The 6th edition of the Tenerife Walking Festival starts off in a novel format and will continue being a reference hiking event in all over Europe. This meeting welcomes hikers and professionals from throughout the continent, presenting in this occasion an innovative format, as this time it is also digitally accessible. A new concept that presents a great deal of virtual, technological content, and pursuits digitilization.
The goal of the event is to foster hiking as a tourism product imbued with values, with a cross-cutting benefit for destinations, while raising awareness and building respect for nature conservation. It could also be of great interest for the tourism differentiation and positioning of areas with a high ecological, environmental and cultural value. Moreover, it establishes an ideal framework to develop a stronger sense of social and environmental responsibility within the region, involving the commitment of visitors and residents.
For that matter, the Tenerife Walking Festival helps make Tenerife’s huge potential for this practice visible. Having over 47% of its territory designated as areas of environmental protection, its path network keeps growing, offering possibilities for hikers at any level of preparation and expertise. The event also helps develop and strengthen commercial networks around this activity, thus gaining competitive advantage regarding destinations and businesses in the medium term, as tourist markets reopen.
The 6th edition of the Tenerife Walking Festival starts off in a novel format and will continue being a reference hiking event in all over Europe. This meeting welcomes hikers and professionals from throughout the continent, presenting in this occasion an innovative format, as this time it is also digitally accessible. A new concept that presents a great deal of virtual, technological content, and pursuits digitilization.
The goal of the event is to foster hiking as a tourism product imbued with values, with a cross-cutting benefit for destinations, while raising awareness and building respect for nature conservation. It could also be of great interest for the tourism differentiation and positioning of areas with a high ecological, environmental and cultural value. Moreover, it establishes an ideal framework to develop a stronger sense of social and environmental responsibility within the region, involving the commitment of visitors and residents.
For that matter, the Tenerife Walking Festival helps make Tenerife’s huge potential for this practice visible. Having over 47% of its territory designated as areas of environmental protection, its path network keeps growing, offering possibilities for hikers at any level of preparation and expertise. The event also helps develop and strengthen commercial networks around this activity, thus gaining competitive advantage regarding destinations and businesses in the medium term, as tourist markets reopen.
16:00 – 16:30 h.
(GMT+0)
Institutional welcome
– José Gregorio Martín Plata | Counselor of Territorial Planning, Historical Heritage and Tourism Area of the Island Council of Tenerife.
– Agustina Beltrán | Mayor of Vilaflor
– Alberto Ayora | President of the Spanish Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing (FEDME)
– Humberto Juan Domínguez | President of Tenerife Island Mountaineering Federation (FIMT)
16:30 h. – 16:50 h.
(GMT+0)
Presentation of the Festival and the Charter of Sustainability for Nature Activities in Tenerife
– David Pérez | Chief Executive of Turismo de Tenerife
– Aida Cedrés | Tourism Products Manager of Turismo de Tenerife
16:50 h. – 17:30 h.
(GMT+0)
Hiking as a Lifestyle: Values and Environmental Awareness
– Sebastián Álvaro | Journalist, writer and adventurer. Director and protagonist of the adventure documentary program ‘Al filo de lo imposible’ on TVE for 27 years. Sponsor of the Tenerife Walking Festival since 1st edition.
17:30 h. – 18:15 h.
(GMT+0)
Hiking as a Tourist Product: Challenges and Potentialities
Colloquium with different tourism actors related to hiking in Tenerife:
– Aida Cedrés | Tourism Products Manager of Turismo de Tenerife
– Sergio González | President of the Active Tourism Association of the Canary Islands
– Laura Bethencourt | President of the Professional Association of Tourist Guides of Tenerife (APIT)
– Oscar Santos | President of the National Association of Active Tourism Companies (ANETA)
WEBINAR 1 | Monday 15 March
16:00 – 17:30 h.
(GMT+0)
Long-distance Hiking in Islands
Presentation of cases and experiences
The physical isolation of island territories means a uniqueness of environmental resources and biodiversity. In this regard, there are numerous examples from all over the world of islands with a great potential for nature tourism, thanks to their characteristic natural, orographic, climatic and geographical conditions. In this session, three examples of companies providing hiking products will be introduced. In particular, they offer hikes along environmentally and culturally rich habitats linked to long-distance routes in various sites of Azores, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.
– José Eduardo Toste | Azores Regional Directorate for Tourism
Great routes on the islands of Graciosa, Faial, São Jorge, Santa Maria and Flores (Azores, Portugal).
– Joan Febrer | CEO Camí de Cavalls 360º
Tour of Menorca in stages through the GR 223.
