According to the Report, 40 Spanish UNE standards cover the majority of tourism activities: from diving and rural accommodation, to travel agencies, ski stations and mountain resorts and spas.
These standards are drawn up in the UNE Technical Standardisation Committees (CTN), and are the result of the consensus of all parties involved. Under the impetus of the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality (ICTE), which has managed the secretariat of several CTN for the last 15 years, key standards have been developed regarding quality tourism, such as UNE 182001 for hotels and UNE 302002 for museums. Many of these have become the basis for drawing up international standards, such as UNE-ISO 13009 on beaches, thus exporting Spanish expertise and knowledge to the rest of the world.
World leadership
Another example of a Spanish world class Spanish standard is UNE 178501 on smart tourist destinations, a standard promoted by SEGITURR (National Corporation for Innovation and Tourism Technology Management).
Spain also leads the future ISO 21902 on accessible tourism, to be published in 2020. It will be the first international standard in this field and it has received the support of the ONCE Foundation, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), UNE and the Royal Board of Disability.
Spanish standardisation represents a global benchmark in tourism. The Spanish Association for Standardization (UNE), manages, together with the Tunisian standards organization, the international technical standardization committee ISO/TC 228 on tourism and related services.
UNE also participates in UNETUR, the Interinstitutional Coordination Committee for tourism standards and seals, an initiative of the State Secretariat for Tourism. Its aim is to provide consistency and showcase the Spanish integrated model of quality tourism and it receives the support of SEGITTUR, the ICTE, the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH) and UNE.
Tourism standards and SDG
The report also highlights how technical standards for tourism help the Public Administration, industry and consumers to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. For example, the future Standard ISO 21416 - Requirements and Guidelines for the Sustainable Practice of Recreational Diving, is a tool for the sustainable conservation and use of the oceans, seas and marine resources that helps to comply with the SDG 14 Life Below Water.
