Sustainable tourism: Visa and Barcelona Turisme join forces to promote sustainable practices among restaurants

BY UE STUDIO

Updated Tuesday, January 30, 2024-12:46

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It's the perfect combination. The experience of the world leader in digital payments together with a local entity that knows perfectly the needs and peculiarities of its business and tourism environment. Joint work for the benefit of society, small business and activity around tourism. Visa, Turisme de Barcelona and the Institute of Responsible Tourism (ITR) come together to launch a

pilot program

to advise and make the concept of "sustainability" a reality in the field of restoration in the city of Barcelona. One more positive feature to add to the already recognized and prestigious Barcelona environment.

Statistics reveal that the restaurant sector is the category where international tourists have spent the most in Barcelona in the last 12 months, accounting for 27% of their total spending, according to data from the Visa network (VisaNet). . Likewise, it is evident that 87% of tourists who intend to visit Spain in the coming months see sustainable tourism options as attractive, according to Visa's

Global Travel Intentions Study

2023. To this data, it is worth adding that 33% of visitors would be willing to pay more than 10% additional for more sustainable services, according to data from the Tourism Observatory in Barcelona. Acquiring knowledge and applying more sustainable and innovative practices in daily management among a selection of restaurants is the objective of this pilot program.

The pilot, in which 30 restaurants in the capital initially participate, has been developed by ITR, the entity that has designed the methodology and the 12 sustainability attributes.

These attributes, proposed by ITR in accordance with its BIOSPHERE tourism sustainability certification model, are designed to help establishments comply with international sustainability requirements. They are based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the 169 goals agreed upon by the United Nations and are aimed at facilitating changes, efforts and improvements in your operations and processes that have a positive impact on your business, people and the planet.

For

Roble Dorronsoro, Head of Business and Visa Acceptance in Southern Europe

, "Sustainability is a factor that tourists increasingly take into account when choosing the destination they will visit or where they will choose to consume, so it is It is essential that local commerce is prepared to offer optimal and sustainable experiences. In this context, we are working to promote sustainable commerce with our clients and partners and supporting SMEs in their digitalization, where Visa has helped more than 50 million SMEs worldwide, 8 million throughout Europe, since 2020."

The figures and studies, which reinforce the theory and implementation of sustainability in the restaurant sector, have been the turning point that has given rise to this joint work, where both entities, in the words of their managers, agree on the established objective: to generate and support the growth of a wide sustainable gastronomic offer. Thus, satisfying current needs without compromising the natural resources and future projects of the next generations becomes, today, a necessity and an obvious and possible reality. Pioneering projects such as the one developed jointly by Visa and Turisme de Barcelona demonstrate this.

On behalf of

Barcelona Tourism, Josep Maria Gómez,

director of the sustainability area, confirms the city's commitment to promoting more sustainable tourism. "Barcelona's gastronomic offer stands out for its quality worldwide, so with this project we want to recognize this reality and promote the adoption of good practices in the restaurant sector that have a positive impact on society and the environment. improving competitiveness, profitability and positioning and communicating the efforts made to clients around the world. In short, it is about taking a leap in quality tourism in a city whose services and offering are distinguished by facing new challenges and presenting itself as a leading destination in sustainable practices.

Making the connection and mutual support between digitalization and sustainability a reality is possible today in the Barcelona restaurant sector.

Made by UE Studio

This text has been developed by UE Studio, the creative branded content and content marketing firm of Unidad Editorial, for VISA.