Sustainable and Circular Tourism Plans
What a sustainable and circular tourism plan is
A sustainable and circular tourism plan is the planning instrument that steers the tourism development of a destination towards triple sustainability — environmental, economic and social — while also incorporating the principles of the circular economy: reducing resource consumption, minimising and recovering waste, energy efficiency and local sourcing. It starts from a rigorous diagnosis of the destination, defines a vision and objectives, and translates them into concrete lines of action with a corresponding monitoring system.
In Spain, these plans fall within the Spain Tourism Strategy 2030, which steers the transformation of Spanish tourism towards a sustainable, balanced and inclusive model, and within the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda. They are also the usual technical basis for Destination Tourism Sustainability Plans.
When it is needed
- When a local body (town council, association of municipalities, provincial council, local action group) wants to organise and develop its tourism activity sustainably.
- As the underlying technical document for applying to Destination Tourism Sustainability Plan calls or regional funding.
- In destinations that need to redirect a tourism model showing signs of saturation or environmental impact.
- To integrate the circular economy into the management of a destination and its tourism businesses.
Methodology
- Destination diagnosis: analysis of supply and demand, resources, current impacts and environmental and territorial constraints.
- Sustainability and circularity analysis: assessment of the resource, energy and waste flows associated with tourism activity.
- Definition of the vision, objectives and strategic lines, aligned with the Spain Tourism Strategy 2030 and the SDGs.
- Action programme: concrete, prioritised and budgeted measures.
- Governance, indicators and monitoring system to ensure the plan's execution and evaluation.
Common mistakes
- Drafting generic plans not based on a real diagnosis of the destination, which prove inapplicable.
- Incorporating the circular economy as a mere declaration, without concrete actions or indicators.
- Defining actions without prioritisation, budget or responsible parties, leaving the plan with no capacity for execution.
- Omitting the monitoring system, which is essential both for management and for justifying public funding.
Why choose Ideas Medioambientales
We draft sustainable and circular tourism plans by integrating environmental and territorial diagnosis with knowledge of the tourism sector and the circular economy. Our approach combines technical rigour with an execution focus: plans with prioritised, budgeted actions and monitoring indicators, adapted to the requirements of the applicable funding lines across Spain.
Tell us about your destination and the objective of the plan, and we'll propose a tailored approach.
Book a 30-minute meeting and tell us about your projects.
You can also contact us today to talk about your project.
What can we cover in 30 minutes?
It's more than enough time to have an overview of your needs and recommend the best route forward. Here there is a summary of the steps we will follow.
