How to be a more sustainable tourism company:
Galicia is a territory that inspires sustainability: its villages, traditional fishing, local crops, the cattle that graze in our mountains, the hospitality and tranquility of our population, the thousand rivers that cross it… Looking around us, we understand that the Tourism has to contribute to this sustainability and we believe that it should be done through the collaboration of all companies in the sector.
The companies that are part of Galicia Destino Sostible have a strong commitment to sustainability in its three areas (environmental, social and economic). This commitment is demonstrated in its effort to carry out continuous improvement, so that little by little and together we can make tourism in Galicia increasingly more sustainable.
How can Galician tourism companies incorporate sustainability into their operations? How can we turn Galicia into a truly sustainable destination?
1.- Promote sustainable tourism
Respect and mutual understanding must be the fundamental values of sustainable tourism.
Tourism is an opportunity for personal and collective development, promoting self-education, mutual tolerance and learning about cultural differences.
A sustainable tourist is a person very interested in knowing the culture, ways of life, history and nature of the place they visit. He plans his trip trying to generate a positive impact on the destination and chooses those services that apply good practices in sustainability.
As companies we can respond to this demand and contribute to Galicia becoming an increasingly sustainable destination, making the values of respect, tolerance and conservation our own, while promoting and transmitting our idiosyncrasy.
2.- Keep our culture alive.
Let us promote among our clientele knowledge of Galician culture, our language, our traditions, our way of life and our history.
Let’s design products or activities that promote care for our culture.
These awareness-raising efforts promote attitudes of respect towards the local population and towards our heritage.
3.- Support entrepreneurship and local development
As far as possible, we should buy products or services that are produced locally and that benefit the most vulnerable groups in our environment.
It is important that we remember to only consume products and services in accordance with the legal framework, guaranteeing their origin. This will help increase the value we can transmit to customers; and acquire only what we need.
4.- Consume responsibly.
Tourist activities require resources such as water or energy. Making sustainable use is in our hands: let’s try to select the resources that generate the least impact, supporting the production of sustainable, renewable and socially respectful energy.
Let’s opt for collective transportation or transportation with reduced or no polluting emissions. Let us provide information on how to access our facilities by transportation
public transport and, where possible, we provide flexible hours so that our employees can access their workplace by public transport.
Let us ensure that the waste generated is as minimal as possible, adopt circular economy measures and promote the reuse and recycling of waste.
It is recommended that we calculate our carbon and water footprint to know our starting point and be able to implement reduction and compensation actions.
5.- Contribute to the conservation of the cultural heritage of Galicia.
As tourism companies, we can help preserve cultural heritage through the correct planning of our activities, avoiding overcrowding of places of interest, collaborating in compliance with the rules of behavior and schedules, and informing our clientele about ways to enjoy of our heritage without damaging it.
6.- Contribute to the conservation of the natural heritage of Galicia.
Our nature also needs our commitment, since there are some behaviors that make its conservation difficult. Some of the measures we can take to contribute to the conservation of natural heritage are carrying out our activities with small groups, avoiding visiting crowded places, not including visits to sites with wild fauna in captivity, etc.
We can also collaborate with the protection of nature by educating our clientele in positive behaviors, such as taking charge of their waste, remaining silent and enjoying the sounds of nature, being respectful of the living beings with whom we live, etc.
If we carry out an activity in a protected space, we must stay informed and raise awareness among our clientele about its regulations, that is, those activities that are allowed and those that are not, and in which places and times of year they can be carried out.
7.- Take care of our work teams
Our employees make it possible for our services to be carried out with the levels of quality and sustainability that we want for our company and are a great example of our measures in the field of social sustainability. This is possible if we apply some measures such as:
- Generate a good, safe and respectful work environment.
- Facilitate access to training through different channels for professional improvement, promotion or retraining.
- Consolidate quality and long-term jobs, offering opportunities to people with disabilities and groups at risk of exclusion.
- Guarantee compliance with all labor rights of our team.
- Promote inclusion and equal opportunities, ensuring fair treatment of all employees, regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin or disability.
- Ensure equal pay and opportunities for women, create safe environments and processes, and encourage female leadership.
8.- Transparency and good governance
Business transparency and good governance foster customer loyalty, improve the work environment, relationships with other agents such as suppliers, the local population… In this way, we will be more sustainable and have a better reputation, contributing to strengthening Galicia. as a whole.
The adoption of concrete actions, such as the implementation of regulations, the articulation of information mechanisms and the promotion of business integrity, are essential to obtain the aforementioned benefits and promote ethical and transparent tourism environments.
9.- Participation and collaboration in various networks
Let us actively collaborate with local organizations, public institutions and other actors in the sector to promote sustainable tourism in Galicia, participating in joint projects and actions.
Let us promote the exchange of knowledge through strategic alliances between companies, governments, civil society and universities to amplify the impact of the initiatives.
10.- Monitoring, evaluation and communication
Let’s analyze our starting point, define viable objectives in the short, medium and long term to improve our sustainability and a system of easily measurable indicators that allows us, objectively, to determine if we have met our objectives. This way we can know to what extent we are improving and where we should put a little more effort.
We can transmit the data we collect in our measurements to our work team and suppliers to reinforce their commitment to sustainability; and to our clientele and the local population to inform them transparently and truthfully about our efforts and progress. Sustainability awareness requires clear communication about actions, processes and results.
