The Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, has appointed José Antonio Donaire, professor of geography and expert in sustainable tourism, as Commissioner for Sustainable Tourism Management, This is a new role created with the objective of reinforcing the tourism management policies deployed by the Ajuntament (City Hall). The appointment comes at a time when the council is working on various measures, such as the mobility regulation of tourist coaches, which seek to move towards a more responsible tourism model that balances economic activity with neighbourhood well-being.
Donaire, with an extensive academic and professional career in tourism, is recognised for his contributions to the management and planning of tourist areas, including his leadership of the National Commitment to Responsible Tourism in Catalonia. This was approved by 117 organisations and associations with diverse views, which agreed that tourism has a positive effect on the region but can also generate negative externalities that need to be addressed.
Challenges and priorities for Barcelona
As Commissioner, Donaire will be in charge of coordinating and promoting policies that reduce the social and environmental impact of tourism, helping to consolidate Barcelona's leading position in the implementation of pioneering public policies at the international level. His priorities include improving the temporal and spatial distribution of visitors with the deployment of the Management Plan for High-Visitor Areas (EGA, from the Catalan Espais de Gran Afluència), actively combating the different forms of illegal supply, strengthening the role of Barcelona as an international benchmark, ensuring consensus and consultation, and advocating for the income derived from tourism taxation to be invested in improving the living conditions for Barcelona residents.
A trajectory linked to responsible tourism
Donaire holds a PhD in Geography from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and is a professor in the Faculty of Tourism at the Universitat de Girona (UdG). In addition, he directs the Instituto Superior de Estudios Turísticos (Insetur) and has been responsible for the Límite de Cambio Aceptable del Turismo de Barcelona (Limit of Acceptable Change for Barcelona Tourism) project on the city's hosting capacity limit. Donaire is also one of the authors of the report Un nuevo turismo para un nuevo escenario (A New Tourism For a New Scenario), in which he advocates a new regulatory framework to govern this activity, as well as of more than a hundred academic articles.
He has also collaborated with different public and private institutions to design balanced tourism development strategies in fifteen countries around the world, as well as in Catalan towns such as Girona, Vall de Boí, Costa Brava, Figueres and Lleida.
His academic and practical knowledge of the sector endorses him as one of the most prominent voices in the field of sustainable tourism; a perspective that is gaining traction in the face of the current challenges for large urban destinations.
A benchmark city in sustainability
With this appointment, the Ajuntament (City Hall) reaffirms its desire to make Barcelona an international benchmark in responsible tourism management, in line with the initiatives that the city has already launched to promote the rational use of public space, protect the most strained neighbourhoods and move towards a more balanced and diversified tourism.
In his presentation, Donaire stressed that he accepts the appointment "with pride, honour and also a lot of humility", given that after a lifetime of academic work dedicated to the study of tourism, he now has the opportunity to share all the knowledge he has acquired.
Donaire has expressed that he is taking on a challenge that will require maximum consensus to achieve a tourism model that respects the identity, culture and quality of life of residents. This model must be "respectful of the environment, socially fair and territorially balanced," he stressed.
