Ecotourism in Spain is responsible travel that shows the best of Spanish nature, enjoying experiences set up by companies committed to its conservation (Decl. de Daimiel, 2016).
It is developed in protected natural areas, territories that provide ecosystem services, understood as resources or processes of natural ecosystems that benefit humans. In the National Strategy for Green Infrastructures, Connectivity and Ecological Restoration, ecotourism is included within the cultural ecosystem services. It was promoted from its origin by the Secretary of State for Tourism, and is managed by the Ecotourism Association in Spain (AEE) which performs the functions of a national management body. It brings together destinations and small tourism companies that offer authentic ecotourism experiences in territories with protected natural areas and that, in addition, meet a series of environmental and social requirements that guarantee the traveller their contribution to the conservation of biodiversity and the local development of the spaces they visit.

Thanks to these requirements of the Soy Ecoturista brand created by the AEE to promote the product, and to the symbiosis that is established between the managers of protected areas, administrations and companies, we can affirm that it is one of the essential products to stop depopulation, diversify tourism in terrestrial and coastal protected areas, and make it more sustainable. The experiences of the Ecotourism in Spain product club are configured by adding several services provided by small companies and entities located in natural areas: the guided tour of protected areas using equipment and services for public use, plus guided routes and activities to interpret heritage, plus accommodation and restaurant services. plus the visit to learn about local products. For this product to work and be viable (environmental, social, economic and governance), tourism companies must group their services and a coordinated work of local companies and destination management entities.

The workers in these tourism companies and in local entities can be considered green jobs, as they perform vital functions for this product to be consumed by tourists, contributing to their awareness and generating positive impacts on natural spaces. Administrations and companies have been incorporating it as an attractive product for demand, beneficial for the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable development of the Natura 2000 Network. Demand trends point towards its growth. Many protected natural areas are currently suffering from a process of depopulation, so ecotourism is a source of employment to be promoted.

PREPA has 42 participating destinations. With the Sustainability and Digitalization project of the Ecotourism Experiences network in Spain, AEE has created a new www.soyecoturista.com platform to promote and sell the experiences, and has a toolbox available to the local management bodies of each destination of the club, which is often underused. That is why it is necessary to incorporate and train the managing bodies of these destinations, where there is a diversity of entities that participate in their management (associations, local entities, local action groups).

In each product destination there are between 2-4 workers in the entities and associations that are involved in the management of these destinations, who will be able to receive training actions specifically designed to apply the tools of the product club, and promote their destination and the experiences of the participating tourism companies. In each destination there is a critical mass of tourism companies adhered to the club that need training and community actions to to be able to jointly apply the Club’s tools.