A MAJOR international conference at the Falls Hotel & Spa in Ennistymon in November will be the forum for the launch of a world-wide sustainable tourism destination programme.
The Burren & Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark, which is hosting the ‘GeoparkLIFE: Tourism for Conservation’ conference, has produced a code of practice tool-kit and a heritage sites and trails management model under its five-year GeoparkLIFE conservation programme, which concludes this December.
The associated destination manager guides and supporting tool-kits include an online code of practice in sustainable tourism for tourism businesses, a monitoring app for trails and heritage site management and an online data management tool for planners, managers and communities.
The project coordinators say the tools, developed in conjunction with local businesses, communities and conservation agencies, enable a balance between tourism development and the conservation needs of the North Clare region.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.