Sustainability in tourism is in the spotlight at "What's Next - Innovating Tourism". Organized by NEST - Centro de Inovação do Turismo, the event includes a panel dedicated to the topic on its own stage at BTL and a debate on ideas that change the world.
Lisbon, March 15th, 2022 - The answers to sustainability solutions on a mobile planet will be the main theme on March 18 during "What's Next - Innovating Tourism". The event, from March 16 to 18, organized by NEST - Centro de Inovação do Turismo, brings innovation to the forefront of the Lisbon Tourism Exchange (BTL) 2022.
In this panel on Sustainability, topics such as the role of companies in society, mobility or sustainable financing in Tourism are of particular note. These are all critical issues for this strategic sector of the Portuguese economy and several leading experts will be debating them at "What's Next - Innovating Tourism".
March 18th, 14h30-16h30: Sustainability
- THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY RELIES ONTOURSIMS- Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Sustainability Editor
- THE JOURNEY - Luis Araújo, President Turismo de Portugal
- SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ROLE OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY - Margarida Couto, CEO Vda | GRACE
- HUMAN SUSTAINABILITY, A NEW DIMENSION - Ricardo Leitão, Visiting Assistant Professor and Executive Director Nova Medical School
- SUSTAINABLE FINANCING IN TOURISM - Paulo Rodrigues Brito, Coordinating Director - Senior Manager Banco BPI
- LEADING CHANGE IN MOBILITY - Pedro Mourisca, CEO Via Verde
- CLEAN & SAFE: FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE - Leonor Picão, Coordinating Director Turismo de Portugal
- LAUNCH OF THE TERMAS DE PORTUGAL CAMPAIGN - ESCAPADINHA - Vítor Leal, President Termas de Portugal
At the same time and from the "BTL Labs" stage, dedicated to innovation, dozens of startups will present their proposals for tourism during "What's Next - Innovating Tourism". Through the Talk2me platform, visitors to BTL - Portugal's biggest tourism event - will also have the opportunity to talk to all the startups present in this space for debate and exchange of experiences on key issues for the sector.
Alongside the agenda at FIL in Lisbon, "What's Next - Innovating Tourism" has a series of sessions taking place outside BTL, which bring the vision of leaders from other areas of society and the economy to the tourism sector. The first session, on March 14, was dedicated to sustainability.
The 15th will be dedicated to the Digital Revolution with speeches by Inês Drummond Borges, CTO of Soane Sierra and António Câmara, Chairman of YGroup . On the 17th it will be the turn of Germano de Sousa, Doctor, Professor and Manager in the health sector and Maria de Belém Roseira, former Minister of Health, to debate the impact of health on tourism.
This cycle of sessions closes on March 18 with a discussion on ideas that change the world, by Juliet Kinsman, Travel & Eco Tips Condé Nast, and Joana Vasconcelos, Plastic Artist. The session runs from 7pm to 8pm and will be available on NEST's YouTube channel.
The century of sustainability
Sustainability was also on the agenda at BTL, in the first of the cycle's sessions, on March 14, with Tiago Pitta e Cunha, CEO of the Oceano Azul Foundation and Pessoa 2021 Prize winner, and João Wengrovius Meneses, Secretary General of the Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Tiago Pitta e Cunha addressed Nature as the capital and economy of the future, considering that the paradigm is changing slowly but with recurrent adherence to the sustainable development agenda.
The CEO of the Oceano Azul Foundation pointed out that the 21st century will be marked by the Environmental Revolution and will be the century of environmental sustainability. He also warned against the squandering of natural capital, which should be included in the wealth of nations, recalling Portugal's marine and terrestrial biodiversity and the management of ecosystems and nature conservation as a tourist asset.
João Wengrovius Meneses also considered that any tourism offer should present Portugal as a sustainable destination and gave the example of Costa Rica as a pioneer in turning sustainable tourism into a successful business.
The Secretary General of the Business Council for Sustainable Development stressed that this implies energy, water and waste management efficiency and a more purposeful differentiation of tourism. The expert considers environmental and sustainable transformation an imperative for organizations, including those in the tourism sector, which will have to evolve from the best in the world to the best for the world.
All the information about the event is available at https://www.whatsnexttourism.pt/
"What's Next - Innovating Tourism" is organized by the The Next Big Ideainnovation platform, and has SIC and Expresso as partners in media.
BTL 2022 is betting on new sectors, such as innovation, culture, wine tourism and nature tourism, but it is also continuing areas such as BTL LAB.
The BTL LAB, run by NEST - Innovation Center of Turismo de Portugalis a space dedicated to showcasing companies working in the tourism innovation sector. As well as showcasing startups, the LAB is an important stage for debate, trends and the exchange of experiences on the subject of innovation and technology.
Its dynamization is based on complementary initiatives with the aim of thinking, debating and applying the future of tourism, an industry that is looking for resurgence in a post-pandemic readaptation and which, in the Portuguese case, corresponds to almost 20% of GDP.
About NEST:
Private non-profit association, founded on February 18, 2019 by eight entities - Turismo de Portugal, ANA Aeroportos, Brisa Via Verde, Google, Microsoft, Millennium BCP, NOS and BPI. Its strategic pillars are cultural innovation, digital knowledge and pilot projects for the sector.
About BTL:
Promoted by AIP Foundation, a 33rd edition of BTL - from March 16 to 20 - aims to reinforce its status as the largest tourism event held in Portugal, making a decisive contribution to the recovery of this important sector of the Portuguese economy. It brings together more than 1,400 exhibitors and more than 70,000 visitors, 35,000 of whom are professionals.