RTD 10 Calvià, Mallorca, Spain

Wednesday 25.03.15 - Press Release

The town hall of Calvia has decided to cancel all official business until Friday 27^th March midnight as a mark of respect for the families of the bereaved, following the tragic accident that occurred yesterday.

Having consulted with the Ajuntament de Calvia and our key partners the organising committee of RTD10 has cancelled the Conference also as a mark of respect.

CONFERENCE WEBSITE

The Municipality of Calvià is Mallorca's second commune after Palma. It developed for tourism in the 1960s during the first international tourism boom, and it experienced  rapid population growth,  some 95% of jobs are tourism related.   In the late 1980s tourism fell by almost 20% and in the early 1990s local authorities worked with the International Federation of Tour Operators to address the challenge of mass tourism in resort areas. The ECOMOST initiative was a joint effort by the local authorities and the source market operators to address the sustainability challenge. The European Community Models of Sustainable Tourism (ECOMOST) was the fist major partnership which sought to reverse some of the damage caused by uncontrolled mass tourism, and in the wake of the 1992 Rio Conference it applied some of the Agenda 21 Principles which are now being discussed again post Rio+20.

This 10th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations provides an excellent opportunity to explore the ways in which a local authority can manage tourism for sustainability and to examine the roles of different stakeholders in achieving the necessary changes. This conference provides a unique opportunity to look back over 20 years of development since the ECOMOST intervention. Calvià is a destination where the major European tour operators are still very important. In 2014 over 1 m British tourists visited  Calvià, some 50% of all tourists in Calvià are British,  German arrivals are also strong.

The co-chairs of RTD9 are Cristian Alfaro Park, Jefe de Unidad, Dto. Turismo, Ayuntamiento de Calviá and Harold Goodwin Professor of Responsible Tourism at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Responsible Tourism Partnership the rights holder for the series of International Conferences on Responsible Tourism In Destinations.

PROGRAMME

Thursday 26th March

08:45-09.15 Conference Registration

09:15 Welcome and Opening Speeches
1. Deputy Mayor of Tourism – Ayuntamiento de Calvia: Maria Eugenia Frau Moreno
2. Vice President - Federation of Hotels in Mallorca Association: Inma De Benito
3. Director of Group Sustainable Development - TUI Group: Jane Ashton
4. Professor of Responsible Tourism of Responsible Tourism at Manchester Metropolitan University, Director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership which runs the series of International Conferences on Responsible Tourism in Destinations: Dr Harold Goodwin
10:00 Fifty Years of Tourism in Calviá – Transforming a Mediterranean Island
In the 1960s tourism developed rapidly in Calviá which has many of Mallorca’s best known resorts: Magaluf,. Santa Ponsa, El Toro, Paguera, Illetas, Portals Nous and Palma Nova. This introductory session sets the scene for the conference with two presentations and some time for questions. The first presentation focuses on the island of Mallorca and the territory of Calviá, recognising that Calviá is not only a tourism resort. The second presentation tells the story of tourism development on the island and sets the scene for a discussion about the challenges of managing tourism sustainably in the municipality. In the year when we hope that the COP21 or CMP11 United Nations Climate Change Conference meeting in December will result in concerted action we shall hear what the impact of climate change is likely to be on the Mediterranean.

Chair Professor Harold Goodwin
Panellists/Presentations
1. Deputy Mayor Tourism during period Ecomost Project: Antonio Pallicer
2. Marketing and Promotions Director – Valentin Hotels: Francisco Carmona
3. Climate Change TBC

10:45 Coffee

11.15 The ECOMOST Project and its legacy

The chair, Martin Brackenbury, who was in the 1990’s the President of the International Federation of Tour Operators will lead a panel discussion with presentations from the panellists about the European Community Models of Sustainable Tourism (ECOMOST) , the first major partnership effort to reverse some of the damage caused by uncontrolled mass tourism.

This is a unique opportunity to hear from some of those involved in ECOMOST twenty years ago, the intervention and their reflections on it and from those active in the sector today about the legacy of that intervention and how it relates to today’s challenges.

Chair Martin Brackenbury
Panellists
1. Retired Economist and Lawyer (Included in The ECOMOST Project): Esteban Bardolet
2. Director of Tourism during The ECOMOST Project: Eduardo Gamero
3. Tourism Madrid (Central Government) : German Porras

12.25 Keynote: Jane Ashton - Director of Group Sustainable Development - TUI Group

12.45 Networking lunch and Supplier’s Fair (10min walk lunch @ Valentin Hotel)

14:15 The Mediterranean Experience of Tourism

In this session we shall hear from a range of destinations about the challenges they face in achieving sustainable tourism. The panellists will each analyse the economic, social and environmental issues which arise in their destination and discuss how successful their management strategies have been in addressing the issues.

