A total of thirty restaurants in Barcelona will participate in the pilot project promoted by Turisme de Barcelona and Visa to advance in sustainability and good practices. For the development of the program, which was presented yesterday at Fitur, the Institute of Responsible Tourism (ITR), has developed the methodology and the twelve sustainability attributes for the sector, following the Biosphere certification model. With this action it is expected to expand the number of certified companies. In 2021 there were 21 restaurants with the Biosphere seal in Barcelona, ??a figure that increased to 43 in 2022.
The Commitment to Tourism Sustainability program has certified a total of 403 companies by 2022, 40% in the hotel sector. The objective now is to extend it to the restaurant sector, where international visitors to Barcelona have spent more in the last twelve months, accounting for 27% of total spending.
According to a Visa study, 87% of tourists intending to visit Spain in the coming months see sustainable tourism options as attractive and 33% would be willing to pay more than an additional 10% for more sustainable services in the city. according to data from the Barcelona Tourism Observatory.
The director of the sustainability area of ??Turisme de Barcelona, ??Josep Maria Gómez, assured today at Fitur, where the project to extend the Biosphere certifications among the sector was presented, that “we want to give visibility and promote the adoption of good practices in the restaurant sector to improve the positive impact on society and the environment, reinforcing competitiveness, profitability and positioning.
In the presentation of the initiative in Fitur, the deputy mayor Jordi Valls took part, among others; the president of Barcelona Tourism, Jordi Clos; the director general of the entity, Mateu Hernández; the head of Commerce and Visa acceptance in southern Europe, Roble Dorronsoro and the president of the Barcelona Restoration Guild, Salvador Vendrell.
