|
The phases
-
PHASE 1
Local perceptions
of sustainable tourism
The objective of this phase is to codify
the perceptions of the local stakeholders concerning sustainable tourism.
Three main groups of stakeholders will be the targets of this phase: business
stakeholders, institutional stakeholders and local people. Participatory
analysis research will be used in order to record the attitudes and the
perception of local stakeholders towards the notion of sustainable tourism.
The main question to be answered is: “what is the knowledge and the opinions
of the local stakeholders concerning sustainable tourism?”. By answering
this question the project will be in a position to develop, in latter phases,
methods and tools for monitoring the sustainable tourism and also to implement
sensitization and training campaigns in order to familiarize the local
stakeholders with the idea of sustainable tourism.
· A research protocol
will be designed and will be distributed to all the projects partners.
The protocol will include the objectives of the Participatory Action Research
and a step-by-step guide for implementation on site. The partners will
add their comments to make the research protocol suitable for implementation
in local basis. After that the relative questionnaires will be designed
and pilot tested in all project areas.
· An action will be implemented
by structured and semi-structured interviews, organization of focus groups,
and participant observation. Each local partner will be responsible for
the collection of the data for his country. Based on the guidelines of
the research protocol a report will be created for each country, presenting
the findings of the on-site research. The country reports will be synthesized
by the scientific coordinator of the project.
· Finally a seminar for the
staff of the local partners will be organized. The seminar will not only
allow to the local partners to apply the designed research protocol, but
will train them also for other actions of the projects.
-
PHASE
2
Regional
approaches, for sustainable tourism
The objective of this action is to identify
and group regional approaches concerning the implementation and monitoring
of sustainable tourism activities. The phase will be based in collection
of best practices and presentation of case studies. Each country will be
responsible for reviewing of best practices and case studies in a wider
group of countries in the Mediterranean basin that do not participate in
the project. The question to be answered is: “how regional initiatives
work towards the implementation and monitoring of sustainable tourism?”
The answer to this question will allow the project to develop method and
tools for monitoring the sustainable tourism that can be used not only
the participating countries but in a wide range of the Mediterranean countries
as well. The groups of countries and the partner responsible for each group
are the followings:
§ Group 1 (Greece):
Greece, Cyprus, Turkey
§ Group 2 (Italy): Italy, Croatia,
Malta
§ Group 3 (Spain): Spain, France,
Morocco
§ Group 4 (Portugal): Portugal,
Tunisia, Egypt
It should be mentioned that the
inclusion of examples from a wide range of countries is a valuable approach
that will help the future implementation of the projects’ results in the
Mediterranean basin.
The phase will be implemented with
the following actions:
· Collection of best
practices
· Review of case studies
· Synthesis of regional approaches
-
PHASE 3
Methods,
tools and protocols for sustainable tourism monitoring
The objective of this phase is to create
the necessary methods, tools and protocols for monitoring the sustainable
tourism. Based on the results of the previous phases a structured methodology
will be developed for the monitoring of sustainable tourism. The methodology
will be based on the monitoring of the three components of sustainable
tourism development: economic, social and environmental.
The phase will be implemented with
the following actions.
· Development of
the monitoring system
Based on the results of the previous
phases and in specific research, the scientific coordinator will create
a first set of indexes for sustainable tourism monitoring. On the basis
of the final methodology and the data collection tools a protocol for the
implementation of the methodology will be created. The protocol will be
pilot implemented with the responsibility of each local partner and the
results will be transmitted to the scientific coordinator.
· Establishment of the “Mediterranean
Observatory of Sustainable Tourism”
The Observatory (one central unit
and 4 satellite units) will be established and presented to the public.
· Design and Development
of a MIS
A Management Information System
(MIS), available over the Internet with restricted access, will be designed
and developed for the recurring implementation of the methodology. The
action will be supervised by the OMEDITOUD. A user requirement document
will be developed on the basis of the local partners comments.
PHASE 4
Strategy
and Action Planning
The objective of the Phase is to create
the necessary environment that will ensure the continuation of the projects’
actions. The partners want to sustain and enhance the results of the project
and for this reason a set of actions will be implemented. These actions
include the following:
· Creation of a Network
· Action planning
-
PHASE 5
Public
awareness and sensitization
This phase aims to awake public awareness
and sensitization between local people, private and public stakeholders,
NGOs, tourist authorities, and travelers. The main objective is to make
everyone involved familiar with the local cultural activities, become part
of the society and support mutual cultural solidarity in the Mediterranean
territory, reducing any conflicts arisen between locals and tourists.
The actions taken in this phase
are:
· Activities and
event organization
· Conferences: All participants
will organize a European Conference for Sustainable Tourism where a thorough
presentation of the objectives and the results of the program will be presented.
The Conference will be held in Italy.
· Technical meetings
· Web Site construction
· Booklet creation:The booklet
will include the new management method the project will produce as well
as guidelines for sustainable tourism management.
|