El gozo de la contemplación y el ministerio de la predicación

Scotland does not have a specific sustainable tourism strategy document per se or even a separate national rural tourism strategy, although it does have an industry-led

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‘Sustainable Tourism Partnership’ (STF) (re-branded in 2006 from its previous incarnation as the Tourism and Environment Forum, before which it was known as the Tourism and Environment Task Force) who are responsible for promoting sustainable tomism initiatives. This is not an organisation that is specifically geared towards rural tourism development although many of their achievements have been in this area. The STP includes private industry partners, the Scottish Executive, and organisations such as VisitScotland, the Enterprise Networks, local authorities.

..fv Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Historic Scotland and the National Park I Authorities. The current aim of this partnership is “to bring long term business and I environmental benefits to the Scottish tourism industry thiough encouraging

The STP has its roots in the Scottish Tourism Co-ordinating Group (STCG) which was created by the Scottish Office following criticism over the fractional and fragmented nature of the organisational structure of Scottish tourism (MacLellan, 1997). The STCG emphasised collaboration, partnership and joint initiatives corresponding with the holistic premise of sustainable development. Their first report in 1992 emphasised the economic significance of Scotland’s countryside for tourism and also the costs/impacts of tourism on the environment.^ MacLellan (1997; 311) explains that the solution to reducing environmental costs was presented as ‘the adoption of sustainable tourism aims and priorities’, that were to be identified and achieved through the formation of a ‘Tourism Management Initiative’ (TMI) connecting national priorities with local projects.

For financial reasons TMI projects never materialised and the STCG reconvened in late 1992 to form the Tourism and Environment Task Force (TETF). TETFs objectives included increasing awareness and the importance of the environment for tourism among stakeholders. This led to a report called Going Green: Guidelines for

the Scottish Tourism Industry (TETF, 1993a). This report acknowledged that the

environment is Scotland’s major asset in attracting visitors and hence it must be treated, developed and promoted sustainably. This document provided some practical guidance on how to develop a green image and create products in response to a perceived growing green market (MacLellan, 1997). Like most of the literature produced by this partnership, a tenuous link is made between a perceived increasing green consumer market and the way that visitors value Scotland’s landscape and natural heritage without providing any firm evidence of green/biocentric/ecological orientations of visitors. While it is undisputed that repeated visitor sui-veys show Scotland’s scenery and countryside to be fundamental elements for attracting visitors^, this does not mean that consumers are necessarily demanding more environmentally friendly products while on holiday, nor does it suggest that visitors hold pro-ecological views. Appreciation of landscape is not an automatic indicator of ecological values nor of environmentally sensitive behaviour.

’ Tourism and the Scottish Environment: A Sustainable Partnership (Scottish Tourism Co-ordinating Group, 1992)

* See VisitScotland’s corporate website for a range of visitor attitudes surveys conducted since 1999: www.scotexchange.net/research_and_statistics/tourism_today/visitor_attitudes.htm

As MacLellan (1997) explains, another main objective of the TETF was to draw-up guidelines, based on values of sustainability, to be implemented in projects at the local level by tourism representatives from the public and private sectors. This resulted in a publication called Tourism and the Scottish Environment: Tourism

Management Initiative (TETF, 1993b). This presented examples of different

approaches to sustainable tourism development, but retained a focus on the cooperative stages required to establish Tourism Management Programmes (TMPs). TMPs are similar to the sustainable management and development strategies cited by Lane (1994b), where community involvement, long-term planning, networking, cooperation, pooling resources and expertise are considered fundamental, TMPs are concurrent with national sustainable tourism priorities and rmite with other national industry working groups dealing with issues such as training (e.g. Enterprise Companies), activity holidays, seasonality, the arts and visitor attractions (MacLellan, 1997). There are currently around nine TMPs and related projects operating throughout Scotland many of which are located in rural areas, albeit none in the study region of Dumfries & Galloway. Most of the TMPs have been functioning for more than ten years, and MacLellan (1998) provides some evidence to suggest that some local projects are losing direction. This contrasts with the claims of the Sustainable Touiism Partnership who cite success in places like Nairn, St. Andrews, the Trossachs, Pitlochry and Calanais on the Isle of Lewis.^

TMPs are not the only initiative developed by the newly renamed Sustainable Tourism Partnership. They appear to have been successful in facilitating the development of sustainable codes of conduct and accreditation schemes for marine ecotourism in the Minch and the Moray Firth, helping to establish Caithness as a sustainable natuie-based tourism destination, and holding conferences to promote and bring together Scotland’s nature-based tourism industry to share ideas. This partnership has also played an important role in the provision of market research on wildlife tourism in Scotland, and published research on training needs for wildlife and tourism operators which aims to promote a better informed industry and more enjoyable experiences for visitors. Other publications such as the Going Green

Handbook (TETF, 1997) and Greening Scottish Tourism - Linking Scotland’s Built &

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Natural Heritage (TEF, 2004b) provide case studies and demonstrate cost-savings

from developing more sustainable practices.

Registered establishment figures for Scotland were obtained via www.staruk.org.uk.

