The plan for tourism finalized by the Government of the Generalitat has started with disagreement. Part of the companies in the sector have distanced 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. His 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 that the adhesion of employers’ associations and representative entities of the tourist business in Catalonia is recorded. However, a part of the companies in the sector have decided not to support it, considering that it burdens companies with responsibilities that exceed their competence and obvious competitiveness criteria, as La Vanguardia has learned. This is the case, for example, of the Pimec tourism sector, the employers’ association for small and medium-sized companies. The meeting held last Friday by Pimec Turisme agreed not to join the initiative. Employer sources underline that they maintain their predisposition to dialogue and “improve the document”, for which they ask for more time before deeming it concluded and presenting it. The work has been promoted by the Ministry and coordinated by the professor at the University of Girona, specialist in tourism, José Antonio Donaire. The initial text was transmitted to the different business organizations in the industry so that they could make contributions. Pimec sources explain that their main proposals have not been met.
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 “sustainability commitments that exceed their capacities and competencies”. 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, that is, tourists . The companies that have decided not to sign the document consider that these issues are the responsibility of the administrations and ask that work be done on a National Pact for Tourism.
