Towards a sustainable coastal and maritime tourism in marine regions
The Blue Tourism Initiative is a long-term research and innovation project focused on the environmental management, governance and planning of coastal and maritime tourism around major Regional Seas. It comprises policies review, as well as multi-stakeholders initiatives to strengthen sustainable blue tourism at local, national, regional and international level.
Indeed, coastal and marine areas are highly attractive regions for tourists worldwide and coastal and marine tourism has become a major economic sector for countries with accessible and attractive coastlines. Yet, coastal and marine tourism related sub-sectors and activities imply significant environmental harms.
A key challenge is thus to promote sustainable tourism practices in coastal and marine areas, ensuring positive externalities for the environment, the workers and the local communities. This challenge is especially relevant nowadays, in the context of the Covid-19 related tourism crisis recovery. The massive investments provided by the recovery plans offer a unique opportunity to transform the tourism sector into a more just and sustainable one.
For more information, visit the project website: https://bluetourisminitiative.org/
