ISSN 1108-8931

INTERNATIONAL ECOTOURISM MONTHLY

Year 5-Issue 49, June 2003

SPECIAL REPORT

EUROPEAN UNION ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE & SUSTAINABLE TOURISM CONFERENCE - Volos, Greece

ECOCLUB was invited to participate as panellists in the "Conference on Environmental Governance and Sustainable Tourism" in Volos, Greece, in May 26-27 2003 and in particular in the workshop "Information, Education & Marketing as Key Elements to promote sustainable tourism", in fact as the only Internet-based company. We also had the opportunity to exhibit at this important event. 354 participants, practitioners, academics, administrators and politicians from 35 countries in Europe, Mediterranean and further afield, helped to make the conference a very useful forum for the exchange of ideas.

In our short speech and the dialogue with the audience which followed it, we stressed among other things the following:

* Ecotourism Marketing requires one more P than the usual four "P"s of Tourism Marketing (Product, Place, Price, Promotion), and that fifth P is "Partnership". Partnership is essential because while Tourism Marketing deals with anticipating change, ecotourism marketing deals with initiating change.

* The Internet is an ideal medium for ecotourism marketing as it allows ecotourism stakeholders to cheaply create & maintain partnerships. The Internet, as a low-cost ecological, pluralistic, flexible, constantly changing, interactive information network, levels the playing field and allows "ecotourism dwarfs" to compete and beat "mass tourism giants".

* The Internet is already the medium of choice for research, education, policy development and thus for marketing and democratic governance. Someday it could even be used for direct democracy.

* Experience shows that ecotourists appreciate simplicity, honesty & directness, they are savvy travellers who prefer to decide for themselves, rather than look for labels.

* Luxury can never be eco, neither can all-inclusive mega-resorts, so it makes no sense certifying them as green.

* Apart from environmental sustainability, there is also social sustainability, and this should also be taken into account by ecolabelling schemes.

* It is more difficult to stop a mega-resort from being built, than to certify it afterwards, this with reference to a local controversial project.

The conference was split in the following workshops: The responsible use of natural resources, Capacity building in the field of physical planning, impact assessment & local agenda 21, Integrated coastal management & eco-development of mountain areas, natural protection & conservation, sustainable tourism as a means to promote cultural & social benefits, and information, education & marketing as key elements to promote sustainable tourism.

Themes of the conferences were improving the quality of tourism information, making tourism more sustainable through policy, economic & regulatory instruments, supporting local integrity in terms of cultural, social & environmental heritage, ensuring local residents benefit directly from the tourism sector, minimising the use of natural resources by tourism, developing cooperation between stakeholders, moving from tourism quantity to tourism quality, allowing communities to control tourism development.

Among the presentations we note those by Mr. Costas Carras, President of the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature & Cultural Heritage in Greece, Mr. James Wilson, Vice President Public Affairs, Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC, Mr. Konstantinos Leventis, President of the local Hotel Owners Association in the Prefecture of Magnesia, Mr. Frans Stroebel, representing Peace Parks Foundation, from South Africa, Mr. Zoltan Kun, Executive Director of PAN Parks, from Hungary, & Mr. Karel Charvat of the Czech Centrum for Strategic Studies.

Greek Vice-Minister for the Environment, Ms Rodoula Zissi opens the Conference in Volos.	ECOCLUB's Director in front of our display in the mini-exhibition area. Very happy to have met some of our Members in person.	The mayor of Milies, a traditional village in Mt. Pelion, overlooking Volos, welcomes us at the station, after the lovely steam train ride, a feast follows.
Typical mansion in Vyzitsa village, Mt. Pelion, restored by the Greek National Tourism Organisation. Pelion was a proto-industrial centre in the 18th century with commercial & cultural links to western europe.	The inside of the Kontos mansion, with murals by the popular artist Theofilos in 1920s. Kontos was a mill-owner and a patron of the arts. The mansion is a museum, free entrance.	Lush vegetation (beach trees) and flowing streams in Mt. Pelion, to the ancient Greeks, home of the mythical Centauri (half men - half horses).
All Photos Copyright © 2003 ECOCLUB S.A.

The highlight of the conference was a study trip to the Environmental Centre of Makrinitsa, and to the village of Milies by the refurbished steam-train, constructed in the late 19th century by the father of the famous Greek-Italian painter Giorgio De Chirico (born in Volos in 1888).

Available abstracts and presentations are made available via the "Conference Documents Link" at: http://www.cameronsds.com/portfolio/current/env_gov/

There is also a related European Union "CONSULTATION DOCUMENT" titled: "Basic orientations for the sustainability of European tourism" which we are making available to Members at http://ecoclub.com/library/public/eutourism.pdf. We welcome your comments, at the Community.

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