Sustainable tourism is becoming more and more of a focus when choosing a destination. It is important for guests that the working conditions of employees in restaurants, hotels and tourist facilities are right and that they are involved in important decisions. At the same time, care is taken to ensure that ecosystems are not overstretched and resources are used responsibly. In short, sustainable tourism thinks beyond the current moment. It also takes into account the long-term consequences and makes a decisive contribution to the existence and further development of places and regions. This not only benefits guests, but also helps to maintain the quality of life of the population.
Sustainable offers as a basis are not only the task of the companies, but also require sustainable destination management. In Brandenburg, this task is carried out by the regional tourism associations. Due to different structures and tasks, the implementation of sustainability in terms of social, ecological and economic orientation is currently different in the individual regions. In order to give this important task a stronger platform and more weight, a work and communication network is being launched.
In the cross-destination alliance “Sustainable Destinations Brandenburg”, the three Brandenburg destination management organizations (DMOs) tmu Tourismus Marketing Uckermark GmbH, Seenland Oder-Spree eV and the Fläming Tourism Association eV will in future jointly focus on the topic of sustainability. By bundling resources and skills, the merger makes a significant contribution to the sustainable development of tourism in Brandenburg.
The concretization of the tourism strategy of the state of Brandenburg and the report currently being prepared on climate change adaptation in Brandenburg tourism are the first topics that the three regions are dealing with together. For the further course of the cooperation, three pillars have been identified for the cooperation: knowledge transfer, product development and cooperative marketing. The first area focuses on joint exchange and dialogue formats at the work and performance level, joint market research activities and the networking of relevant players. The field of action of joint product development includes, among other things, a joint winter initiative to extend the season, uniform quality criteria and their assurance, and preparing the topic of hiking for a younger target group. The third pillar of the cooperation is cooperative marketing. Joint trade fair appearances, press and social media work pool resources and relieve the burden on employees. The focus of the cooperation is always the very good regional networking of the three players.
For the publication and as part of the first joint network meeting, the district administrators from the participating districts are sending a clear signal for this new and future-oriented network by participating in the kick-off meeting.