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Workshop on Marine Ecotourism 4-6 October 2001
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Press Release
May 2000
UWE researchers
win major funding to investigate the potential for marine
ecotourism in the EU North Atlantic Area
How can Dolphin-watching holidays off the coast of Gran
Canaria, a marine life centre based in the English
Riviera and diving and Whale-watching holidays in the
West of Ireland affect the marine environment and support
local communities living in these areas? This question
will be at the heart of an international research project
lead by a team of researchers at the University of the
West of England (Bristol UWE).
An interfaculty team of researchers from Bristol UWE’s
Bristol Group for Tourism Research have been awarded
funding 490,000 EURO’s for a unique project which
will assess the potential of marine ecotourism for the
European Atlantic area (the META- project). Funding has
been awarded by the European Regional Development Fund
via the EU Interreg IIC Atlantic programme and the UK
Department of Transport, Environment and the Regions.
UWE Researchers from the Faculty of the Built
Environment, Bristol Business School and the Faculty of
Economics and Social Science will work with partner
projects in Gran Canaria, Torbay and the West of Ireland.*
The purpose of the META- project is to promote genuinely
sustainable marine ecotourism as a tool of regeneration,
particularly in fishing communities hit by the EU’s
Common Fisheries Policy, and to influence policy
guidelines appropriate to local, regional, national and
transnational spatial planning.
The project is funded over two years and research
activity falls into three areas.
These include a baseline audit of ecotourism in each of
the designated areas and three case studies,
concentrating on varying aspects of ecotourism relating
to the area where they take place. In addition, a
conference will be held in Bristol in September 2001 to
report and discuss findings with the wider interested
community. The research and conference are timely for the
proposed United Nations Year of Ecotourism, 2002.
Dr Brian Garrod, of the Faculty of Economics and Social
Sciences, said “Many fishing communities in the EU
North Atlantic area have entered a period of serious
economic and cultural decline. At the same time, tourism
has decreased because of the heavy promotion of the
Mediterranean area by package tour operators. As a
result, such communities are in crisis”.
David Bruce, of Bristol Business School, added “We
are not setting out to actively promote ecotourism if our
research proves that this may not benefit either the
environment or the local communities. Our primary
objective is to underpin future policy making by setting
out guidelines for good practice on a local, regional
national and transnational level.”
The research will focus on four parallel projects, based
in different regions that could benefit from their
stunning local marine environment through ecotourism.
These ‘parallel projects’ will take place in
Gran Canaria, Torbay and the West of Ireland.
Rosemary Burton, of the Faculty of the Built Environment,
spoke of the importance of understanding ecotourism. She
said, “We recently met up with our research partners
in Portugal and it was agreed that we would adopt an
interpretation of marine ecotourism. We shared the view
that nature based tourism should be low impact; that it
should raise appreciation of the marine environment and
it’s wildlife; that it should contribute to
environmental conservation and provide appropriate
benefit to the local community.
“We also agreed that ecotourism could also include
the interpretation of local culture as a part of the
tourist experience and that it should be managed to be
less unsustainable. Although relatively little tourism
meets these criteria we agreed that it is these
characteristics that tourism should move towards in order
to qualify as ‘ecotourism’.”
The long term benefits of the research will include a
spatial planning and transport policy guidance and a
blueprint for producing marketing strategies for marine
ecotourism.
Editors notes:
1/ The project partners include the Marine Institute,
Dublin; Torbay Council; Fundacion Escuela de Negocias,
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Polytechnic of Viano
do Castelo,Portugal; the Department of Environment,
Transport and the regions (UK) South West Tourism (formerly
West Country Tourist Board); Whale and Dolphin
Conservation Society; Biscay Dolphin Research Programme;
Ecoscope Applied Ecologists: City of Plymouth; Shannon
Development, West Clare Network Initiative, the Minch
Project.Gobierno de Canaries, Patronato di Turismo de G.Canaria,Fed.De
Empresarios de Hosteleria y Turismo de Las Palmas, ATLAS,
Whale and Dolphin Trust - Mull.
2/
The UWE Bristol Research Team -
David Bruce, Bristol Business School
Dr Brian Garrod, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences
Julie Wilson, Bristol Group for Tourism Research
Maria Casado-Diaz, Bristol Group for Tourism Research
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