– Valerio del Rosario | El Cardón NaturExperience
Latitud Tenerife: the ultimate hiking experience from end to end of the island.
– Presenter and moderator: Sofía Maul. Storyteller and heritage interpreter guide based in Madeira together with Mar Ramírez, biologist and journalist expert in nature tourism.
WEBINAR 2 | Tuesday 16 March
16:00 – 17:30 h.
(GMT+0)
Positioning Tourist Destinations Through Outstanding Walking Trails
Presentation of cases and experiences
Some walking routes are truly mesmerizing, exerting a hypnotizing effect that strongly attracts visitors, thanks to their singularities and the increased value of their environmental, sociocultural and etnographic resources at a local scale. This session will be confronting different realities, so as to bring forward the matter of to what extent can hiking become an impulse for destinations. This topic will be in terms of development of the socio-economic fabric as well as market positioning and differentiation.
– Juan José (Pepe) López | Asociación Peruana de Turismo de Aventura (APTAE)
Camino Inca a Machu Picchu
– Eli Diez Urquizu | Tourism management technician of the Matarraña Region
Vía Verde de Val de Zafán, in combination with the Olivo route. The Matarraña Algars Nature Trail.
– Juan Carlos Álvarez (Turismo de Tenerife) and Vicente Infante (Tenerife Island Mountaineering Federation)
040, the route with the greatest slope in Spain.
– Presenter and moderator: Mar Ramírez, biologist and journalist expert in nature tourism.
WEBINAR 3 | Wednesday 17 March
16:00 – 17:30 h.
(GMT+0)
Sustainability and Hiking in Times of Covid. Challenges and opportunities
Roundtable discussion
The health crisis arising out of Covid-19 has weakened the foundations of the tourism industry. Facing great difficulty and with tourist flows at an all-time low, we are at a moment of reflection, looking ahead on the long term. What opportunities can we identify? What are the challenges we need to take on? Nature tourism seems to emerge stronger as a viable alternative for territories with natural areas of high interest. This discussion session will present the outlook of different professionals, who will analyse the role that hiking may play in this context.
– Cesc Capdevila | Ramat de Camins project
Hiking Festivals of the Pyrenees
– Otero de Pablo Onrubia | Territorio Rampinge
Ecotourism Collective Northeast of Segovia (Northeast BANG Fest)
– Patricia Sala | CAMINS
Organizers of the Val d’Aran Walking Festival.
– Javier Chirivella | Canarias Nature Guides
Representative of a company adhered to the Charter of Sustainability for Nature Activities in Tenerife.
– Presenter and moderator: Xavier Cazorla. Ecotourism expert
PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING AND B2B SESSION | Thursday 18 March
Professional and Business Networking Space for Festival Attendees
This space offers the possibility to schedule appointments for online meetings with professionals from different parts of the world, with the aim of connecting tour operators, travel agencies, active tourism companies and members of other professional groups. Every participant will have access to a virtual meeting room for the planning of their own agenda, being able to establish appointments with other members according to their time availability.
FESTIVAL’S CLOSING EVENT | Friday 19 March
The event ends with the projection of a video documentary showing a hiking activity that highlights social and environmental awareness, and enhances the value of hiking in Tenerife, also promoting the Charter of Sustainability for Nature Activities in the island.
START THE REGISTRATION PROCESS BY ANSWERING THIS QUESTION: Are you interested in participating in the professional B2B networking session on Thursday, March 18?
This special edition of the Tenerife Walking Festival 2021 will also schedule two face-to-face routes, aimed at local audiences with invitation, on Sunday March 14. They are organized by the Office of Participation and Environmental Volunteering of the Island Council of Tenerife and the Mountaineering Federation of Tenerife (FIMT), together with volunteer groups and hiking companies adhering to the Charter for the Sustainability of Activities in the Nature Tourism of the Tourism Board of Tenerife.
The purpose of this action is to disseminate and implement actions aimed at generating greater social and environmental responsibility towards the environment. These activities will combine hiking with the implementation of specific actions for education and environmental sustainability. In addition, issues of vital importance within the economy-sustainability binomial will be addressed, such as the care of protected areas or the control / limitation of access to them.
Zero footprint
This action fits with what has been the DNA of the Tenerife Walking Festival since its beggining. The event has set the “zero footprint” commitment as one of its environmental objectives. This label allows to know all greenhouse gas emissions produced by the event, analysing all potential sources in detail (transport, electricity consumption, etc.).
This emission calculation is held every year in order to offset the effects of the Festival on our planet’s health. Knowing the carbon footprint, Tenerife Walking Festival can consider measures that result in reducing CO2 emissions in future events as well as compensating the footprint by planting native tree species on the island of Tenerife.
