WestMED Spain presents new Technical Group at UfM webinar on Coastal and Maritime Tourism
On 20 June 2024 a webinar was organised by the Union for the Mediterranean(UfM) titled ‘Scaling up synergies and partnerships for the sustainable maritime and coastal tourism transformation in the Mediterranean’
The coastal and maritime tourism sector is of key strategic importance in the Mediterranean, concentrating 35% of global tourist arrivals, and marked by a steady recovery following the 2019 COVID pandemic.
Despite its strong potential to drive the ‘green and blue’ transition forward in and for the Mediterranean (through tackling climate change, protecting and restoring maritime and coastal ecosystems, and providing opportunities for quality employment), the sector is currently characterized by structural fragilities undermining its future sustainability, including significant impacts on the environment and local populations with high seasonality, and low-offer diversification.
Building on the outcomes and main messages of the 2nd UfM Stakeholder Conference on Sustainable Blue Economy, this webinar aimed at scaling up and showcasing the role of synergies, partnerships, regional collaboration, and innovation towards the ‘green and blue’ transformation of the maritime and coastal tourism sector, in and for the Mediterranean. It highlighted the ongoing coordination efforts among existing programmes and share concrete examples of multi-level and cross-sectoral cooperation, including partnerships between academia, industry, and public authorities.
Marta Pascual from the WestMED national Hub Spain presented the new WestMED Stakeholder Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism.
The overall objective of the WestMED Sustainable Tourism Technical Group is to serve as a technical stakeholder forum to discuss trends and opportunities towards sustainable tourism within the region, provide support to participants to develop project ideas and form consortia for funding applications focused on tourism related topics set at EU level such as green transition, digitalization, promotion of social inclusion, governance, and skills.
The technical group, led by WestMED’s Spanish and Maltese National Hubs, is planning a series of webinars after the summer of 2024 while the official launch of the technical group will take place during the Sun&Blue Congress (20-22 November 2024, Almeria, Spain).
Download the webinar concept note and agenda
For more information on the WestMED Sustainable Tourism Technical Group visit the news article outlining its background and setup.
You can also contact Marta Pascual (National Hub Spain) or Stephanie Vella (National Hub Malta)
Marta Pascual presenting the new WestMED Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism
