Sun&Blue Congress Advisory Board visits CEOE

The Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) has been the chosen venue for the official presentation of Sun&Blue Congress in Madrid and the meeting of its Advisory Board and Technical Committee. With Inmaculada de Benito, Director of Tourism, Culture and Sport of CEOE, as hostess of the event; and María del Mar Vázquez, Mayoress of Almería, as President of the Advisory Council, have received a wide range of personalities of the sector.

Sun&Blue Congress, called to be the most important congress of Tourism and Blue Economy in Europe, celebrates its first edition from November 15 to 17 at the Exhibition and Congress Palace "Cabo de Gata - City of Almeria" and will bring together a wide international representation of the value chain of the tourism sector, blue tourism destinations and the scientific community around the seas, oceans and rivers.

The visit to CEOE has been developed through a working day in which they have exchanged knowledge, experiences and concerns about the major issues that make it possible for the tourism sector to present itself as the great driver of the Blue Economy in our country. Sustainability, digitalization, technology, new business models, entrepreneurship, financing and blue employment were some of the topics discussed.

This working day has ratified that blue tourism emerges as a powerful tool for sustainable development, both business initiatives that value natural resources in a respectful way, and positioning strategies for tourist destinations that can be more attractive and competitive, promoting another way of doing tourism, more conscious, responsible and with high added value.

This meeting between CEOE and the Advisory Board and Technical Committee of Sun&Blue Congress is part of the continuous and permanent work of the Confederation of Employers to boost competitiveness and accelerate the evolution of the tourism sector in Spain.

The director of Tourism, Culture and Sport of CEOE, Inmaculada Benito, stressed that "the evolution of the Spanish model to regenerative tourism requires working on blue tourism, as the maximum exponent of the sustainable use of resources linked to the ocean and within which are coastal, recreational, scientific and maritime tourism, among others". In this line, Benito has highlighted the importance of holding the Sun&Blue Congress and added that "it will allow us to advance in the knowledge necessary to facilitate smarter investments in management and conservation measures that support both nature and tourism businesses that support coastal economies."

Recently, CEOE presented the plan 'The future of tourism on today's agenda', which advocates the development of a strategy to recover the reputation of the sector, based on the social and environmental sustainability of tourism.

Sun&Blue Advisory Board and Technical Committee
The Advisory Board of Sun&Blue Congress, chaired by María del Mar Vázquez, Mayoress of Almería City Council, is formed by Yolanda de Aguilar, General Secretary for Tourism of the Junta de Andalucía; Lisardo Morán, General Director of Empresa Pública de Turismo y Deporte de Andalucía; Javier Aureliano García, President of the Diputación de Almería; María del Mar Plaza, general secretary of the Department of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy of the Regional Government of Andalusia; Felipe Formariz, deputy director general of Strategy and Services to the Tourism Sector - Turespaña; Inmaculada Benito, director of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport of CEOE; Enrique Martínez, president of SEGITTUR; Marta Pascual, head of the Spanish headquarters for the WestMED Initiative; Ioannis Pappas, director Mediterranean Region of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC); Esther Molina, manager of Suncruise Andalucía and president of the Tourism Commission of Cesur; Adolfo Borrero, senior advisor of Sun&Blue Congress; Javier Noriega, president of the Maritime-Marine Cluster of Andalusia (CMMA); Mariola Hidalgo, president of the Social Council of the University of Almeria; and John Mora, vice president of the Smart Cities Commission and Coordinator of the Smart Tourism WG of Ametic.

María del Mar Vázquez, mayor of Almería and president of the Sun&Blue Congress Advisory Board, has expressed her gratitude that Almería has been chosen to host the first edition of this congress, which will bring together national and international experts and leaders to discuss and share ideas on how to responsibly harness the potential of our oceans and coasts to boost the economy while protecting our marine environment. "Almeria is a place where marine biodiversity meets sustainable tourism, and this congress will help to further strengthen that relationship. Almeria has a special ecosystem to become a global example of Sustainability, Environment, Tourism and Blue Economy."

In this sense, he highlights "the marine conservation projects, such as the restoration of the Posidonia Oceanica Meadows, the innovation in management and the offer offered by the Cabo de Gata Natural Park or the implementation of the Chair of Sustainable Tourism at the University of Almeria, make us an ideal location for holding the congress. We are committed to sustainability and the conservation of our marine resources, and therefore Sun&Blue Congress is an important step for us because it positions us as a world reference for blue tourism".

The General Secretary for Tourism of the Junta de Andalucía, Yolanda de Aguilar, has confirmed that "protecting the oceans and water resources, and making their safeguarding compatible with the economic and social development of our community, is a priority objective for the Junta de Andalucía.  Beyond seeing it as a necessity, in our tourism strategy we also see it as an opportunity, especially in the field of intelligent specialization of the coastline, as this is the resource that attracts most tourism to the region; contributing nearly 60% of the total".

Aguilar added that the exploration of the different synergies that operate in the blue economy of tourism, the subject of Sun&Blue Congress, will make it easier to become more aware of their relevance and translate them into improved competitiveness for the sector. Fishing, aquaculture, marine renewable energies, biotechnology or ports and navigation services coexist with coastal tourism and influence its behavior. Therefore, "working on a common line, taking advantage of the experiences that we will know during the conference, is the challenge we intend to achieve, with the strong conviction that the blue economy is already an essential bastion of sustainable development that we all want for our community".

The provincial deputy, José Juan Martínez, has described as "a pride" that an important forum of international importance as this congress is held in the destination 'Costa de Almería' because "it will help us to spread directly to industry professionals tourism excellence of our land and its potential in the Blue Tourism. Diputación, through of the brand 'Costa de Almería', and always hand in hand with Almeria's tourism professionals, will support all initiatives that contribute to the dissemination of sustainable and quality tourism in our destination. As this congress, which I am convinced will be a resounding success because you have chosen the best place in the world to carry it out: the province of Almeria".

On the other hand, the Technical Committee is represented by a wide range of associations, foundations and institutions that support the congress and are widely committed to Blue Tourism and its development, such as Turespaña, Segittur, CEOE, CEA, Marinas de España, RECI, Fundación Ecomar, Fundación Descubre, Fundación Restaurantes Sostenibles, Fundación Eco-Union, Fundación Prenauta, Suncruise Andalucía, Instituto de Calidad Turística Española, Instituto de Calidad Turística Española, Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico, Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico, Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico, Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico, Fundación Prenauta, Fundación Prenauta, Suncruise Andalucía, Instituto de Calidad Turística Española, Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico, Asociación de Educación Ambiental y del Consumidor, Federación Española de Actividades Subacuáticas, Andalucía Eco&Activa, Cátedra de Turismo Digital y Litoral de la Universidad de Málaga, Clúster de Empresas Innovadoras para el Turismo de la Comunitat Valenciana, Instituto Andaluz de Buceo Profesional, AMETIC, Atlazul, Asociación Española de Directores de Hoteles, DestinoVera and Ángel Bonet, among others.