The Interuniversity Chair of New Green Transition begins the year 2021 at the University of Valencia collaborating with Visit València and the City Council of València in the preparation of the proposal for Valencia, as a tourist destination, to join the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GSM). The GSM Destination Sustainability Index is an evaluation program comparative and improved performance in terms of tourism sustainability, both of the destinations as well as the tourist entities that make them up. Valencia has been the first city in the world to calculate the carbon footprint of the activity tour. This process should be complemented with new proposals that contribute to the city, as a tourist destination, effectively advance to be a destination and a sustainable city.
As Emiliano García, Councilor for Tourism and President of Visit València points out, “València has started on the road to tourism sustainability with very clear and very ambitious objectives. Our reference project is to become a Carbon Neutral Destination in 2025, although not However, there are many initiatives that, from a social, economic and environmental perspective, we are promoting”. Moreover, “joining the GDS Movement will allow us to evaluate our initiatives, access new tourism knowledge through its methodology, and share the ‘Expertise’ that València already has in terms of sustainability so that, together with other destinations and tourist entities, let us advance in favor of a more integrated and inclusive tourism”.
From the Chair, we are conducting the necessary research to assess the indicators corresponding to the Global Destination Sustainability Index. This research will allow to evaluate in detail (69 indicators) and compare our city with reference cities such as Sydney, Helsinki, Oslo, Zurich, Brussels, Montreal, Prague and Vienna. The objective is that these indicators serve as basis for a continuous improvement proposal in the area of the Valencia tourist destination. This project, started from Visit Valencia, aims to involve companies and agents that operate in this tourist destination. From the point of view of the organism that drives it, it is of vital importance that Visit Valencia promote this process.