I couldn't resist not to share with you my latest travel experience under the DestiMED Plus programme. For those of you who are not aware of this, DestiMED Plus is an Interreg Med Programme for sustainable tourism, aiming to improve integration between regional tourism and conservation policies in Mediterranean protected areas. A susta...
7,268 miles. 11,679 kilometers. That is the distance between all I had ever known in my hometown in Texas to the small pacific island of Guam. I moved there with my family at the age of 14 when my mom accepted a job offer. Two incredible, difficult, life-changing years that opened my eyes up to a piece of the world, changed my life and introduced m...
Mountain Homestays – An Authentic Mountain Experience Mountain homestays is a community empowerment initiative that focuses on promoting rural destinations by developing homestays in partnership with the locals. The focus is on reaching out to communities living in the remotest parts of the Himalayan belt in India, such as in Ladakh region in north...
With each passing year, the concern for people and the planet is getting stronger more than anything else. So much so that the concern has taken over our news feeds, social media posts, or even our daily conversations. It is surely an elephant in the room that we can’t ignore anymore. Rapid changes in the environment, people’s lives, negative effects of consumerism, everything suggests us to make the right choices. Not just right enough to avoid negative effects, but making sure that right actions are taken for positive impact. When it comes to making travel choices, the scope to create positive impact widens. Just how sustainability discussions are becoming mainstream, taking actions towards making positive impacts would soon become a practice. Make sure you are updated to make right as well as very unique travel choices in 2020. Here is a list of travel experiences that will help you create a positive impact. Relocating orang-utans to a safe location – Indonesia Source: https://impactdestinations.com/destinations/indonesia/?tab=1 Action – This time, have a different reason to visit Indonesia than going for a leisure experience in Bali. The 4 nights experience of relocating orangutans to a safe location would be taken place in Sintang. You will...
Creating Interpretive Experiences in Ecotourism In this post we look at How To Create An Interpretive Experience associated with an ecotourism experience within a Special Area of Conservation in Ireland. Ecotourism, as defined by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, typically incorporates a feature of conservation that may be ecological, cultural, historical, archaeological and/or spiritual. The experience should seek to simultaneously immerse visitors in this feature and it’s characteristics whilst preserving it, thus creating a ‘sustainable experience‘. Careful consideration need be taken to ensure the integrity of the site and features are not impacted by proposed use, nor the access to the features by local peoples affected. In essence, the conservation features should not be altered by the proposed activities, yet means for providing opportunities to immerse within the experience need to bring visitors into close contact with it for it to have any ‘interpretive value‘. Clearly then, ensuring the sustainability of the conservation features requires considerable research, consultation and planning. It is essential that this process include and be informed by the Interpretive Theme of the experience. Interpretive Themes vs Topics An experience with an essence of conservation at it’s core typically can be found to have a main theme or indeed multiple themes...
By looking at ecotourism efforts around the world, there is continuous change: some best ecotourism practices fail to keep their status, or are even suspended after a period of time; other ecotourism practices appear, some of them reaching high standards. "Ecotourism in Protected Areas, A literature Review" on the ecoclub.com papers session is a conceptual paper based on our presentations in lectures, workshops and conferences for ecotourism and protected areas, in the last 10 years. The paper offers a better understanding of ecotourism, viewed as a continuously evolving process in the context of the particular environmental, social, cultural, economic, political and technological features of each area, which may change with time. Finding the right, dynamic balance, which can differ from case to case, is the key for proper ecotourism development in protected areas. Read the article here: https://ecoclub.com/library/epapers/38.pdf
Photo 1. This is Dana Biosphere Reserve and Javier Zapata from Spain, one of my three co-travelers/trip testers/new friends. The MEET project follows a participatory planning approach, where managers of protected areas, local tour operators and service providers work in close synergy to develop ecotourism activities in Mediterranean protected areas. I couldn’t resist writing about my experience from a recent MEET test-trip in Dana Biosphere Reserve in Jordan, called “Rift Valley Mountain Trek”. This package was developed by the managers and the people of the Dana Protected Area, under the coordination of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) of Jordan; the tour was conducted by the local tour operator Discovery Circle Tours. Photo 2. Our guide, Aed I feel very lucky I took part in such an authentic and in part also adventurous trip – as our team (of four) was the first to try out this new tour. Local Bedouins, pleasant and friendly, guided us around the Dana Biosphere to Petra. After roughly 100km and five days of hiking (4-7 hours every day) in beautiful mountains and valleys (wadis), we definitely earned our way to the magical site of Petra. The ecotourism character of the trip was...
It was a great pleasure to participate in the IUCN Mediterranean Experience of Ecotourism – MEET test tours in Karpathos, Greece. I wish them all the best on their important initiatives to celebrate and help protect our cultural and natural heritage. http://famtrips.meetnetwork.org/portfolio-items/the-untouched-heart-of-the-greek-islands-2/
STIPA Consultancy&Ecotourism with the Superior Institute of Environment present the second edition of the course "Ecotourism: Design and Marketing Products". In the last decade, Spain has begun to speak more and more often the concept of "ecotourism". Tourism that aims to be a memorable experience for discovering and knowing the most valuable natural places. Therefore, ecotourism allows a personal contact with natural and cultural heritage in each destiny; as well as to expanding and enriching the way of thinking from visitors and locals. We have a high potential in Spain, which is the higher diverse of natural areas, as well as a key role in Europe by its biodiversity. Ecotourism can be an activity that serves to preserve these natural and protected areas, understood as a tool that supports jobs and local economies and as a way to engage tourism stakeholders developing conservation initiatives. But one of the biggest weaknesses of many territories and local businesses is their lack of attractive tourism products. This situation does not help to have any chance of competitiveness and differentiation in a tourist market that trends to diversification and specialization in sustainability. STIPA's team and Gonzalo de la Fuente del Val in collaboration with the...
Friend of mine, Chris Milnes @reallifepr0ject is organising a 30 min chat on European Ecotourism this Wednesday at 15:00 CET. Add #euroeco to follow along! More info: http://ow.ly/wuZIg
