Nine organisations from six autonomous communities join the Spanish Ecotourism Association

9 new entities from 6 autonomous communities have joined the Association of Ecotourism in Spain (AEE), with the aim of forming part of the Ecotourism product in Spain. The incorporation of the new members was unanimously ratified at the AEE’s Ordinary General Assembly, held on Tuesday 23 March by telematic means. “The incorporation of these new members and the increased interest in the AEE among managers and associations of tourism entrepreneurs in protected areas, is the result of the effort that has been made for more than 10 years to promote the Ecotourism product in Spain,” says Jesús Pozuelo, president of the Association of Ecotourism in Spain. In total, the Association already has 48 members, of which 22 are business associations and 12 are managing bodies of protected areas, from 13 autonomous communities, which together represent nearly 2,000 tourism companies.

The entities that have joined are 3 tourism business associations, 4 entities managing protected areas (2 Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks declared by UNESCO), a commonwealth and a rural development group, who act as representatives of territories whose aim, among others, is the socio-economic development of these areas, most of them rural, with special emphasis on sustainable tourism development as a generator of wealth and employment: ARGEOL, Reserva Geológica Las Loras (Castilla y León), Mancomunidad de la Subbética (Andalucía), Asociación para el Desarrollo Sostenible del Valle de Alcudia (Castilla-La Mancha), Servicio de la Reserva de Biosfera de Urdaibai (Euskadi), Asociación TRINO Club de Ecoturismo Castilla y León (Castilla y León), Asociación de Turismo Sierra Norte de Guadalajara (Castilla-La Mancha), NEKATUR, Asociación de alojamientos rurales de Euskadi (Euskadi), Reserva de la Biosfera de Fuerteventura (Canarias) y la Asociación para el Turismo Sostenible de las Altiplanicies Granadinas (Andalucía).

“Once incorporated into the ESA, the purpose of these entities is to work towards being able to to adhere the destination and its companies to the Club Ecoturismo en España, one of the product clubs supported by the Secretary of State for Tourism, with the aim of promoting and marketing the Ecotourism product in SpainThe new project is a major step forward in the development of a new tourism strategy, both in the national and international market,” adds Amanda Guzmán, manager of the Ecotourism Association in Spain. To this end, each territory is working to apply the methodology of the Ecotourism in Spain product club in their destinations, either through one of the tourism sustainability recognition systems that give access to the Club – European Charter for Sustainable Tourism of the EUROPARC Federation, requirements of the Spanish Biosphere Reserves brand, of the Geoparks, System for the recognition of tourism sustainability in Red Natura 2000 – or through the membership and requirements system that the Club has developed and that functions as a common trunk of the previous systems.

During the Assembly, in addition to reporting on the most relevant activities carried out during 2020, the activities that the AEE is going to develop throughout 2021 to continue promoting the Ecotourism product in Spain were also presented.

Support from the State Secretariat for Tourism

The Ministry of Tourism will continue to support the AEE with a new agreement in 2021, with the aim of continuing the work of the Ecotourism Observatoryan initiative that it has been financing since 2017 and which has made it possible to characterise, for the first time, the profile of the demand, supply and destinations that make up the Ecotourism product in Spain.

Also within the framework of this agreement, the ESA has started the process of drawing up a Strategic Plan of the Club Ecoturismo en España, a roadmap that will allow the generation of a differential value proposition for the Ecotourism product in Spain to meet demand, also improving the operation of this network of destinations that belong to the Club.

With support from Turespaña and its offices in priority international markets, a plan of external promotion actions will be developed focusing on on-line marketing for the presentation of the Ecotourism product in Spain, their destinations and experiences to specialized operators, and if the pandemic allows, familiarization trips for operators to Ecotourism destinations in Spain will resume.

It was recalled during the assembly that this year’s event will be held on V National Congress of Ecotourism in Menorca from 19 to 21 October 2021, their destinations and experiences to specialized operators, and if the pandemic allows, familiarization trips for operators to Ecotourism destinations in Spain will resume. Online conference of the Congress held on 20 November 2020;