John Hull presents at a sustainable tourism workshop in Italy

The workshop on "Sustainable tourism practices for the development of marginal regions" on 11 June 2010 in Trento, Italy,  was a unique opportunity for all the partners involved in the Listen to the Voice of Villages project to come together and share, with the help of international experts, the state of the art of the knowledge on responsible tourism and to analyze the case history of best practices in the organization and marketing of the sustainable rural tourism offer.

After a morning session open to the public and attended by 120 participants the workshop continued with three different parallel sessions which brought the focus on specific topics related to sustainable tourism. The workshop hosted two international guests with acknowledged competence on the matters related to sustainable and responsible tourism: Dr. Xavier Font, Director of Studies at ICRT Leeds (UK) and Prof..John Hull, Associate Director at the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute.

The project is implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme co-financed by European Regional Development Fund.

Abstract of John Hull's presentation: Sustainable tourism is an outgrowth of the sustainable development paradigm of the 1980s. Over the past two decades, researchers argue that there has been a theoretical shift in tourism planning and policy making requiring that strategies be more integrated, cooperative, and innovative in bringing together multiple publics as part of a consultative process. This collective approach is aimed at building social capital and community capacity to promote more sustainable forms of regional development in rural areas. This presentation will document a number of case studies from NZTRI’s Tourism and Community Program that are adopting a participatory approach to strategic planning in an effort to create memorable, sustainable visitor experiences and products that are personal, engage the senses and make connections on an emotional, physical or intellectual level.

Download John Hull's presentation here.