New 'Love Footprint' Metric Aims to Transform Tourism Sustainability Measurement
TL;DR
The new Love Footprint metric gives destinations a competitive edge by quantifying positive visitor impacts beyond economic spending, enhancing sustainability credentials.
The Love Footprint metric systematically measures travelers' ethical and supportive contributions to destinations, similar to how CO₂ footprints are quantified.
This approach makes tourism more regenerative by ensuring visitors leave positive social, cultural, and environmental impacts on host communities worldwide.
A new Love Footprint metric now measures how travelers positively transform destinations, introduced at an international cultural tourism congress in Mexico.
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The tourism industry may soon have a new way to measure visitor impact beyond environmental metrics, as researchers unveiled the innovative 'Love Footprint in Destination' concept at the XI International Scientific-Professional Congress on Cultural Tourism in Mexico. Developed by Dr. Ana Mafé García, president of the International Association Cultural Itinerary The Way of the Holy Grail in Europe:https://elcaminodelsantogrial.eu/, this pioneering metric allows for the evaluation of travelers' ethical, supportive, and transformative contributions to destinations, mirroring how the CO₂ footprint quantifies environmental impact.
The proposal was presented within the framework of the World Network of Solidarity, Smart, Regenerative and Circular Routes developed by Dr. Fernando Molina Pons. The concept received strong endorsement from the international scientific and academic community attending the congress, which has established itself as a global benchmark through its eleven editions, as documented on the official congress website:https://www.congresointernacionalturismoculturalcitc.com/.
The Global Network of Solidarity, Smart, Regenerative, and Circular Routes proposes a comprehensive itinerary model that integrates heritage, sustainability, technological innovation, and solidarity. Under this vision, tourists transform into solidarity travelers capable of leaving positive marks on destinations beyond mere economic contributions. Dr. Mafé García emphasized the need for "tourism with a purpose, capable of leaving a footprint of love at the destination, at the same level as we measure the CO₂ footprint."
The implementation of this academic vision operates through the fractal structure of the World Wide Web, centered around the RegenEra Tur IA CUBE model. This model already has significant support in the DTI CUBES of Benidorm, Altea and La Nucía, scheduled for launch on September 12, and the RUTA CUBES, which integrates pioneering initiatives such as The Way of the Holy Grail from Masamagrell and the Biosilk Route in Buñol. The CUBES represent new levers for accelerating the transition toward regenerative and circular tourism, offering a living, replicable architecture that connects destinations, routes, and communities with sustainable innovation.
The International Scientific Commission for the Study of the Holy Grail:https://comisioncientificainternacionaldeestudiosdelsantogrial.com/ was represented at the congress by Dr. Amada Torres González and Dr. Katya Meredith García Quevedo, adding academic weight to the presentations. The strong reception at the congress indicates that the future of tourism lies in integrating regenerative and supportive metrics while consolidating innovative governance models like the CUBES. These contributions position the Global Network and the Love Footprint metric as international milestones poised to transform how the tourism industry understands and practices sustainable development in the 21st century.
Curated from 24-7 Press Release
