The mayor lays emphasis that improving connectivity is key to ensuring the sustainability of destinations

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, stressed yesterday that "connectivity" is key to ensuring "the sustainability of destinations." Toni Pérez made this statement during a round table on coast tourism organized by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), within a day of ‘Sustainable and Innovative Tourism in the municipalities’, which was held in Alicante.

A table in which, in addition to the mayor, the general secretary of Hosbec, Nuria Montes participated; the vice mayor of Alicante, Mª Carmen Sánchez; the president of the Association of Blocks and Tourist Apartments of Alicante, Daniel Elman; the deputy mayor of Pineda de Mar, Sonia Moraleda; and the mayor of Gijón, Ana González. Among the day attendees, which was broadcast via ‘streaming’, were the mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, host of the event; the general secretary of the FEMP, Carlos Daniel Casares; and mayors of various municipalities in Spain.

During his speech, Toni Pérez slipped that the investments and measures adopted by local entities and tourism companies to advance in sustainability are not entirely effective if they complement each other with a connectivity strategy that allows tourists to reach Destinations through means of transport with less impact, such as the train.

Precisely, and as Pérez moved, to have a railway line would make Benidorm an even more sustainable destination, improving the parameters of excellence already consolidated thanks to the vertical city model or in terms of “water management”, with “a performance of 96% in the drinking water network "and with" a decrease in consumption of 25% in the last two decades despite the 20% increase in the resident population and 40% of the volume of tourists. "

Despite this lack of rail connectivity, the general secretary of Hosbec meant that Benidorm is the third peninsular destination in hotel stays, only surpassed by Madrid and Barcelona, both capitals endowed with all infrastructure. Thus, Benidorm annually computes an average of 17 million overnight stays.

Apart from environmental sustainability, the mayor also referred to "the economic and social", highlighting that "with an active population of 35,000 people, Benidorm generates 60,000 jobs."

He also stressed that the improvement of all these indicators "will contribute innovation and technology," and pointed out the importance of "landing the data, extracting the information it offers and from there apply solutions." In this regard, he stressed the advantages of "having indicators" that "allow us we are".

As a closing of the day, in which there was also a table on interior tourism, the general secretary of the FEMP valued that "the municipalities of all colors are promoting public-private collaboration" at the tourist level, and exalted "the tandem Impressive ”that the mayors of Benidorm have formed and Calviá at the head of the Tourism Commission of the FEMP.

For his part, Luis Barcala highlighted the role of the speakers of both tables, exalted the value of municipalism and days such as the one held yesterday, which favor the exchange of experiences.