Environment, social issues, responsibility, sustainability... all of these are fundamental concerns, and the Monaco Tourist and Convention Authority (DTC) has been focused on them for some years. We spoke to Estelle Antognelli, who has been appointed to head up the new CSR division created this summer, about the context in which her department was set up, its missions, and the action plans being put in place.
- Monaco Tourist and Convention Authority has decided to create a CRS unit. How did this idea come about, and how has it been implemented?
The DTC has been working to make Monaco a more sustainable destination for some years already, and is following the Principality's environmental policy introduced by H.S.H. Prince Albert II on his accession in 2005. The environment and sustainable development issues are core priorities for the Monegasque State, both nationally and internationally.
A unit dedicated to Sustainable Tourism was created within our organisation in 2010, and events in recent years led us to conduct a study looking at the sustainability of our destination. The result of that process was the White Paper on Sustainable Tourism (see here: https://www.visitmonaco.com/fr/environnement/37823/livre-blanc-du-tourisme-responsable), which identified areas for improvement. It was precisely to pursue and develop the actions recommended that the DTC decided to set up its own CSR division.
- What will its main roles be?
As everyone now knows, CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility. The equivalent French acronym, however, also stands for Social and Environmental Responsibility, a concept that says organisations are responsible for the effects they have on the environment, both from a corporate and a societal perspective.
The DTC's aim is to think and act more sustainably and more fairly, by continuing to create a responsible destination. To do that, we need to create a framework to limit the negative impacts and maximise the positive contribution of tourism.
To that end, we will work in two ways:
-> internally, to organise and structure our actions in line with that objective in order to improve our overall approach;
-> in terms of the destination, with the help of all stakeholders, to continue implementing the action plan established based on the White Paper.
- In terms of the destination, what is the action plan?
It is a three-year action plan, structured around five key areas for development:
-> raising awareness, educating, engaging, and strengthening skills, by building the capabilities of stakeholders and partners while sharing best practices to work with business and leisure visitors;
-> communicating and improving visibility, by making our offering more coherent and more visible to customers before, during and after their stay;
-> managing the destination's environmental impacts, by working with partners to find solutions for mitigating tourism-related impacts, in particular as regards our carbon footprint, use of resources, and the management of food waste and general waste;
-> reinforcing tourism for all and by all, by promoting fairness among stakeholders;
-> finally, measuring actions. To do that, we need concrete measuring systems to assess environmental impacts, highlight the contribution made by tourism to the Monegasque economy, and evaluate the destination's commitment to sustainability.
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