World Tourism Day is celebrated every September 27, which aims to raise awareness of the social, cultural and economic value of tourism, as well as to focus on how the sector can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

This date, promoted by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), is celebrated this year under the slogan “Tourism and sustainable transformation“. In addition to being a powerful economic sector, tourism is an accelerator of social progress, promoting education, generating employment and creating new opportunities.

To achieve these benefits, UNWTO warns that a well-planned and inclusive approach is essential, placing sustainability, resilience and social equity at the heart of tourism development and decision-making. The transformation of sustainable tourism must start with effective governance and people-centred planning, according to this organisation.

Global tourism is closely linked to development and is a key driver of socio-economic progress. According to the United Nations, the tourism sector employs one in 10 people in the world and contributes to 10% of the world’s GDP. In addition, countries with open and sustainable tourism tend to be more peaceful territories.

With regard to its relationship with the planet, the agency points out that the tourism sector must fulfil its responsibilities to solve the climate emergency, which, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2025 report, is one of the most urgent risks of the next 10 years, with extreme weather events, the loss of biodiversity and the collapse of ecosystems as main concerns.

In this context, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) is working on different lines of action to promote sustainable and green tourism.

Tourism offers fertile ground for innovation and entrepreneurship. For this reason, through the Emprendeverde Network, the Foundation supports the creation and consolidation of new companies that contribute to green recovery and the conservation of biodiversity, some of them with sustainable tourism entrepreneurship projects.

For example, Quei Vitorino is a rural tourism project born in 2011 that offers visitors different ecotourism experiences in the Natural Park of Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña and Ibias in Asturias. Also, in 2015 Snorkeling Experience was born, a coastal ecotourism project that focuses on environmental dissemination in order to bring science closer to the general public.

On the other hand, the Biodiversity Foundation also supports projects linked to more sustainable tourism through its calls for grants. Within the call for the promotion of the bioeconomy linked to the forestry field of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), Fantástico Bosque de Valdavido is promoted, with which it is intended to establish a forest management model focused on biodiversity and ecotourism, which reduces the risk of fire and promotes new forest products.