Transition of the tourism sector to the circular economy through destinations

Aware of the need to develop a more sustainable and balanced tourism model, the State Mercantile Society for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies (SEGITTUR), has been promoting the application of the circular economy to tourism since 2018, providing documentation and practical information to destinations and companies in the sector. Thus, to continue these actions, in 2023 it launched a project to guide five destinations in the DTI Network of Spain, in the development of a detailed Roadmap towards the transition from the tourism management model to the circular economy. Additionally, ten tourism companies from each of these destinations would also obtain their own practical roadmap towards the circularity of the organization.

The five destinations invited to participate in this project were San Sebastián, Valladolid, Sitges, Somontano de Barbastro and Tenerife.

Thus, the work to be developed would consist of two blocks:

• Diagnosis and Roadmap of five destinations of the DTI Network for the transition from the tourism management model to the circular economy.
• Personalized technical advice and support to a selection of 10 companies from each destination, for the transition to the circular economy.

In order to carry out the task, Pax# team collaborated on this project under the leadership of the consulting company Verne Tourism Experts, and also, together with TMR Experience and Sustainn. The distribution of work resulted in Pax# being in charge of leading the different works of the project in two of the five selected destinations, and their respective tourism businesses: Sitges and Tenerife.

Once the tourist destinations participating in the project were defined, the work methodology, both in Sitges and on the island of Tenerife, began with holding individual meetings with the tourism managers of each territory, which would be held throughout the 4 months duration of the project. These sessions were necessary to coordinate the different actions, as well as plan travel calendars and activities. In parallel, a set of secondary data information was collected to understand the initial state or baseline of the implementation of the circular economy principles in the territories.

A task that was undertaken from the beginning is the identification of a driving group, made up of tourism agents from the public and private sectors of each destination, with significant knowledge in the operation and production of tourism services, and key inputs such as the management of the water, waste, mobility, innovation, tourism promotion, and future projects that contribute to circularity objectives. This driving group was defined by the managing entity, and was a key piece of involvement in the work carried out. An in-depth interview was conducted with some of the members of this group to obtain key information about the destination. Additionally, 10 tourism companies from each destination that wanted to participate in the project were also selected, in the preparation of a Diagnosis and an Action Plan in circular economy for their organizations, and providing them with advice and personalized technical support in circular economy, during the course of the project.

In each of the two destinations, Sitges and Tenerife, two participatory workshops took place with the driving group. The first of them served to present the project and jointly define the initial Diagnosis of the destination in circular economy (Diagnostic Workshop); and a second, for the definition and joint decision of the Actions that the destination should implement in the next 3 years (Actions Workshop).

Additionally, each company participating in the project of both destinations was visited in person by the Pax# consulting team, to carry out a circular diagnosis of the organization’s starting situation. And, subsequently, several follow-up meetings were held to prepare the Roadmap, in accordance with the company’s commitment, to be implemented in the same way in the next 3 years.

Within the framework of the methodological definition of the project, it is worth highlighting the defined axes on which all the work carried out was based, and the activity of analysis and proposal of initiatives in the destinations, taking as reference the documents prepared by SEGITTUR in this area, as well as the national circular economy strategy.

The axes defined, and on which the work carried out is based, are:

• Axis 1: Strategy, management and planning of circular tourism.
• Axis 2: Efficient energy management, mobility and CO₂
• Axis 3: Efficient waste and water management.
• Axis 4: Responsible production and consumption, and circular tourism offer.

The circular economy represents a development strategy aimed at achieving sustainable growth by reducing resource consumption, increasing the useful life of products and prioritizing use over consumption. This, furthermore, represents an alternative to the linear economic model that is based on the concepts of “extract-manufacture-use-throw away” and that reduces the resilience of our societies, since it leads to the depletion of the planet’s natural resources.

The tourism sector has great socioeconomic relevance worldwide, and generates important externalities as a result of its activity, some of which must be addressed with the aim of sustainably reducing its impact on the environment and resources. In this way, the circular economy becomes an important development alternative for tourism.

Through this project, Pax# not only accompanied the tourism sector of two destinations of great relevance at the national and international level in the transition to the circular economy, such as Sitges and Tenerife; but managed to open debate around this concept, still unknown in a large part of the sector, bring it closer to the different tourism interlocutors, and integrate it into the action agendas of these destinations and their tourism companies through specific practices to be implemented from the management of the and the same.