MED Sustainable Tourism community

The tourism sector is among the most income-generating in the Mediterranean. Leisure-related activities make tourism a leading economic sector in terms of gross value added and employment. Tourism contributes directly to regional economies with sectoral synergies and strong multiplier effects.

Despite its economic and social importance, the development of tourism exerts undue pressure on the natural and built environment. These pressures can threaten the quality of life of local populations, degrade tourism assets and therefore negatively affect future tourism developments. Harnessing the full potential of tourism requires an innovative approach and a sustainable foundation. Therefore, effective strategies and targeted integrated actions should be developed and implemented throughout the Mediterranean region.

Created in November 2016 within the framework of the Interreg MED program under the name of BleuTourMed, the MED Sustainable Tourism Community has been renewed for a period of three years until June 2022, in order to make tourism a real engine of inclusive growth and sustainable.

Since 2019, five new territorial cooperation projects (LABELSCAPE, SuSTowns. WINTER MED, INCIRCLE and DESTIMED PLUS) have joined the Community, which now includes 22 projects co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), nearly 300 organizations ( public authorities, private companies, universities, NGOs and international organisations) active in 12 Euro-Mediterranean coastal areas. Besides, two Strategic Projects, approved in October 2019, focusing on governance of sustainable tourism will join forces with the Community.

More specifically, Community members lead the development of innovative tools to monitor the tourism industry, they study and test new tourism models and they actively engage policy makers and managers in a constant dialogue to make tourism a true driver of inclusion and sustainability. development.

One of the main objectives of the sustainable tourism community is to replicate its most tangible achievements in other regions of the Mediterranean and to achieve greater visibility and maximum implementation.

Plan Bleu is a partner of the MED Community of Sustainable Tourism, territorial branch of France, and Horizontal Angel of 5 projects: DestiMED, DESTIMED PLUS, Coasting, Co-Evolve and Alter Eco.

Key objectives:

1. Strengthen the attractiveness and the tourist offer: Alternatives to mass tourism (sun and beach) taking advantage of local / regional resources: underwater heritage, culinary heritage, ecotourism in protected areas, mountain, fishing tourism, cycle tourism. ..

2. Dealing with tourism pressures: reducing the impact of tourism activities (water consumption, waste production, management of tourist flows, carrying capacity) and circular economy

3. Strengthen planning and management practices: measure sustainability, develop indicators and planning tools. Support integrated planning and manage tourist flows.

Through the planned transfer processes of the sustainable tourism community, the community aims to replicate its most tangible results in other regions of the Mediterranean and achieve maximum visibility and implementation with:

• Cooperation: representatives of the public and private sectors willing to exchange their existing management strategies based on other experiences.
• Transform methods into sustainable demonstrative actions.
• Networking
• Multiply effect: territories adopt models and invest resources and initiatives.
• Set of monitoring practices: a series of indicators developed to measure the sustainability of tourism.

Key publications :

• The Sustainable Tourism Catalogue: project achievements and policy objectives: This catalog presents the most important results of the projects implemented within the Sustainable Tourism Community of the INTERREG MED program 2014-2020. The selection of products was made on the basis of a better promotion of common integrated actions likely to stimulate the sustainable and responsible development of coastal and maritime tourism in the Mediterranean region.
• Thematic articles analyzing the main characteristics of the sustainable tourism community
• Thematic reviews gathering news and events on the themes of the Community working groups
• Thematic sheets presenting the way in which the Community addresses the strategic issues of sustainable tourism
• Factsheets on policies produced by the working groups of the Mediterranean Sustainable Tourism Community
• Policy recommendations summarizing how policies should change to actually support sustainable tourism development
• Athens Declaration for Sustainable Tourism, our community’s manifesto on tourism as a driver of inclusive and sustainable development
• Scientific publications based on Community results published in international academic journals

Projects of the Community:

• ALTER ECO: Alternative tourist strategies to enhance the local sustainable development of tourism by promoting Mediterranean Identity.
• BLUEISLANDS: Seasonal variation of waste as effect of tourism.
• BLUEMED: Plan/test/coordinate Underwater Museums, Diving Parks and Knowledge Awareness Centres in order to support sustainable and responsible tourism development and promote Blue growth in coastal areas and islands of the Mediterranean.
• CASTWATER: Coastal areas sustainable tourism water management in the Mediterranean.
• COASTING: Defining a common methodology for integrated coastal tourism using ICZM, coastal contracts and bay contracts.
• CO-EVOLVE: Promoting the co-evolution of human activities and natural systems for the development of sustainable coastal and maritime tourism.
• CONSUME-LESS: Consume Less in Mediterranean Touristic Communities.
• DestiMED: Mediterranean Ecotourism Destination: main components (joint planning, monitoring, management and promotion) for a governance system in Mediterranean protected areas.
• EMbleMatiC: Emblematic Mediterranean Mountains as Coastal destinations of excellence.
• HERIT DATA: Sustainable Heritage Management towards Mass Tourism Impact thanks to a holistic use of Big and Open Data
• INHERIT: Natural heritage tourism for the Mediterranean coastal and maritime areas.
• MEDCYCLETOUR: MEDiterranean CYcle route for sustainable coastal
  TOURism. MEDFEST: MED Culinary heritage experiences: how to create sustainable tourist destinations.
• MITOMED+: Models of Integrated Tourism in the MEDiterranean.
• ShapeTourism: New shape and drives for the tourism sector: supporting decision, integrating plans and ensuring sustainability.
• SIROCCO: Sustainable InterRegional cOastal & Cruise maritime tourism through Cooperation and joint planning
• TOURISMED: Tourism fisheries towards a sustainable development in the Mediterranean Region.
• LABELSCAPE: Integration of sustainability labels in Mediterranean tourism policies
• SuSTowns: improving sustainable tourist attraction in fascinating small Mediterranean towns
• WINTER MED: Network of winter islands for a year-round tourist experience in the Mediterranean
• INCIRCLE: Supporting island and low-density areas in the transition to a more CIRCULAR tourism economy
• DESTIMED PLUS: Ecotourism in Mediterranean destinations: from monitoring and planning to advocacy and policy support