Photography: RR
The Municipality of Mafra was certified as Biosphere Destination, an international seal awarded by the Institute for Sustainable Tourism, in recognition of the integration of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the territory’s tourism development strategy.
For Mafra’s Mayor, Hélder Sousa Silva, “being a Sustainable Tourist Destination implies making a commitment to continue to ensure the implementation of a tourism development model that guarantees a balanced relationship between human activity, environmental protection and preservation of historical and cultural heritage. More than national and international notoriety, we aim for this certification to be a stimulus to the qualification of the offer for local operators and also a criterion for choosing the destination by national and foreign tourists”.
several initiatives are underway to maintain the sustainability of tourism development in the Municipality
This certification represents the culmination of a demanding process, which began with the signing of the Letter of Commitment on the symbolic Municipality Day, on May 21, 2020. The process included an exhaustive diagnosis, involving external entities and various municipal services, which led to the elaboration of an Action Plan for Sustainability, and also several moments of public consultation.
Considering that this is a dynamic and continuous process, several initiatives are underway to maintain the sustainability of tourist development in the Municipality of Mafra, among which the creation of a municipal environmental protection network, the expansion of the network of cycling and urban pedestrian routes, the creation of the responsible tourist manifesto, through a process of public participation, as well as the constitution of the Tourism Observatory.
Esta publicação também está disponível em | This article is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)
