Toni Pérez defends universal accessibility as “a competitive advantage” that gives “added value” to tourist destinations

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, argued today that universal accessibility is not only a right but also a competitive advantage that adds value to tourist destinations. He asserted that it has become a highly effective tourism growth strategy, promoting the reduction of seasonality and improving the city's appeal to European senior tourists and multigenerational families, who prioritise accessible, safe, and comfortable destinations and value inclusive environments that allow for shared activities.

Toni Pérez conveyed this message during the Sun&Blue 2025 Congress, an event focused on Tourism and the Blue Economy being held in Almería, where he participated as a speaker on a panel entitled "Coastal Areas for All: Accessibility as a Brand Identity." The mayor shared a panel with Manel Alcaide, CEO and co-founder of Visuaify, and Stephanie Sheelhy, director of the board of directors of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), and the panel was moderated by Pilar Guerra, director of Destino Vera.

During his remarks, the mayor emphasised that “Benidorm not only certifies accessibility, but lives it, tests it, and improves it every day,” working “always hand in hand with groups and organisations linked to functional diversity.” He explained that this collaboration begins “at the very start of the design” and “planning” of projects. “It’s about conceiving spaces and infrastructure that work for everyone from the very first sketch of the project,” he elaborated.

Toni Pérez emphasized that “adopting ‘universal design’ not only allows compliance with regulations, but also increases overall user satisfaction, whether for residents or visitors,” “expands the tourism market to include seniors, families, and inclusive travelers,” and “strengthens Benidorm’s image as a smart and sustainable destination,” while also “reducing future costs for adaptations or renovations.”

Along these lines, he explained that “Benidorm has implemented a participatory sensitivity audit,” in which “people with disabilities participate in the creation or renovation process.” Examples of these sensitivity audits and universal design include the installation of glass panels to replace walls or balustrades at El Castell and El Tossal so that “a small child in a stroller or a person in a wheelchair can see the sea from that level.” Also included are beach flags for people with colour blindness and the use of Navilens codes at beach access points so that blind people can receive information about sea conditions or the flag flying at any given time on that stretch of beach.

When asked about future challenges linked to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10, reducing inequalities, Toni Pérez stated that for Benidorm, it would be both a challenge and a dream to "develop an intelligent digital assistant linked to the accessible beaches, which are now 30 years old, that includes all the elements, services, and sensors of our beaches," so that any user could have access to all the information and resources.

Also within the framework of the congress, Benidorm presented the challenges and opportunities presented by the deployment of the Smart Destination Platform (SDP) in the area of ​​Blue Tourism, as a complement to and boost for projects already underway. Thus, the manager of Visit Benidorm, Leire Bilbao, referred to how the national PID, which will be based in Benidorm, is “a country project” that will make available to destinations a series of technological and innovation tools to “manage better”, and a space of “traceability” in which “we will all be connected” and with harmonized data.

She also referred to the initiatives that will be able to be developed in the immediate future once Benidorm's Strategic Tourism Plan (PID) – for which more than €3 million has been obtained from European funds – is fully implemented and connected to the national plan, the one promoted by Segittur.

During her presentation, Bilbao emphasised the importance of data in managing tourism resources and cited the change of dates for the Benidorm Half Marathon as a successful example, based on measured and studied parameters. This change, she explained, has allowed the race to grow year after year, reaching 9,000 runners this Saturday, of whom "40% are British and fly to the event."

At this panel, Bilbao was joined by Luz Goretti, Deputy Mayor of Santiago del Teide and Secretary General of AMT Canarias; and Cándido Seba, representative of the Rota City Council's Regional Network of International Travel (RECI) and ambassador for CIVINET Iberia at the European Commission.

Meetings within the framework of the congress

In addition to participating in both panels, the Benidorm delegation took advantage of their time at the Sun&Blue Congress to meet with tourism representatives from Latin America. Specifically, the mayor and the manager of Visit Benidorm met with Fernando Munive from the General Directorate of Tourism Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru; with the Director General of Planning of the Institute for Development of Panama; with the Secretary of Strategic Projects of the City Council of the Brazilian municipality of Caruaru; and with Stephanie Sheedy, from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute.

Meeting with Dubrovnik, Green Pioneer 2026

The Sun&Blue event also provided an opportunity to meet technical staff from Dubrovnik, the destination to which Benidorm will hand over the title of Green Pioneer. Dubrovnik staff were interested in learning about the city's experience this year to make the most of the actions linked to the European Commission's distinction.