The tourism plan finalized by the Government of the Generalitat has begun with disagreement. Some of the companies in the sector have dissociated themselves from the initiative promoted by the Department of Business and Labor through the General Directorate of Tourism due to discrepancies both in the procedure and in the content of the agreement that the Catalan Executive is about to publish.
Under the name of “National commitment for responsible tourism”, the Government has prepared a series of guidelines and measures to promote a change in the tourism model and raise the environmental requirements of its activity. The initial intention is to present it on March 23, although it could be delayed depending on the circumstances.
The document has been drafted in such a way as to include the adhesion of employers and organizations representing the tourism business in Catalonia. However, some of the companies in the sector have decided not to support it because they consider that it burdens the companies with responsibilities that exceed their competition and ignores competitiveness criteria, as La Vanguardia has learned. This is the case, for example, of the tourism sector of Pimec, the employers’ association of small and medium-sized companies. The meeting held on Friday by Pimec Turisme agreed not to adhere to the initiative. Employer sources emphasize that they maintain their willingness to dialogue and “improve the document”, and ask for more time before concluding and presenting it. The work has been promoted by the ministry and coordinated by University of Girona professor José Antonio Donaire, specialist in tourism. The initial text was circulated to the various business organizations in the cluster for input. Sources from Pimec explain that their main proposals have not been attended to.
The companies represented by this employer question that the document does not include “real proposals” for the sector. They also highlight the “absence of commitments from the Government”, while companies are required to “commit to sustainability that exceed their capacities and competences”. Among others, the document proposes the reduction of individual mobility and the promotion of collective transport, the reduction of arrivals at airports or that the low emission zones be extended to populations of 20,000 inhabitants counting the seasonal population, i.e. the tourists. The companies that have decided not to subscribe to the document consider that these issues are the responsibility of the administrations and ask that work be done on a National Pact for Tourism.
