Redaccion
The Smart Cities Challenge Conference (ICC) and the Mayors and Companies Forum driven by the European Commission, which are taking place today and tomorrow in Brussels, will include Benidorm as one of the cities that will share its knowledge on efficient water management and the importance of tourism for local development as successful cases to inspire other destinations that are transitioning towards a smarter and more sustainable tourism model. The city’s mayor, Toni Pérez, along with the manager of the Visit Benidorm Foundation, Leire Bilbao, and the executive director of Hosbec, Mayte García, as a representative of the local industry, are participating in this international event, bringing together over 250 leaders from the main cities and companies that are part of the ICC; experts in urban development and transition; providers of green and digital technology solutions; academics; and members of the European Commission.
The event, taking place over these two days, aims to highlight the role of EU cities and local businesses in implementing the European Green Deal and the new Clean Industry Agreement of the EU; inspire with successful cases of Local Green Deals (LGDs) and pave the way for future joint actions between cities and industry.
Likewise, through these meetings, the European Commission also seeks to emphasize the critical challenges and lessons learned by cities and the local industry in their journey with local green deals; create a deep understanding of how to implement local green deals on a larger scale; and, finally, contribute to shaping the future EU policy, highlighting the importance of collaboration between cities and companies to achieve sustainability and competitiveness goals.
«Benidorm has been working intensely on many of these objectives for several years and has been an example in areas such as water management monitoring, with one of the most efficient water networks in the world and a high percentage of purified water reuse, but also in sustainable mobility, accessibility, environmental quality, integrated growth, and tourism data management,» said Toni Pérez. Therefore, the mayor highlighted that «all this accumulated experience, as a Pioneer Green Destination for Smart Tourism, makes us an example for other destinations or companies that are on the same path, to be greener and better adapt to new climate and environmental challenges.»
«In Benidorm, we are leading innovation in the tourism sector under the sustainability and regeneration strategy, enabling synergies between the private and public sectors to design our future,» said the mayor, who also referred to a quote by Peter Drucker: «The best way to predict the future is to create it.» Therefore, he considered that «collaboration between the private and public sectors in the green commitments set by the European Commission is the basis for future competitiveness.»
In addition to the panels in which Benidorm will participate, the mayor will also meet during these two days with other mayors of European cities participating in the ICC Conference and the Mayors and Companies Forum to share experiences and knowledge that can be replicated in the city’s daily management. «Cities are potential spaces for leadership in innovation, and municipalities like Benidorm have an added value: here, the city is the destination and, as such, we are a major center of economic activity, knowledge generation, innovation, and change.»
Therefore, Pérez highlighted that «sharing practices with another 100 cities in this project is an opportunity to learn and project our brand, Benidorm, beyond being the leading destination in the tourism industry, as our city is already recognized in Europe for its land management and the sustainability of our model,» to point out that «forums like this one or the recent recognition as a Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism by the European Commission prove that we are heading in the right direction.»
