PREPARe: A Model to Aid the Development of Policies for Less Unsustainable Tourism in Historic Towns

Abstract

David Bruce is a principal lecturer in tourism at UWE, Bristol, leader of the ECfunded Marine Ecotourism in the Atlantic Area project and academic adviser to the Walled Towns Friendship Circle. A town planner and transport economist, he researches the impacts of tourism. Marlon Jackson is a principal lecturer in economics at UWE, Bristol, head of the Local Economy Research Unit and convener of the Bristol Group for TOINism Research. Her research and consultancy is in the economic impacts of tourism and tourism's role in local/regional economic development. Dr Antoni Serra Cantallops is a senior lecturer in tourism marketing and marketing management at the University of the Balearic Islands. An economist, he holds an MBA from Middlesex University, London. His research is in tourism marketing and tourism destination planning. ABSTRACT KEYWORDS: sustainable tourism, urban tourism, heritage tourism, environmental audit, tourism policy, Local Agenda 21 The PREPARe wheelis a dynamic model showing how a systematic environmental audit system could be applied to the development and management of tourism. The model was derived during research onfour European historic walled towns characterised as destinations for heritage and urban tourism. Embracing the approach implied by Local Agenda 21 and'bestvalue' reviews, the paper illustrates how such towns can be assessed for levels of compliance with defined actiotIS and policies set out as the necessary elements of an overall programme to move towards less unsustainable tourism in these destinations. This involves six successive stages: Policy, Responsibility, Eco-awareness, Programme, Audit and Review. Local stakeholders were involved at each stage, from defining objectives for tourism development lo~ally to assessing the levels of compliance with expected policies and actions, although this brought a degree of subjectivity to the results. Turning the PREPARe wheel illustrates the continuous repetition of this process, which is necessary to stimulate ongoing improvements in levels of compliance with policies to move towards less unsustainable tourism. Developments in tourism policy in Alcudi« (one of the original study towns) since 1993 have been analysedto illustrate theprocess in practice.

The “Malling” of Main Street

“…He suggested cities emphasize historic preservation; keep their city walkable with attractions and amenities easily accessible; and have downtowns that amalgamate housing, work, shopping, entertainment, government, and tourist attractions. Such a mix would seem the ideal foundation for what Bruce, Jackson, and Cantallops (2001) see as key to a city’s success—sustainability. Sustainability, though, is highly contingent upon a city’s forward vision.…”

Promoting sustainable festival events tourism: a case study of Lamu Kenya

“…Sustainable local economic development is not, as yet, a checklist of activities or policies to be “ticked off” when achieved, but the work is ongoing. An example would be the attempts being made to develop frameworks which allow local authorities or other responsible bodies to audit and review their progress towards the implementation of sustainable tourism (Bruce et al , 2001).…”

Neki suvremeni sociogeografski procesi u povijesnoj jezgri grada Dubrovnika

“…Through these years it changed from an administrative political centre in the sixties to a tourist district at the beginning of the 21 st century . The historic core has differentiated inside the urban system of 2 According to researches, an urban tourism classification, containing 12 categories, has been effected (Bruce et al, 2001): capital cities, metropolitan (bishop's) towns, historical walled towns and small fortified towns, large historical towns, central town area, restored port towns, industrial towns, littoral and mountain resorts, integrated tourist complexes, tourist entertainment complexes, specialized service centres in art and cultural towns. In any case, Dubrovnik can be assigned to one or more mentioned categories.…”