‘Spain Talks’ Event Celebrates Canadian Visitation, with a Focus on Sustainability
by Bruce Parkinson
The ‘SpainTalks’ event in Toronto last week.
On the eve of World Tourism Day, The Tourist Office of Spain in Toronto welcomed members of the Canadian media, academics, and tourism industry leaders to an event called ‘Spain Talks,’ an exploration of challenges and solutions in sustainable tourism.
As the second-most visited destination in the world and a place where residents of cities including Barcelona have famously pushed back against ‘over-tourism,’ Spain is looking to leverage its success to develop a more sustainable model for the future.
“Spain Talks is not only about promoting tourism to Spain,” noted Alfredo Martínez Serrano, Ambassador of Spain to Canada, in his opening remarks.
“It’s about creating a common space — where two countries that have embraced their diversity in culture and nature can come together, respect our shared values, and work towards positive horizons.”
The Ambassador is an entertaining speaker, and he won over the audience with remarks about the strong relationship between Canada and Spain.
“Canadian tourists are absolutely marvelous,” Serrano said. “You are such a decent society. Out of nearly 700,000 Canadian visitors in 2024, fewer than 25 were arrested or deported.”
In addition to Ambassador Serrano, the event was attended by Isabel Martín Benítez, Consul of Tourism Affairs in Canada, as well as the Promotion Director of the Valencia Region Tourism Board and a delegation from Lanzarote Island, including the President of the Association of Hotels and Apartments of Lanzarote.
Also on hand was Marco Pozzobon, ACTA’s newly promoted Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development. ACTA is bringing a large group of Canadian travel advisors to the lesser-visited Castilla y Leon region of Spain for its 2025 International Destination Conference in late October.
Serrano said the fact that Spain has been “invaded by everyone” over the centuries has helped create a diverse and fascinating tourism product, distinguished by nature, culture, gastronomy and people. Spain’s attributes include the highest number of biosphere reserves in the world and the fourth largest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
“After 70 years of tourism we are ready to launch the new tourism approach of the 21st century,” Serrano said.
Among the initiatives designed to better balance Spain’s incoming tourism industry are promotion of less-travelled places and encouragement to visit throughout the year, rather than just in peak periods.
Through keynote addresses and expert panels, the educational event put Spain’s own successful sustainability initiatives in the spotlight, as representatives from the Tourist Office shared a message of optimism and further collaboration with Canada.
Some of Canada’s most distinguished academic and tourism industry voices weighed in on panels like “How to Keep Balance between Local Populations and Tourists” and “Designing a Tourism Industry That Includes Everyone,” sharing knowledge and best practices with those in attendance.
Among them were sustainability experts Dr. Rachel Dodds, Professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Toronto Metropolitan University and Fergus Maclaren, Professor Emeritus of the International Cultural Tourism Committee (ICOMOS).
Toronto-based AccessNow CEO and Founder Maayan Ziv and Miguel Carrasco, Director of Accessible Tourism from Spain’s Tur4All, lent their voices and ideas to an in-depth discussion about making destinations accessible.
The Toronto edition of Spain Talks is part of a series of forums hosted in major European cities, such as London, Istanbul, and Stockholm. It marked the debut of the series in Canada. In addition to the dialogues, the Tourist Office also presented a series of awards, celebrating excellence in sustainable tourism across both Canada and Spain.
