SUSTAINABLE TOURISM CONTENTS -Sustainable tourism in Seville

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM.

CONTENTS: -Sustainable tourism in Seville -Types of sustainability -Sustainable transport -Sustainable places in Seville

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN SEVILLE The increasing worldwide concern about sustainable turism letting future generations to live in a clean planet has developed a change in the tourists behaviour. Sustainable hotels are becoming more popular. According to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and the spanish Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (Hotel Technology Institute), 90% of tourists would choose a sustainable hotel and 34% would pay a bit more to stay in one. Seville and Granada are the second and third most popular destinations between spanish tourists in 2017, followed by Barcelona, Benidorm and Valencia. Seville is trying hard to be a more sustainable city and is developing more ways to achieve this. These are a few.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN SEVILLE

TYPES OF SUSTAINABILITY Seville wants to continue to be a popular destination amongst tourists, but tourists’ demands are growing. The most popular demands are the following: sustainability -environmental, economic and social-, innovation and quality. Seville is trying to improve these three types of sustainability. From the point of view of sustainable environmental tourism, everyday a number of factors influence in the environment, such as building too many hotels, which damages vegetation and doesn’t seem appealing for our tourists, or tourists themselves who throw tons of plastic on the grounds. Nature has its limits and pollution doesn’t benefit anybody.

TYPES OF SUSTAINABILITY From the point of view of sustainable economic tourism, the local tourism advisory board states that “if we want to live off tourism, we must make sure the destination is appealing, when an area is oversaturated with tourism, new activities should be banned. ” They also think that sustainable tourism is not a waste of money. The more concerned we are about the matter, the more tourists we will attract. Nowadays tourists don’t mind paying a little more if they know it is for a good cause. From the p 0 int of view of sustainable social tourism, the delegation of UGT (an organization located in Seville which defends worker’s interests) opts for a complete reform of the tourism model system to “eradicate the exploitation of workers, improve quality standards and make it sustainable and compatible with citizens rights’’ so we can also avoid tourism phobia, a phenomenon which has recently become a common issue.

COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABLE TOURISM The Tourism and Finances Faculty in the University of Seville held a conference due to the sustainable tourism year, in which they discussed different types of projects to spread awareness about sustainable tourism. Each person in charge of the project spoke about their experiences in other countries in South America in which sustainable tourism was an important issue, such as Peru, Guatemala, Cambodia and Rwanda, and based on that they decided how the project would work.

THE AYRE PROJECT The Ayre Hotel, located in the Kansas City avenue in Seville, won one of FITUR's TOP 10 prizes for Best Sustainability and Hotel rehabilitation project. Their goal is to make their hotel more sustainable by doing different things like the following: - They have chainged their normal lighting by placing LED light bulbs instead. - They have started a preventing plan against rubbish, by recycling and throwing everything away. - They have started promoting sustainable transport by telling people to hire bikes. -They have also provided all of their workers with an environmental training of 1500 hours in 5 years. Seville hopes more hotels will learn from the Ayre Project and decide to contribute to the problem as well.

GREENLAB Greenlab is a new consultancy concept which offers services related to the environment and sustainable tourism. A very helpful website not only for the company but also for the environment is only a few clicks away. They have contributed in the making of windfields, golf camps, buildings in the countryside, etc. They have also contributed in the planification of waste management, and helped in solving court cases related to the environment.

LITERARY CONTEST The transport consortium of Seville has organized a literary contest of sustainable tourism. The contest consists of writing a short story of 500 words about the alternative to the own transport: public transport, bicycles… The prize has no economic connotation.

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT In Seville we have a service of bikes stations called sevici for everyone who has his credit. The credit lasts one year and you have to pay 40€ a year.

SUSTAINABILE PLACES IN SEVILLE: Aquarium of Seville: thanks to the conservation activities carried out in aquariums and zoos, both in the natural habitat of the species and outside it, it contributes to curb the loss of the current biodiversity and the environmental threats. Some species have been saved from extinction thanks to research and breeding work in aquariums and zoos.

MARIA LUISA PARK The Maria Luisa Park is a large green space to the south of the city centre, close to the river, with hundreds of exotic trees lining shady avenues, and historic, fairytale buildings and Moorish fountains and pools. The park was the site of the Expo 29, which had www. andalucia. com/cities/seville/plazadeespana. htm as its centrepiece.

FESTIVAL DE LAS NACIONES It is a meeting place for diverse cultures and a show of solidarity with the third world. It brings together artistic and cultural expressions from more than 50 nations in America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania. It is an event that we celebrate every year. There are gastronomical tents, exotic choreography, oriental dances, bachata contests, Brazilian carnivals, magicians, puppet shows and clowns.