The Mediterranean basin probably boasts the highest concentration of touristic destinations, both for what concerns local tourism and for what concerns travelers from other countries of the world. These places are usually interested by mass tourism, which is extremely concentrated in the summer months.
This type of tourism appears to be unsustainable both in terms of environmental conservation and socio-economic development. In order for a tourist package to be defined as sustainable this must comply with certain standards: reduce the environmental impact (energy consumption, waste production, water consumption, etc.) that this industry generates on the territory, guaranteeing the present and future well-being of the local population; develop also in the low season; do not impact on the survival of species and ecosystems and guarantee direct and/or indirect benefits for their conservation, such as the dissemination of the Protected Area values to tourists.
In order to develop a strategy that aims to support sustainable tourism, a category which also includes ecotourism, in the Mediterranean countries, it appears necessary to align the main players in tourism and conservation, both on a large and on local scale. It is precisely with this goal that DestiMED PLUS was born, an Interreg project that promotes integrated planning of coastal tourism, through policies that link tourism with the conservation and development of ecotourism itineraries in Protected Areas.
This project, subsequent to the previous MEET and DestiMED projects, focuses on 9 Mediterranean regions, to strengthen the enabling conditions for ecotourism to thrive within the Protected Areas. In Italy, these regions include Sardinia and Lazio, respectively with the Porto Conte Natural Park and the MPA/SNR “Islands of Ventotene and Santo Stefano”. these Protected Areas, are now carrying out a process of co-designing an ecotourism package with the help of an ITO (Inbound Tour Operator).
We are thrilled to announce the involvement of K’ Nature as ITO (with the usual support of our partner of Mama Tours) for what concerns the DestiMED PLUS project with the MPA/SNR “Islands of Ventotene and Santo Stefano”, in the activities of planning, assembling and executive realization of an ecotourism package, coordinated by the Lazio Region.
As part of the preparatory step, which saw the conception of an “embryonic” itinerary by the ITO and the identification of stakeholders according to the standards required by the MEET (Mediterranean Experience of Eco -Tourism) on which the guidelines of the project are adhered to, we organized a LEC.
The LEC (Local Ecotourism Cluster), made up of Protected Area, ITO and stakeholders (accommodation facilities, restaurants and local tourism actors), has as its main purpose to refine the ecotourism package, through a process of co-planning that takes place with a series of meetings in which activities and services offered are discussed, both in terms of environmental and socio-economic sustainability.
Following the first meeting, held on 06/09/2021 at the Ventotene Historical Archive, the next step of the project involved the testing of the package in two events: an Audit which took place at the end of September, and a full one to be held next spring. During the tests, the idea of an ecotourism itinerary is judged by expert testers, professionals dealing with biodiversity conservation and ecotourism, and re-discussed within the LEC, with the aim of including the islands of Ventotene and Santo Stefano among the sustainable tourism destinations offered by the MEET catalogue.
We are sure that the collaboration among all the project partners will have enormous benefits for the development of a different idea of tourism on these small pearls of the Mediterranean which can, at the same, time preserve the biodiversity and benefit the local population.
Photo by Andrea Senese
To refer the online documents relating to the project click here.
To request information about the project and the LEC, contact us through the following contact form: