The Declaration

The Barcelona Declaration "Better Places to Live, Better Places to Visit" seeks to demonstrate what tourism and cultural heritage sectors can achieve by working more closely together, for the benefit of European citizens and cultural heritage as well as businesses, visitors and destinations. Moreover, it assumes the collective commitment of both sectors towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Download the Declaration

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Sign the Declaration

We invite all those who care for Tourism of tomorrow to sign, support and widely share the Declaration.

Regenerative Tourism

In 2018, the Barcelona Declaration “Better Places to Live Better Places to Visit” was created from the willingness of NECSTouR members to respond to the residents’ concerns about the uses of territorial assets for tourism activity. Since then, local community wellbeing as well as the climate emergency and business innovation are driving the transformation of NECSTouR members' tourism strategies. This is also reflected in their governance models and marketing focus, moving from a sustainable tourism approach to a regenerative, value-driven model.

Regenerative Tourism Conference

Regenerative Tourism Conference

Considering the important moment of reflection and transformation of tourism models to regenerative tourism ones, Catalonia and NECSTouR organised the Conference “Regenerative Tourism contributing to the wellbeing of the community”. The event was a day of reflection aiming to inspire, share and learn how tourism destinations and businesses are working towards a “value driven” tourism model wishing to contribute to the wellbeing of the community (society, environment and business), the so called “Regenerative Tourism”. This offered a source of inspiration and showcased how territories could deliver on the targets of the Tourism Transition Pathway

Find the full recordings here.

Regenerative Tourism Conference Documents

The Background

The Barcelona Declaration acknowledges previous existing declarations and documents related to tourism and cultural heritage from bodies such as Council of Europe, European Commission, Europa Nostra, European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN), International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), among others.

MOMENTUM

2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH). Acknowledging the unique momentum of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage, NECSTouR - the European Network of Regions for Competitive and Sustainable Tourism - took the initiative to establish a Pan European Dialogue to foster greater synergy between tourism and cultural stakeholders.

EYCH

Key Events:

  • 19th April 2018: High level event in Barcelona organized by NECSTouR and the Region Catalonia “Better Places to Be, Better Places to Visit” aiming at setting up the Pan European dialogue on cultural heritage and tourism and present the first draft of the Barcelona Declaration to be upgraded along the year.

 

  • 11th October 2018: Thematic Conference in Brussels organized by NECSTouR and the Region of Galicia, hosted by Fundación Galicia Europa “Local-led initiatives on Tourism and Cultural Heritage: a Legacy for Europe” aiming at showcasing existing regional initiatives, gathering the EU institutions reflections on tourism and cultural heritage after the 2018 EYCH and releasing the final version of the Barcelona Declaration.
BCN
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News and Best Practices

Thematic Conference "Local-Led Initiatives on Tourism and Cultural Heritage: a Legacy for Europe"

NECSTouR and Xunta de Galicia are pleased to invite you to attend the Thematic Conference "Local-Led Initiatives on Tourism and Cultural Heritage: a Legacy for Europe".
 
NECSTouR, in the framework of 2018 EYCH with the support of the European Heritage Alliance, is leading the pan European dialogue on tourism and cultural heritage and Xunta de Galicia is supporting this initiative, as leader of its Working Group on .

NECSTouR Thematic Conference "Applying Tourism Trends on Data, Talent and Resources Management in European Islands and Regions”

NECSTouR and Canary Islands Region organised the Thematic Conference "Applying Tourism Trends on Data, Talent and Resources Management in European Islands and Regions”.

The conference has been organised in the framework of the NECSTouR annual General Meeting 2019 on the 11th of June 2019 at the "Hotel Escuela Santa Cruz", in Santa Cruz the Tenerife, Spain. 
 

Baltic Sea World Heritage Summit

The Summit has been a conference and a forum for coastal World Heritage Sites around the Baltic Sea, to strengthen cooperation and exchange of best practices. The summit has been attended by leading politicians and key individuals from the region.

Visit Scotland advocates for Sustainable Tourism Growth in a Changing Climate at their Annual St Andrew's Lecture

 

Lord Thurso, Chair of Visit Scotland, a member of NECSTouR, delivered this year’s St. Andrew’s Lecture on 26 November in Brussels. Almost 100 representatives from the tourism industry, networks, EU institutions, academics, journalists and other stakeholders were attending, including NECSTOuR permanent secretariat.

 

NECSTouR Calls the European Tourism Sector for a Behavioural Change Towards Sustainability

 

On the occasion of the NECSTouR Conference "Driving Sustainable Destinations Change Through Trans-Regional Cooperation", NECSTouR launched a call for action addressed to all the European Institutions, destinations and tourism stakeholders claiming for a joint effort to achieve a behavioral change towards European Sustainable Destinations.

 

NECSTouR Elected as a Member of the Board of the UNWTO Affiliate Members

 

NECSTouR is pleased to announce its election as a Member of the Board of the UNWTO Affiliate Members.

 

NECSTouR Offers its Reflections on how to Balance Sustainability and Competitiveness in the European Tourism of Today

 

NECSTouR Vice-President, Mr Jan Korthoudt - Director of Tourism at the Government of Flanders – has been invited to give the NECSTouR perspective on Competitive and Sustainable Tourism on the occasion of the Seminar “Tourism in Transition” organised on the 27th of June by the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU in Brussels.

 

The aim of the event was to explore the realities of the tourism industry within a global context and the current and foreseeable challenges together with the possible opportunities.

NECSTouR inspires the Future of the Short-term Rental and Single Market with the Barcelona Declaration "Better Places to Live, Better Places to Visit"

 

NECSTouR Vice-President, Mr Jan Korthoudt Flanders Region, presented the view of NECSTouR Member Regions on legislative challenges and opportunities linked with the Short-term rental and the Single Market, during a Lunch Debate organised by the European Holiday Home Association (EHHA) at the European Parliament.

 

Call for Destinations: Deadline for Applying for the Awards 2019 "Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism" extended until the 15 July

 

The 2019 edition of the Awards for ‘Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism’ is organised by the European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN) and it is open to all tourist destinations across Europe, national, regional and local authorities, tourism boards and associations, destination management organisations, museums, interpretation centres, festivals and cultural NGOs.

Media Coverage

Upcoming Events
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Annual General Meeting 2024

NECSTouR General Assembly Meeting 2024 (AGM) will take place on 21-23 May 2024 in Luleå, in the Swedish Lapland.

The event will be hosted and co-organised by the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board.

Website of the event

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Contact Us

- If you have any questions about the Barcelona Declaration, do not hesitate to get in touch with our team.

A LEGACY FOR THE FUTURE

This Declaration aims to remain an open initiative, welcoming all stakeholders willing to engage with this commitment.

At this purpose, this webpage under NECSTouR website has been developed in order to promote the Declaration, give visibility to the supporters and gather good practices that can illustrate the implementation of the five principles.

We invite you to spread the voice by using #PlacestoLiveandVisit and to become a supporter of the initiative.

A LEGACY FOR THE FUTURE

Support the Declaration

We invite all those who care for Tourism of tomorrow to sign, support and widely share the Declaration.

INVOLVED ORGANISATIONS

INVOLVED ORGANISATIONS

This initiative has been leaded by NECSTouR members of the Working Group on Cultural Tourism and Sustainability. A special recognition to the regions of Galicia, Catalonia, Andalusia, Flanders, Île-de-France, Limburg, Tuscany, Valencia and Visit Scotland, as well as the University of Girona.


The Declaration has been developed by NECSTouR members in cooperation with Europa Nostra, the European Travel Commission and the European Cultural Tourism Network, with the support of the European Heritage Alliance 3.3.


The Open Method Coordination group on Sustainable Cultural Tourism from DG EAC (European Commission) as well as the European Network for Culture and Creative Industries – RICC have also contributed to the text.

 

BROAD ENDORSEMENT

This initiative gathered the support of the Member of the European Parliament, Mr. Francisco José Millán Mon, the NAT Commission of the European Committee of the Regions, the European Commission DG – EAC, as well as other 20 individuals, from the Tourism sector.

#PlacestoLiveandVisit in Numbers

19

Supporting Organisations

34

Supporting Individuals

5

Events in 2019

400

mentions on Social Media #PlacestoLiveandVisit

Supporting Organisations