Tourism in the Mediterranean: 10 countries meet to make it more sustainable- EU-SMAP Workshop

A three-day regional workshop on Sustainable Tourism and Coastal Zone Management opens in Istanbul Tuesday, with the participation of about 100 people from the Mediterranean area and the European Commission.

Tourism contributes to around 25% of the region’s income (GDP) on average and in some cases it is significantly more. Much of this tourism is concentrated in coastal areas and areas of particular natural beauty, all of which are particularly vulnerable to degradation caused by human activities.

The risk – and it is already being seen in some areas – is that tourism destroys the very thing that attracts the people there in the first place. Tourism in the region, as it currently stands, is not sustainable. Unless action is taken, it may not provide a source of income even to the next generation, never mind those beyond it.

This is the central issue that will be debated in the coming days at the workshop organised by SMAP, the regional programme for the environment funded by the EU, under the EuroMed partnership, in conjunction with the Turkish Ministry of Environment.

Participants in the workshop represent key Ministries and regional and local authorities in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Syria and Turkey. They will meet with the private sector, universities, NGOs, experts and international donors to focus on 5 key themes:
1.    development planning in coastal regions
2.    tourism and land use management
3.    public-private partnerships for promoting sustainable development
4.    voluntary steps taken by the private sector (ecolabeling, certification)
5.    diversifying the supply of tourism services in the region

There will also be representatives of the eight Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) projects in the region funded by the European Union.

Around 250 million tourists will come to the Mediterranean region this year bringing with them billions of euros and the number is set to increase in coming years. We can’t afford to disappoint them.