CLIA and Barcelona Oberta sign an agreement to promote sustainable cruise tourism
The Union of Commercial and Tourist Hubs (Barcelona Oberta) and the International Cruise Lines Association (CLIA) have signed a collaboration agreement in which they undertake to develop lines of work aimed at preserving tourism – one of the key economic sectors of the city – and specifically a responsible, sustainable cruise tourism committed to the territory.
The director of CLIA in Spain, Alfredo Serrano, assures that the cruise industry “is linked to Barcelona and its port, a leader at a European level; This agreement will allow us to work together with a local organization in the search for formulas that help us to continue adding value to the city and its citizens”. For his part, Gabriel Jené, president of Barcelona Oberta, points out that “we are starting a key year for the recovery of the city’s economic activity and the cruise industry plays a leading role in revitalizing the main commercial and tourist axes ”.
The tourism sector represents more than 12% of the city’s GDP and a large part of this contribution to the productive economy is latent in purchases from businesses, especially in those neighborhoods linked to it, such as most of the commercial axes associated with a Open Barcelona. In this sense, Alfredo Serrano recalls that cruise tourism is “quality tourism, respectful of the environment and that promotes the creation of opportunities; thus, only in Barcelona, the sector generates around 7,000 direct jobs and contributes 790 million euros”.
Cruises, essential for Barcelona
Faithful to defending the interests of its 3,500 associated businesses, Barcelona Oberta has always supported and defended the importance of cruises for the economic health of the city and its metropolitan area. This collaboration agreement demonstrates once again one of the founding purposes of Barcelona Oberta: the importance of collaboration between the different private entities existing in the city to build a live dialogue that contributes to building the future of Barcelona and satisfying the needs of its citizens.