented within the organization in future planning of its operations, to achieve new standards of services, environmental respect and empathy with the local community. Sustainability training is also a relevant aspect within the membership and renewal process, as well as ensuring the availability of indicators that allow the correct monitoring of sustainability goals, to hold an annual collective session together with other companies that are part of the certification, expand communication tools and raise awareness on sustainability for both workers and tourists, among others.

At the end of the time period to work on compliance with the necessary requirements to obtain or renew the certification, companies go through two external audit processes (one by the Sustainability Table made up of public administration profiles, and another by part of the Responsible Tourism Institute), and if favorable, they obtain the certificate and are invited to a diploma ceremony.

Sustainability is a path, a process that leads to better results for organizations, and that goes far beyond being a short-term objective. Sustainability is fed and nourished by the efforts of all the agents involved in the provision of the tourism service, be they workers, suppliers, associated companies and even the users themselves. True sustainability requires perseverance, determination and a healthy conviction of wanting to move forward positively, contemplating the benefit of all the actors in the territory.

This is undoubtedly one of the oldest projects that Pax# has been working on and advising for many years, and which has allowed us to connect very closely, not only with the reality of the tourism sector of Destination Barcelona, ​​but also with its tourism companies, generating lasting and genuine links and relationships to this day.