The President of the Diputació de Barcelona, Mercè Conesa, received this Thursday the "Biosphere Responsible Tourism" Certification, which recognizes the demarcation of Barcelona as a sustainable and responsible tourism destination.

The certification is granted by the Responsible Tourism Institute, an organization that has a MoU with UNESCO and that is an affiliate member to the World Tourism Organization. This is a pioneering certification, based on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals integrated in the 2030 Agenda.

In addition to Mercè Conesa, the president of the Responsible Tourism Institute, Tomás Azcárate and the vice president of the Diputació, Marc Castells also participated in the ceremony along with the representative, Miquel Forns, and the deputy representative of Tourism, Pere Regull.

The label certifies that the tourism brand "Costa Barcelona", promoted by Diputació de Barcelona, fulfills the requirements of the "Biosphere Destination" standard and successfully applies 6 specific criteria in its tourist policies: sustainable management, economic and social development, conservation and improvement of cultural heritage, environmental conservation, quality and safety, and involvement of the visitor.

The seal will improve the positioning and international promotion of the tourist brand Costa Barcelona and also draw up an Action Plan for the next 3 years in matters of Tourism Sustainability in Diputació de Barcelona.

Connecting with sustainable and responsible tourism

With the Biosphere certification, the Diputació de Barcelona achieves one of the strategic objectives included in its Plan of Mandate 2016-2019.

This distinction has been obtained thanks to the joint work of more than 30 Management, Offices and Services of the corporation, who have analyzed and structured all the actions linked to the sustainable tourism development carried out by the Diputació de Barcelona.

Barcelona és molt més

Diputació de Barcelona promotes, under the brand "Barcelona és molt més", the three tourist destinations that have embarked on the Biosphere certification process. These are "Costa Barcelona" (Barcelona, Garraf, Maresme, Vallès Occidental, Vallès Oriental and Barcelona), "Paisatges Barcelona" (Moianès, Osona, Bages and Anoia) and "Pirineus Barcelona" (Barcelona).

In 2016, 4.7 million travelers were accommodated in these regions, representing a 16% increase over 2015. The forecast is that this 2017, declared by the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, it becomes 5 million visitors.

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