John Culatto
A GIBRALTAR expert was guest speaker at a conference in Spain on the making coastal tourism more sustainable, the government reported.
Professor Clive Finlayson, Director of the Gibraltar National Museum and the Gorham’s Cave Complex UNESCO World Heritage Site attended the Sun&Blue congress in Almeria.
He spoke at a round table discussion on ‘Coastal heritage as an engine of tourism’ after his success in preserving the Gorham’s Cave and surrounding caverns with UN protection.
The event took place on November 15-17 and is ‘the most important Blue Tourism congress in Europe’, the government said.
Experts tried to put the tourist in the centre and have discussion on how governments and companies could best satisfy them.
They would do this by increasing the quality of experiences, providing more access to services and creating long-term sustainability for the tourist’s activities.
“It discussed how to generate sustainable experiences, how to integrate them for easy access and to create a suite of complementary services,” the government said.
“The creation of product diversity was discussed, how much value tourism could add, and how visitor stays and mean expenditure could be increased at local level.”
The Sun&Blue congress brought together major actors in the field, showing off the latest new ideas and innovation in Blue Tourism.
They showcased successful initiatives in different areas combining marine conservation with tourism.
Spanish media said Gibraltar had become ‘a reference model’ for this type of tourism.
Authorities designed an interpretation centre overlooking the Gorham’s Cave sites where Neanderthal remains have been found.
Blue tourism is defined as all tourism related to coastal areas, cruising, beaches.
It is linked to blue economy which also has to do with its preservation, exploitation and regeneration.
Archaeologists visit Gibraltar’s World Heritage Site every year to conduct more digs and often locate new signs of Neanderthal life like paintings or tools.
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