Turisme Garrotxa, awarded a prize for responsible tourism in Catalonia

Monday 24 of November of 2014

Turisme Garrotxa has been awarded a prize for its contribution to local quality of life. The Responsible Tourism Prizes for Catalonia aim to highlight best practices in the Catalan tourism sector.

During a ceremony held in the Santa Pau Art Nouveau site in Barcelona, the president of Turisme Garrotxa, Eduard Llorà, was presented with an award for the best contribution to improving the local quality of life as part of the II Catalan Responsible Tourism Prizes organized by the Network of Responsible Tourism (ICRT Barcelona) and the magazine DESCOBRIR. On receiving the award, Llorà recognized that the prize was for “all the associations and businesses in the public and private sectors that form part of Turisme Garrotxa, and who work together to ensure the success of a sustainable, locally based model for tourism".  

To win the award, Turisme Garrotxa had to present to the II Catalan Responsible Tourism Prizes a dossier that included details of the actions carried out by this association that guarantee that the promotion of local tourism is compatible with the day-to-day lives of local people. Some of these actions include the application of the European Charter of Sustainable Tourism, the promotion of local eco-tourist businesses via the association TUREBE, the drafting of an annual sustainability report, and the implementation of projects such as Garrotxa Cultour and La Garrotxa, terra de volcans, cultura i identitatthat will benefit not only tourists but local people as well.

The Catalan Responsible Tourism Prizes are based on the International Responsible Tourism Prizes. They endeavour to highlight best practices in the Catalan tourist sector by promoting actionsthat reduce the negative impactbut increase benefits for private companies, the local community and the environment alike of the tourism that visits the area.