More than 40 million euro in EU grants to promote sustainable tourism are being handed out across the Valencia Region, with Orihuela being the only destination to benefit in the southern Costa Blanca area.
Specifically, Turisme Comunitat Valenciana will distribute a total of 41,531,000 million euro from Next Generation EU Funds during the year 2023 through the third and last call for the 2021-2023 Destination Tourism Sustainability Plans, from which the Alicante province will add 7 endowed plans, with 16.5 million euro, Castellón 7, with more than 10 million, and Valencia will incorporate 8 plans with 15 million euro.
The objective is to promote 22 new tourism sustainability plans in the three provinces, which will form part of the Territorial Plan of the Valencian Community, as ratified on Tuesday by the Tourism Sector Commission, which has brought together regional tourism officials to approve the sheet route of this year 2023 in terms of tourism sustainability and in which the regional secretary of Tourism, Francesc Colomer, has also participated.
Specifically, the 22 destinations that are included in the plan this year 2023 are Alboraya, Alfàs del Pi, Asociación Intermunicipal Municipios del Peñagolosa, Benicassim, Buñol, Calpe, Canet d’En Berenguer, Elda, Gandia, Mancomunidad Espadán-Mijares, Mancomunidad Alt Maestrat, Montanejos, Novelda, Orihuela, Puçol, El Puig de Santa Maria, Sagunto, Teulada, the Vall d´Uixó, Vinaròs and Xàtiva. Likewise, Benidorm joins the Blue Tourism Blue Sun and Beach Plan with its Green Tourism Sustainability Plan Benidorm 2024-2026.
For this 2023 call, open from February 1 to March 6, 2023, a total of 55 applications were submitted, of which 22 have obtained a score equal to or higher than the required one (70 points), after evaluation by the Committee Consultant of the PTSTD CV, made up of representatives of the Secretary of State for Tourism, Turisme Comunitat Valenciana and the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP).
Among the criteria to be evaluated, the tourist vocation of the destination, the coherence and alignment with regional and state tourism strategies, the quality of the diagnosis and the objectives of each sustainability plan, as well as the coherence, precision and feasibility of each intervention and the precision in the calendar according to the fulfilment of milestones and objectives.
