Meet Explore Iberia – Star Award winner 2022!

Explore Iberia received the Star Award at the European Parliament in Brussels

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On the 2nd of December, we awarded the Star Award winners 2021/22 during our ECST and Star Award Ceremony in the European Parliament. Keep on reading to learn more about Explore Iberia (PT), winner in the “building my Community” Category!

Explore Iberia: bringing people and nature together

The International Jury awarded the tourism agency and activities provider Explore Iberia in the Building my community Category for their work as promoters of a consortium of local business

Experiencing the natural heritage, Explore Iberia

Is it possible for a business to practice local biodiversity conservation and restoration? It certainly is! Explore Iberia “adopted” a natural site, from Geoparque litoral de Viana, and plays an active role in the landscape restoration and conservation.

They are a small independent tour operator that is invested in providing visitors with an authentic experience in Northern Portugal and Galicia. The team of local experts have developed tours that incorporate their wealth of biodiversity and cultural heritage knowledge, and they provide full flexibility. Whether visitors want private tours, self-guided tours, flex-guided tours or to go solo – Explore Iberia allows each visitor to experience the region as they wish. They also have special offers for travellers that are blind or have low vision.

Their style of slow travel promotes sustainable practices and a deeper immersion into local cultural experiences.

When creating their activities, the team always makes sure to add a “cultural discovery moment”, where interpretation and experiencing the local culture play a key role. From corn bread workshops, to seaweed harvest or traditional pottery painting, visitors can experience the authentic culture of the region, whilst enjoying local food and drinks.

Discovering the local culture, Explore Iberia

The Explore Iberia team is well-established in the area and works together with a consortium of local businesses. They include them within their own tours, but also as joint stakeholders in the European Charter of Sustainable Tourism Forum in the Alto Minho region. They have also signed protocols with a university and two professional schools to offer internships and with the Employment and Professional Training Institute to train local young people that want to work as nature guides.

Through all these activities, Explore Iberia contributes to the cultural and social fabric of their community. EUROPARC congratulates Explore Iberia on their great work!