Västra Götaland Defends Sustainable Tourism as a Catalyst for Regional Development during OECD Workshop
13/12/2019

Västra Götaland Defends Sustainable Tourism as a Catalyst for Regional Development during OECD Workshop

 

Helena HOLMBERG from Västra Götaland, a Member of NECSTouR, was invited in Vienna to present her region’s and NECSTouR’s work on sustainable tourism during a session on multi-level governance for regional tourism development during OECD Workshop on December, 12-13.

In Västra Götaland, a booming region for the visitor industry in West Sweden (+25% of nights during the last 5 years), tourism is keeping rural areas alive. As the main provider of jobs for many places and the reason to maintain most services to live there all year-round. But as vice president of the committee for regional development advocated in her region, Helena Holmberg advocated for a fair balance to be positive for both the inhabitants and the visitors.

Region Västra Götaland is acting as an engine for cooperation between local, regional and national actors within public and private sector. She presented the actions from the West Sweden region to avoid overtourism and pushed NECSTouR’s vision towards a Sustainable Regional Tourism Development through our 5 principles and the Barcelona Declaration.

See West Sweden presentation here.

The International Workshop on “Tourism as a Catalyst for Regional Development” was co-organised by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism and the OECD Tourism Committee, bringing together tourism/regional/urban/rural policy makers, with representatives from industry, international institutions and academics.