Benidorm offsets the carbon footprint generated since 2015 by its promotional activities by planting more than 1,800 trees

Benidorm has offset the carbon footprint generated by the destination promotion activities carried out by Visit Benidorm over the last decade by planting 1,868 trees; a reforestation effort undertaken in an area of ​​the Marina Alta region affected by the forest fires of summer 2022. This was announced by the mayor, Toni Pérez, during the meeting of the Foundation's Board of Trustees held this morning at the City Hall.

Toni Pérez, who is also the president of the Foundation, explained that "promotional activity inevitably involves travel and, therefore, CO2 emissions that have an impact." Given this reality, "Visit Benidorm opted for an approach based on three key principles: measuring, reducing, and offsetting the carbon footprint generated since 2015 by this promotional activity for Benidorm, which includes trade fairs, workshops, roadshows, and professional events."

This carbon offset project was carried out in partnership with the Desert Leaves Foundation, which promotes the Marina Alta Eco-restoration project. The Pego City Council, the Pego Viu association, and the Valencian Regional Government are also involved in the project. The reforestation effort took place in the municipality of Pego and involved planting more than 1,800 native species, including carob, pine, and olive.

Over the next 40 years, this new forest will absorb a total of 249 tons of CO2, equivalent to the emissions generated by the 660 initiatives implemented by Visit Benidorm in 201 cities across 58 countries since 2015, the year the strategy was established to make Benidorm the world's first certified Smart Tourism Destination (STD). “The Smart Tourism Destination (STD) model,” the mayor reminded everyone, “is based on five pillars, one of which is sustainability. Therefore, beyond incorporating it into all the actions, programs, plans, and policies undertaken by the City Council and Visit Benidorm, we have sought formulas like this one for measuring, reducing, and offsetting the carbon footprint.”

The mayor emphasised that “with this offsetting action, Benidorm is once again a pioneer, while reinforcing our commitment to sustainable tourism, convinced that tourism today, and especially tomorrow, will be sustainable or it will cease to exist.”

All data on the measurement and generation of emissions are available at :

https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/65426eca-79a0-4349-a20a-293f8f464a20/page/NmpOF.