Turismo Sostenible En Euskadi

• Ainhoa Aldalur, from Gipuzkoa, currently a tourist guide in Norway and with experience in some museums of the Basque Country.

• Susana Conde, from Álava, Managing Director of a responsibletravel agency, Agrotravel, which offers sustainable trips in Spain and all around the world.

We are both from the Basque Country and we want to show you by means of a video created by the BasqueTourist Board where this region is located and its tourist resources.

After this promotional video about Basque Country, you can notice that we live in a place with a lot of potential for responsibleand sustainable tourism. For example:

• Urdaiabai, a Biosphere Reserve

• Several Natural Parks.

• A spectacular coastline.

• very rich cultural heritage.

• Excellentand assorted local cuisine.

As you have seen in this promotional video, the tourist authorities in the area basically promote standard tourist resources.

They put great emphasis on the famousmuseums, the five-star hotels and the fine restaurants.

We believe that these promotional campaigns fail to show the ordinary life, the pleasant environment, the rich culture and the superb cuisine.In our opinion this is the best way to get to know the authenticity of a place.

Last year they started to promote other activities more connected to nature such as birdwatching or hiking, butfrom my point of view this approach is too business oriented and lacks a clear comprehension of sustainable tourism.

They are very determined to create natural tourist products but for the momentnot with a good strategy or with the goal to offer sustainable tourism. In fact, responsible and sustainable tourism are not very common terms in our region and it is difficult to find somebody whounderstands them in the world of tourism.

Due to this local government’s lack of support, when travellers arrive in the Basque Country, they find it difficult to eat in a restaurant where the food is...