Webinar on Sustainable Tourism: Managing & Monitoring Tourist Flows in Protected Areas
A dedicated webinar to CEETO project was presented by EUROPARC Federation, in which different methodologies for monitoring and managing tourist flows in Protected Areas, with examples on the ground were presented.
On March 7th 2019, 15:00 CET, a dedicated webinar to the project CEETO – Central Europe Eco-Tourism: tools for nature protection was presented by EUROPARC Federation and broadcasted through online channels. This webinar was part of the CEETO project agenda, and it was attended by 206 attendees from more than 15 countries from all over the world.
Webinar attendees map - image by GetResponse
Below you can find a brief summary of the webinar contents and download the presentations displayed by the speakers or watch the webinar recording.
Watch the webinar recording
An inventory of tourist flows monitoring methods in Protected Areas
The session started with a presentation from Diego Albanese, Scientific Coordinator of CEETO Project in Federparchi – EUROPARC Italy, who gave an overview of the Handbook of successful and innovative practices for a sustainable tourism inside Protected Areas. This document is one of CEETO project´s outcomes that was carried out during the Diagnostic Phase, and it gathers information about consolidated and innovative methods being used in Europe for the monitoring of visitor flows in Protected Areas. It is available to download in Croatian, German, Hungarian, Italian and Slovenian languages.
Monitoring visitors in the Southeast-RügenBiosphere Reserve
After the theory, the session continued with a practical example on how some of this techniques are being used on the ground in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves Southeast-Rügen, Germany, one of the Sustainable Destinations adhered to the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas. For this, Katrin Hüsken, CEETO project coordinator at the Authority of the Biosphere Reserve Southeast-Rügen, started the presentation with an overview of the Reserve and presented in detail how data collection and visitors monitoring is being implemented in this park, providing examples on the tools and questionnaires used.
An overview of tourism management in a vast Protected Area
During the third presentation of the webinar, Serafeim Felekis, President of Tzoumerka, Acheloos Valley, Agrafaand Meteora National Park, Greece, gave an overview on the park natural values and activities, with special emphasis on the management and educational activities implemented in it for tourists. Special emphasis was given to the guided tours that are being implemented in this park. The case of Tzoumerka, AcheloosValley, Agrafaand MeteoraNational Park is of special interest due to the vast extension of territory it occupies. Since its adhesion to the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, the park has tripled its size, facing new challenges regarding tourism management, and new approaches are being implemented to tackle them.
