OBJECTIVE: The objective of the project is to contribute to the improvement of employment and blue economic activity through the development of sustainable management models in maritime tourism companies by incorporating people trained in sustainable and intelligent tourism.

THEME: The environmental theme of the project is sustainable tourism.

DESCRIPTION: CALYPSO aims to contribute to increasing the economic potential of coastal and marine landscapes by addressing the environmental and social problems that arise from the unsustainable management of coastal tourism.

To this end, it is proposed to train people in sustainable tourism and the ICTs that reinforce it and to promote their incorporation in companies linked to blue tourism in the communities of Andalusia and the Canary Islands. This is intended to promote the intelligent and sustainable growth of coastal tourism and, consequently, contribute to the blue growth of the economy.

Tourism as an economic activity is important, and coastal and maritime tourism is one of the most relevant tourism sectors in Spain. It represents more than one third of the maritime economy (Maritime Affairs, EC). This importance is mainly due to the unique characteristics of the areas in which it takes place. The beauty and diversity of the coastal areas are the main tourist attraction of these places.

Evidently, a successful exploitation of tourism is highly influenced by the state of the environment in which it is developed. This means that both the present and the future of tourism are highly dependent on the conservation and good health of the environment. To ensure that the environment is maintained in a healthy condition, it is necessary that tourism activities and the resources associated with them are managed in a sustainable manner. The natural resources of the destination area must be managed in a way that does not harm the local environment, that does not cause impacts that generate damage to ecosystems. In other words, tourism activity and environmental activity must be perfectly aligned.

Unfortunately, what is currently happening is far from being considered sustainable resource management. Tourism companies that carry out activities related to blue tourism sometimes do not include in their strategies management models that address the environmental impacts generated by their activities. By way of example, in terms of waste generated, the figures indicate that if the current trend continues, the damage caused to marine ecosystems could be irreversible. It is estimated that each tourist generates approximately 7 kg of waste per day, and according to the UN, by 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic waste than fish. It seems clear, then, that urgent action must be taken to help improve the sustainable management of blue tourism businesses and tourism activities in general. Actions aimed at raising citizens’ awareness of their consumption habits, actions that promote the development and implementation of sustainable management models in tourism companies and that include ICTs in the sustainable administration of resources, through the management of information that contributes to making better decisions. CALYPSO will mainly focus on actions directly related to blue tourism companies (sustainable management models and incorporation of ICTs).

In addition, the project will also contribute to the change of habits of citizens, providing knowledge and tools to the participants. In this way, CALYPSO proposes highly innovative training contents, contents designed and developed specifically to address this problem, combining environmental training with business management components and with the necessary ICT resources for its correct execution. The design of this program makes the proposed objective highly coherent in terms of people trained and positive environmental impact in the Blue Tourism sector in both the Canary Islands and Andalusia.