Home to over half a billion people, the Mediterranean region is also the main tourist destination on earth, with more than 400 million international tourist arrivals in 2019. Some of the most important tourism destinations of Europe are found across the region, with coastal and maritime tourism-linked activities constituting a major source of income for many Mediterranean countries. Climate change puts all this at risk.
The Blueprint for Tourism Climate Action Plans. A Guide for Regional Authorities and Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) aims to provide clear and adaptable guidance to Mediterranean Tourism Regional Authorities and local and regional DMOs on how to develop a strategy for acting on climate, inspiring and enabling actions supporting adaptation to changing conditions and the reduction of emissions from tourism. It does this by providing the essential guidance necessary to create a Climate Action Plan.
This guide has been written by the Travel Foundation, one of the co-authors of the UN Tourism-led Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism and commissioned by NECSTouR and CPMR – partners of the Thematic Community Project of the Sustainable Tourism Mission.
The document is tailored for the Mediterranean but the majority of its guidance can be applied in other geographical areas by researching and taking into account the specific geographical context of the destination.
You can download the Blueprint here.
About the Sustainable Tourism Mission
The Interreg Euro-MED programme has identified Sustainable Tourism as one of its four missions working on projects, initiatives and policies related to climate change and the environment in line with the priorities and specific objectives set out by the European Commission for the Cohesion policy.
Two Governance Projects – a Thematic Community Project and an Institutional Dialogue Project – join their forces to enhance, in the Mediterranean region and beyond, Sustainable Tourism as a transversal issue: fostering tourism integrated in a circular economy, considering the sustainability of ecosystem services using innovation technologies, and promoting the preservation of natural resources and cultural heritage.
The Thematic Community Project is coordinated by DIBA – Barcelona Provincial Council (Spain), in partnership with the UTH – University of Thessaly (Greece), AIE – Adriatic Ionian Euroregion (Croatia), CPMR – Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (France), NECSTouR – Network of European Regions for Competitive and Sustainable Tourism (Belgium), UNIMED – Mediterranean Universities Union (Italy), Plan Bleu for Mediterranean environment and development (France), UT – University of Tirana (Albania).
To know more visit https://sustainable-tourism.interreg-euro-med.eu/