Another programme developed and launched by the Sustainable Tourism Partnership is the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS). This scheme was first envisaged

following research that reviewed existing environmental management approaches in I the hospitality sector (Wallis and Woodward, 1997). Essentially, the GTBS is an

environmental management scheme accredited by VisitScotland. The aim is to help

tourism businesses, mainly accommodation and visitor attractions, reduce their 7 environmental impact. At the time of writing, businesses joining the GTBS pay an

initial joining fee plus an annual fee for which they receive an environmental audit (repeated every two years) that can then be used as a strategy for reducing their adverse environmental impacts. The scheme awards businesses one of three awards depending on their current level of environmental management. The GTBS is apparently one of the best known environmental management schemes for tourism in Europe (Leslie, 2001), although participation in the scheme appears proportionally quite low with only 500 registered businesses out of 4,871 accommodation establishments and 510 paid visitor attractions (the number of ‘free’ visitor

attractions in Scotland could not be ascertained) (Garrod et a l, 2002).^° ” Nevertheless, it does represent a move towards sustainable tourism development, at

least in the accommodation and visitor attraction sectors, and it also provides a v simple sustainable development indicator from which to measure progress

(Blackstock, 2006). This said, there are barriers to its success which will be outlined further when discussing the specific case of Dumfries & Galloway.

At a regional level in Dumfries & Galloway there has been a number of what might be considered sustainable tourism and development initiatives including the regeneration of Wigtown through the creation of Scotland’s National Book Town (Seaton, 1997) and more recently the re-branding of Castle Douglas as a food town

in June 2002 and ended in December 2005. This project was initially funded*^ by the Scottish Executive (£300,000) through VisitScotland following the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) epidemic that affected both farmers and tourism businesses thi'oughout the south of Scotland in 2001. One source suggests that £65 million was lost due to the reduction in tourist revenue during the outbreak (Dumfries & Galloway Standard, 22 August 2003). The objectives of the Making Tracks project were to (George Street Research, 2006):

1. Im prove links betw een tourism business, farm ing and the environm ent

2. Identity opportunities for enjoying at first hand the region’s natural habitats, flora and fauna

3. To enhance the experience o f visitors to the area through im proved access, interpretation and products

4. To contribute to the region’s econom ic regeneration

5. Establish and share best practice in the developm ent o f sustainable nature based tourism .

Demonstrating a holistic approach, the project was managed by a project management group comprising the Area Tourist Boards (VisitScotland Dumfries &

Galloway and VisitScotland Scottish Borders), the Councils, Enterprise Companies, |

” Leader+ funding through both Dumfries and Galloway (£138,317) and Scottish Borders (£98,317) was subsequently provided to enhance the scale and benefits of the grant scheme and to extend the life of the project from two to three years.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), and NFU Scotland. An additional fifteen advisory bodies made up a steering group. A dedicated Project Officer was appointed who

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' was line managed by VisitScotland Dumfries and Galloway, the lead partner. The

scheme, which provided grants of up to 50%, was specifically aimed at encouraging farmers and other land-based businesses to work together with mainstream tourism businesses and other organisations in order to develop a network of sustainable nature-based tourism products across the south of Scotland.

Among the twenty projects created (ten in Dumfries & Galloway) are the Galloway Red Kite Trail (Plate 2.2) and feeding station on a farm near Laurieston, a new visitor centre and path networks on the Colvend coast and the creation of a new nature reserve near Moffat. According to a recent independent report the Making

Tracks project has surpassed most initial expectations (George Street Research, 2006). With regards to increasing collaborative activity amongst farming and tourism businesses, the initial expectation was to create six new ventures, however thirty-one were achieved and a further fourteen anticipated. The number of new marketing and promotion initiatives imagined was twelve and this was also exceeded.

Plate 2.2 The G alloway Red Kite Trail

In terms of visitor numbers, it was thought that the anticipated six new projects would bring an extra 12,000 visitors to the south of Scotland, however with more visitor attractions created the actual number of new visitors has been estimated at 46,477 (George Street Research, 2006). Additionally, sixteen new management initiatives have been created, eight businesses achieved accreditation under the Green Tourism Business Scheme, thirty training opportunities were created, twenty-nine farm businesses have received assistance; an estimated £1.6 - 1.8 million in revenue will be created, fourteen direct jobs created; and eighty-five additional local businesses benefited from the projects (George Street Research, 2006).

As a sustainable rui’al tourism initiative it would appear that the Making Tracks project has been successfiil in southern Scotland, however as suggested by Lane (1994b), one needs to take a long-term view of these projects and since these projects have only been in existence for a short time it is perhaps premature to suggest they are truly sustainable. A recent report suggests the Galloway Kite Trail generates an estimated £750,000 per year for the local economy, thus providing an incentive to develop more nature-focused attractions and at the same time justifying a robust conseiwation effort to conserve the region’s natural a s s e t s . O n e barrier that may limit the sustainability of the Red Kite Trail attraction is the deliberate poisoning of raptors. Unfortunately, not all land managers view wildlife resources as valuable assets and in 2003 three red kites were found poisoned near Laurieston.Incidents like these form one of the biggest threats to the successful development of sustainable nature-based tourism in Dumfries & Galloway, and demonstrates that conflict between species of high consei*vation value and species of economic value to estate managers continue to be an issue.

In document San Bernardo de Claraval Sermones Sobre El Cantar de Los Cantares (página 165-168)