Rural Tourism

The Challenge of Sustainability

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SELÃO DA EIRA hence responds to the increasing desire of travellers to really get in touch with nature.  

   Nature as Travel Destination

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More and more people seek a place for holidays and recreation and even for work in a natural setting,  making the experience that staying in nature has a truly revitalizing effect, that it is relaxing, inspiring, balancing. Nature provides a counterbalance to the digital world and the challenging pace of modern life.   

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Yet, we have to come to understand that "nature" is more than the green space around accommodations and resorts, that it is NOT JUST THE STAGE DESIGN for relaxing holidays and retreats, that nature is complex and mighty.

Nature provides resources and can cure - but will hard hit on our lives and the living conditions on earth, if too late mankind will come to understand that nature has to be explored wisely and preserved carefully.

The Responsability for Sustainability

If we want nature to remain our lifeline and not to transform into a source and cause of endless disaster, there is no escape. We MUST consider the "sustainability issue" a very serious task for the present and future generations, and accept the  and continous challenge to think deep and work hard on strategies and practices for sustainable development to become a mainstream paradigm.

This challenge embraces ecological, financial, social and behavioural dimensions, and touches politics, institutions, enterprises, societies as a whole and, last but not least, the individual options and actions of each and everyone alike.

Sustainable and Responsible Tourism

SELÃO DA EIRA tries to develop and act in that consciousness. But when it comes to truly fundamental issues that impact on lifestyles, economies and societies, the scope and effect of individual decision-making and action are narrow, not more than the famous drop on a hot stone.

Therefore, as soon as we came to know about its existence, we whole-heartedly subscribed to the BIOSPHERE concept and standard, and embarked on a long and ambitious qualification and evaluation process.

Finally, in November 2021, SELÃO DA EIRA became part of the worldwide BIOSPHERE community, receiving the certification as "Responsible Tourism", which is subject to annual renewal. acknowledges compliance with the BIOSPHERE standard based on the seventeen sustainability goals of the UN Agenda "Horizon 2030". 

 Biosphere

BIOSPHERE© pioneered in the tourism sector as the first global sustainability certification system aligned with the 17  Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) laid down in the “Horizon 2030” Agenda of the United Nations, applying the analysis and indicators of the World Trade Organization (UNWTO) and related EU indicators, and the criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) under the United Nations Foundation.

The BIOSPHERE© certification is awarded by the "Responsible Tourism Institute" (RTI). This independent body was created in 1995 with UNESCO support with the aim of promoting tourism at international level in destinations and companies in line with the principles of sustainable development.

Through the BIOSPHERE© brand, the RTI recognizes the progress of sustainability in the tourism sector not only in respect of the 17 SDGs of the UN, but also related to the World Charter for Sustainable Tourism +20, and the Guidelines of the Paris Climate Summit (COP21).

Compiled from  https://www.biospheretourism.com

The Commitment of SELÃO  DA  EIRA

The Journey is the Goal

Occasional updates allow interested guests and visitors to accompany our performance and development as Responsable and Sustainable Tourism. "Landmarks" will be reported and, as much as time permits, we plan to share what sustainability-oriented management in rural tourism implies, and to what extent guests and visitors could and should and actually do cooperate and participate in this endeavour.

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Highlights