Marseilles, 26 June 2014: About 50 participants discussed on the valorization modalities of natural and cultural heritage by tourism in the Mediterranean region. This workshop aimed at reviewing economic, environmental and social global issues linked to tourism in the Mediterranean region, as weel as contributing, through mobilisation of civil societies, to the elaboration of priority strategies to be undertaken in the Responsible Tourism industry in the Mediterranean region.
Plan Bleu contributed and took part in the « tourism transition in the Mediterranean region” workshop that was held in Villa Valmer (Marseilles) on 26 June 2014. On the DEFISMED association initiative, some 50 participants (researchers and academics, private stakeholders and investors, government representatives, associations) discussed on the valorization modalities of natural and cultural heritage by tourism in the Mediterranean region.
In the view of organizing an event in the framework of the Mediterranean Economic Week (Marseilles, 5-8 November 2014), this workshop aimed at:
- Reviewing economic, environmental and social global issues linked to tourism in the Mediterranean region
- Contributing, through mobilisation of civil societies, to the elaboration of priority strategies to be undertaken in the Responsible Tourism industry in the Mediterranean region.
The workshop’s first part was dedicated to understanding tourism activities issues in the Mediterranean region (case studies presentation). The second part was devoted to actions, in the form of an open forum aiming at mobilizing the participants’s collective intelligence. In the introductory session, Hugues Ravenel – Plan Bleu’s Director – presented an intervention on “Tourism and revision of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development”.
In parrallel of this workshop, Plan Bleu organised on 25 June 2014 in Villa Valmer in Marseilles, an exchanged work meeting entitled “Promoting sustainable tourism/tourists in the Mediterranean region” related to the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development revision process.
A creative and interactive (mindmapping) session led to some directions for integrating tourism theme in one or more axes of the MSSD 2.0; tourism should be addressed in the following axes:
- Natural resources, rural development and food ( water, energy, rural development, agriculture, food safety nexus);
- Transition to green economy, including sustainable production and consumption;
- Governance, for a better tourism developments regulation by territorial stakeholders.
