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Tourism represents a key economic sector worldwide, constituting great leverage for local economic development but also putting noticeable environmental pressures on local natural resources. Ecotourism may be a viable alternative to mass tourism to minimize impacts on ecosystems, but it needs shared sustainability standards and monitoring tools to evaluate impacts. This paper presents a first methodological proposition to calculate the environmental impact of ecotourism packages through the use of an ad-hoc, customized version of the Ecological Footprint methodology. It follows a participatory, bottom-up approach to collecting input data for the four main services (Accommodation, Food & Drinks, Activity & Service, and Mobility & Transfer) provided to tourists through the use of surveys and stakeholders engagement. The outcome of our approach materializes in an excel-based ecotourism workbook capable of processing input data collected through surveys and returning Ecological Footprint values for specific ecotourism packages. Although applied to ecotourism in Mediterranean Protected Areas within the context of the DestiMED project, we believe that the methodology and approach presented here can constitute a blueprint and a benchmark for future studies dealing with the impact of ecotourism packages.
Maria Serena Mancini; Mikel Evans; Katsunori Iha; Carla Danelutti; Alessandro Galli. Assessing the Ecological Footprint of Ecotourism Packages: A Methodological Proposition. Resources 2018, 7, 38 .
AMA StyleMaria Serena Mancini, Mikel Evans, Katsunori Iha, Carla Danelutti, Alessandro Galli. Assessing the Ecological Footprint of Ecotourism Packages: A Methodological Proposition. Resources. 2018; 7 (2):38.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria Serena Mancini; Mikel Evans; Katsunori Iha; Carla Danelutti; Alessandro Galli. 2018. "Assessing the Ecological Footprint of Ecotourism Packages: A Methodological Proposition." Resources 7, no. 2: 38.
According to its programme and priorities, the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN-Med), with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) and in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment of Tunisia and the High Commission for Water and Forests and the Fight against Desertification of Morocco, implemented between 2011 and 2012, a project for improving decision making and capacities for planning and managing ecotourism activities in and around protected areas in two countries (IUCN Med 2008). The specific objective of the project was the elaboration of a Strategy and Action Plan for ecotourism in natural protected areas in the Maghreb and the development of guidelines for its implementation in two pilot areas: the Talassemtane National Park in Morocco and Jebel Zaghouan National Park in Tunisia. To achieve this aim, the approach of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism was selected. This paper describes the methodology followed by the project, providing, in its final section, an analysis of the main achievements and concerns through its development, focusing on the need of improved participation in territorial planning.
Carla Danelutti; Ángeles De Andrés Caramés; Concha Olmeda; Almudena De Velasco Menéndez. Participatory Planning Tools for Ecotourism in Protected Areas of Morocco and Tunisia: A First Experience. Nature Policies and Landscape Policies 2014, 191 -200.
AMA StyleCarla Danelutti, Ángeles De Andrés Caramés, Concha Olmeda, Almudena De Velasco Menéndez. Participatory Planning Tools for Ecotourism in Protected Areas of Morocco and Tunisia: A First Experience. Nature Policies and Landscape Policies. 2014; ():191-200.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarla Danelutti; Ángeles De Andrés Caramés; Concha Olmeda; Almudena De Velasco Menéndez. 2014. "Participatory Planning Tools for Ecotourism in Protected Areas of Morocco and Tunisia: A First Experience." Nature Policies and Landscape Policies , no. : 191-200.