Highlands To Host European Conference On Sustainable Tourism

25th July 2011

The Highlands will get a welcome boost towards the end of the summer tourist season when 120 delegates from across Europe gather in Inverness for a conference looking at promoting sustainable tourism in mountain communities.

The Mountain Communities Leading Europe in Finding Innovative Solutions Conference is being organised by Euromontana in partnership with The Highland Council to put the spot light on current issues surrounding developing tourism in mountain areas across the world. Challenges of the economic crisis, the impact of climate change and strong competition from other tourism destinations will all be looked at as part of the 2 day event which runs during 27-28 September.

Councillor Isabel McCallum Vice Chairman of The Highland Council's Planning, Environment and Development Committee said: "We are delighted to be involved in organising what will be a very interesting and topical conference. Europe's mountain environments provide unique and diverse tourism venues which have proved popular destinations for generations. However they face a number of unique challenges so focussing on the future now and sharing good practice across borders is vital. There is huge potential to ensure a healthy and very importantly, sustainable tourism sector for mountain regions. Having this conference in Inverness is a great opportunity for Highland businesses to network and get involved in shaping future policy."

Key note speakers will include Euromontana president Andre Marcon, Mrs Udolf-Strobl who is responsible for tourism strategy in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth and P�l K Medhus from Norway who will talk about adventure sports and the management of mountain playgrounds. Themes to be covered include the managing of environmental resources, diversification of activities, the development of skills and widening access to destinations.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to take part in three study tours and workshops including one hosted by the Cairngorm National Park that will look specifically at new opportunities for mountain areas to provide a sustainable and economically viable business for year round use. Another tour will be to Lochaber where Forestry Enterprise will run a session looking at the tools and support local communities need to lead and promote their own initiatives.

The findings of the conference will form valuable input to Euromontana's first position paper on sustainable tourism in mountain areas based on the findings. In addition to this the key concerns and delegates views on the future of sustainable mountain tourism will be collated and the document shared with those with an interest in the future development of mountain areas.

Spaces are available for Highland delegates so anyone interested in finding out more about the conference can get details by visiting www.euromontana.org