The goal of the International Conference on Sustainability and Competitiveness in Tourist Destinations is to involve tourist destinations in the strategic role that Sustainability will play in consolidating a sustainable and stable competitive positioning in the future world tourism market, as well as to provide an international model of sustainability applied to tourist destinations that facilitates its rapid integration in their operational management.
To this end, from the indispensable framework established by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) included in the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the guidelines emanating from the World Charter on Sustainable Tourism and the indications of the Paris Agreement (COP21), the conference aims to identify the key factors of Sustainable Development in the Tourist Destinations of the future, encouraging, on the one hand, its maximum diffusion to achieve its application and, on the other, to help entities with competencies in tourism policies and strategies to achieve substantial improvements of their competitiveness based on Sustainability as a competitive advantage.
For more than a decade, the municipality of Arona has been immersed in different initiatives and actions aimed at creating an accessible tourist offer that enables tourism without barriers, in which all types of tourists can enjoy full experiences..
Obtaining the Biosphere Certification in September 2016 marked an important milestone on the road to sustainability of Arona, representing a guarantee of the authenticity of the destination and its tourist product, moving towards the creation of a new tourism model that favors the development of sustainable products and services of all and for all.
The RTI is created following the World Conference on Sustainable Tourism: Towards a New Tourism Culture held in Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain) in April 1995. Its fundamental mission has always been to promote the principles of the "TOURISM SUSTAINABLE CHARTER ".
The RTI is an independent organization whose purpose is to implement actions and programs of sustainable development in the tourism industry. To that end, the RTI follows the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The RTI maintains special relations with UNESCO, which are reflected in a signed Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations in 1999, as well as being a member of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and a founding member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).