The MAST – MAking Sustainable Tourism Possible Final Conference, held in Urbino on the 4th of February, marked the conclusion of the project’s study phase and the culmination of an intensive period of collaboration among project partners.
The event opened with welcoming remarks and a comprehensive overview of the MAST project, highlighting the work carried out to support the accommodation sector — particularly small and medium-sized enterprises — in approaching sustainability through practical tools and guidance aligned with ISO 21401:2018, the international standard for sustainable management systems in tourism accommodation.
The programme featured expert presentations on sustainable tourism by Professor Salvador Anton Clavé (University Rovira i Virgili, Spain), the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) from Greece, and Territori Sostenibili from Italy, all of which reinforced the relevance of MAST deliverables in addressing current and future challenges in the Mediterranean tourism context.
They highlighted the importance of certification for the tourism industry, the level of maturity in the ability to develop business and destination strategies and several case studies of accommodation facilities that have adopted the certification.
During the roundtable discussion that followed, the Libeccio project was presented by Alessia Mariotti, Centre for Advanced Studies in Tourism of the University of Bologna. The presentation highlighted the potential for collaboration and capitalization between the two projects, primarily related to the dynamics of scale between businesses and tourist destinations.
The meeting concluded with a presentation of the key elements that emerged from MAST and which should be emphasized in a potential testing phase.
