Benidorm has offset the carbon footprint generated by its tourism promotion efforts over the past decade by planting 1,868 trees in an area of the Marina Alta region affected by forest fires during the summer of 2022.
The initiative was announced by the mayor and president of the Visit Benidorm Foundation, Toni Pérez, during a meeting of the foundation’s board at the town hall. Pérez noted that promotional activities inevitably require travel, which creates an environmental impact through carbon dioxide emissions. In response, Visit Benidorm adopted a strategy focused on measuring, reducing and offsetting the carbon footprint generated since 2015 across various promotional activities, including trade fairs, workshops, roadshows and professional events.
The offsetting project has been carried out in partnership with the Desert Leaves Foundation, which drives the Marina Alta Ecorestoration project alongside Pego Town Council, the Pego Viu association and the Generalitat Valenciana. The reforestation has taken place within the municipality of Pego, where more than 1,800 specimens of native species, such as carob, pine and olive trees, have been planted. Visit Benidorm financed the planting with a contribution of 21,994.17 euro, which granted the foundation 249 carbon credits.
Over the next 40 years, this new woodland is expected to absorb 249 tonnes of carbon dioxide. This amount corresponds to the emissions generated by 660 promotional actions undertaken by Visit Benidorm across 201 cities in 58 countries since 2015. This was the year Benidorm established its strategy to become the first certified Smart Tourist Destination in the world. Pérez emphasized that the Smart Tourist Destination model rests on five pillars, with sustainability being a key component. He stated that this action demonstrates Benidorm’s ongoing commitment to tourism sustainability, highlighting his belief that the tourism of today and tomorrow must be sustainable.
The project is officially registered with the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
