With its attractive towns and villages, beautiful landscape and variety of attractions, the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) has attracted visitors from across the UK and other parts of the world for decades. This growth in visitor numbers has resulted in tourism becoming one of the largest and most important industries in the Cotswolds, generating over £400 million pounds into the local economy each year and supporting 11,500 jobs.
In addition to the many economic benefits of tourism, a well-managed tourism industry can also be fundamental to supporting local communities and culture as well as protecting and enhancing the natural environment. The challenge is finding the optimum balance between meeting the needs of the businesses, local community, visitors and the environment through careful planning, monitoring and controlling measures.
With this aim in mind, this year the Cotswolds Conservation Board is applying for the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, awarded by the Europarc Federation - the voice of Europe’s protected areas with over 400 members in 36 countries, who themselves manage the ‘green jewels’ of Europe's land, sea, mountains, forests, rivers and cultural heritage. The aim of the Charter is to increase awareness of and support for Europe’s protected areas and to improve the sustainable development and management of tourism within them.
There are currently 75 Charter areas across Europe with ten of these awarded to protected areas in the UK including Cornwall AONB, Forest of Bowland AONB and the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Nicola Greaves, Information & Interpretation Officer, explains more, "The Charter recognizes protected areas that are following the right approach in developing and managing sustainable tourism. The Cotswolds AONB is a very large area and tourism is hugely important to the local economy. We believe that by going through the Charter process it will help us to strengthen relations with local tourism stakeholders and wider industry, share ideas, experience and expertise as well as raise the profile of conservation and environmental practices in the countryside.”
The Cotswolds Conservation Board would like to hear your views on tourism in the Cotswolds AONB. Please therefore take a few minutes to go to the Board’s website www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk and follow the link from the homepage. Alternatively, if you would prefer to have a hard copy of the survey, please contact Nicola Greaves on 01451 862003 or email: nicola.greaves@cotswoldsaonb.org.uk.
In return for your help and participation in this survey, your completed questionnaires will be entered into a prize draw to win one of 4 family tickets to the Moreton Show on Saturday 4 September.