Andorran Chamber Launches Galop Tour to Showcase Sustainable Tourism to Cross-Border Businesses

The Andorran Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services launched the Galop Tour on Thursday, focusing on sustainable practices in tourism, hospitality, and restaurants as 23 business leaders and technicians from Catalonia and southern France gathered in Andorra.

Participants from five companies in the Pyrénées-Orientales, three from Girona, and two from Lleida are spending two days combining awareness sessions, networking, debates, and visits to seven leading Andorran initiatives. These include Grandvalira Resorts, Caldea, the Bomosa and BioBio group, Autèntic Abelles, Les Pardines 1819, Naturland, and the Ordino Biosphere Reserve. Andorran firms are sharing their green transition experiences to inspire cross-border peers.

Estela Canturri, the chamber's head of Training, Commerce, and Tourism, described the tour as an experiential benchmarking trip within the EU-funded Galop project. "It aims to raise business awareness on sustainability and the green transition, share best practices, encourage cross-border comparisons, and build networking spaces between Andorra, Spain, and France," she said.

Galop, co-funded by the European Union via the Interreg Poctefa programme, is driven by chambers of commerce in Andorra, Girona, Lleida, Occitania Pirineus Mediterrani, and Pyrénées-Orientales. The initiative supports companies shifting to sustainable, innovative, and competitive models aligned with the UN's 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals.

The event positions Andorra as a showcase for replicable projects in these sectors. It will wrap up on Wednesday with a conclusions session to boost knowledge exchange and highlight businesses' role in sustainable development. A follow-up tour is planned for October in Perpignan, after which participants will produce a report and white paper on best practices to distribute through the involved chambers.