Chair Harold Goodwin
Four presentations followed by panel discussion and questions from the floor
1. SPAIN Executive Director - Catalan Tourist Board (Barcelona): Patrick Torrent
2. BALEARICS Director of Agència de Turisme de les Illes Balears (ATB) - Marcial Rodriguez
3. COSTA BRAVA (L’Estartit) Director of DCB Tourism and Local Development - Josep Capella
4. MOROCCO Secretary General - Nada Roudies

15:30 Coffee

16:00 KEYNOTE: The Calviá Experience – The current challenges
Cristian Alfaro Park - Ayuntamiento de Calviá

This panel chaired by Cristian Alfaro Park focuses on the current sustainability challenges facing Calviá and its tourism industry. Each of the panellists will present the economic, social and environmental issues as they see them. The short local will then be followed by a panel discussion about how best to address the issues and with questions and contributions from the floor

Panellists
1. Director General del hotel Sol Palmanova Mirlos Tordos - Sol Melia – Sebastian Darder
2. Director Commerical - Globo Balear: Richie Prior
3. Director - Hotel Bon Sol Resort & Spa: Alejandro Xamena
4. Former Professional Road Racing Cyclist: Stephen Roche
5. Director Baleares – MTS Incoming: Juan Sanchez TBC
17.30 The Winter Flight Campaign
Jason Moore Editor Majorca Daily Bulletin

17:45 INTERVIEW - ‘Why Responsible Tourism matters?’
Director of Purchasing – TUI Group: Garry Wilson interviewed by Professor Harold Goodwin
18:00 Close

Friday 27th March 2015

09:00 Review of Day 1 – The key questions and issues emerging

We start the second day with two short presentations reflecting on what we have learnt from the first day, identifying where there is consensus and where there are significant differences of view about the sustainability challenges for the tourism sector. What are the issues which we need to be sure are discussed during the final day.

1. Professor Harold Goodwin
2. Cristian Alfaro Park
3. Managing Editor - Travel Weekly – Ian Taylor

09:30 Taking Responsibility for Transport

The sustainability issues which arise from transport in the tourism sector are often ignored in discussing about how tourism in destinations can best be managed. In this session we have invited a range of different transport providers to identify the sustainability issues which arise in their service provision and to explain how they are addressing them – there will be ample opportunity for conference participants to ask questions and engage in the debate.

Transport Panellists
1. Air Europa; Consultant Middelmann I.M.S. & Consulting S.L - Alvaro Middelmann
2. Ultramar: Head of Organizational Development & Quality - Marta Gallardo
3. City Sight Seeing: Director of Sales - Marcos Ybarra Valdenebro
4. TBC

10:30 KEYNOTE Katy Sayburn Addressing Seasonality - Managing Director - BH Mallorca Hotels
10.50 Coffee
11:20 KEYNOTE Tim Williamson - Marketing for Sustainability – Director of Marketing & Content – Responsible Travel.com

Tim has worked across the industry. Before joining Responsible Travel.com Tim was Customer Experience & Marketing Director at Monarch and prior to that Customer Director at TUI UK. Tim will be sharing his knowledge about how to use your sustainability performance for market advantage.

The panellists will share their experience of how taking responsibility for making tourism more sustainable can be used to secure market advantage. The four short presentations will be followed by a panel discussion and comments and questions from the floor

Chair Harold Goodwin
Panellists
1. Director of Marketing & Content - Responsible Travel: Tim Williamson
2. Destination for Spain and Portugal - Trip Advisor: Leire Gonzalez
3. Partner - Global Spirit: Jo Hendrickx
4. Technical Director Spain and Portugal – Robinson Club: Miguel Galmés Schwarz
5. Director of Global Brand Marketing – TRYP by Wyndham & Sol brand: Sara Matarrubia

12:45 Networking Lunch (10min walk lunch @ Valentin Hotel)

14:15 Using tourism to make Mediterranean resorts better places to live in, the issues, challenges and solutions

KEYNOTE Nikki White Head of Destinations and Sustainability – ABTA The Travel Association

Chair Harold Goodwin
Panellists
1. Head of Destinations and Sustainability – ABTA The Travel Association: Nikki White
2. TAXATION: Senior Associate – Garrigues Abogados and Asesores Tributarios: Alberto Garcia Suau
3. PLANNING: Founder and Director – GRAS: Guillermo Reynes
4. MARINE: Research Professor - Science Council of Spain (Member of the Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies IMEDEA): Professor Beatriz Morales
5. ENERGY TBC

15:30 What is the future of tourism in the Balearic Islands

Chaired by Martin Brackenbury
Four perspectives on the future of tourism in the Balearics and the Mediterranean – what are the key challenges and opportunities.

Panellists
1. Director Western Mediterranean Services TUI – Ian Chapman
2. Director of Hotel Contracting - Thomas Cook: Hans Mueller TBC
3. Managing Partner/Co-owner – Maximice Events Group SL: Juan Miguel Caldentey
4. General Director of Balearics Universities – Antonio Alcover TBC
5. Bed Banks – TBC (approached x2 agencies Viajes Urbis and Hotel Beds)
16:45 Closing Statements
1. Professor Harold Goodwin
2. Cristian Alfaro Park
17:00 Conference Closes

Venue
The RTD10 Conference will be held in the Ajuntament de Calvia auditorium in Paguera.
On the resort map it is referred to as Theatre or Casal

The ECOMOST initiative in Calvià is included in UNEP & ICLEI's 2003 publication Tourism and Local Agenda 21 the Role of Local Authorities in Sustainable Tourism UNEP pp:34-41 on line

Detailed background on the ECOMOST project on line.