Vedlegg 2

Taken from the minutes of the NPP PMC – steering committee meeting November 28, 2004

 

Project Name

Nature Based Tourism

Abbreviation

NBT

Measure

2.1

Applicant/Lead Partner

Landsdelsutvalget

Person Responsible of the Project

Mr. Eirik Fiva

Project Coordination

Mr. Eirik Fiva

Partners

 

 

 

 

 

1. North-Trondelag County Council (NTCC), Norway

2. Municipality of Luleĺ (LK), Sweden

3. Vindel River Association (VRA), Sweden

4. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Scotland

5. AtVest, Iceland

6. VisitScotland, Scotland

7.  Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scotland

8.  Tourism and Environment Forum, Scotland

Target Area/Locations of Operation

 

Northern Sweden, Four Northernmost counties in Norway, Scotland (Highlands and Islands), Finland and Iceland.

Project Period

01/01/2004 to 31/03/2007

Field of intervention:

17

Total Eligible budget

1 464 475 EUR

Request for funding

878 685 EUR

% Of eligible costs

60%

 

Summary

 

Nature based tourism is a new tourism sector which has experienced significant growth in recent years. Connection with nature is the main attraction for visitors and this sector can support both conservation and employment across the Northern Periphery area. Nature based tourism offers significant opportunities for society, but also challenges. The importance of creating an arena for developing and discussing nature based tourism across boarders is vital, since many of the solutions are common for all countries. This project will work with small scale tourist companies to exchange ideas and experiences, encourage collaboration, develop products and pro-mote nature based tourism. There are 3 key elements to the NBT project: Transforming and improving market knowledge; product development; and transnational networking. The project creates an arena for the network, which should be an ambassador for the whole area and also make businesses more professional.  This project shall encourage the sustainable development of nature based tourism. The project has a triple-helix approach.

 

Evaluation by Regional Advisory Groups

 

The NORA RAG considered this project very focussed and interesting. The area is one of the main development potentials of the NPP region and the targeted group was in great need for support for development in competence, networking and marketing. A more precise description of the concrete activities could be of help for the credibility of the overall result. The budget was considered high and ought to be decreased. The NORA RAG recommends approval with conditions and encouraged an evaluation of the description of the concrete activities and the role of tourism organisations as well as a decreased budget.

 

The Norwegian RAG highlighted the fact that the NBT project was following the upcoming trend in international tourism that made it possible to utilise some of the features of the periphery and turned them from disadvantages to recourses. According to the Norwegian RAG, the project was considered highly relevant for the NP-programme, both with regard to the themes, the broadness of partnership and the combination of public/private cooperation. The Norwegian RAG recommended the project Nature Based Tourism is accepted without conditions.

 

The Scottish RAG agreed that this was a good project that fitted in well with the programme.  The partnership was well balanced and encompassed a good mix of relevant actors across the area.  The project exhibited good transnationality. The Scottish RAG welcomed the SME involvement and recommended that the 100 companies that are to be involved in the project be spread across all partner areas, to ensure an even involvement in the project. There was a lack of detail regarding the 12 tourism products that are to be developed. The Scottish RAG felt that more information should be provided on dissemination and marketing of the project.

 

The Scottish RAG agreed that the budget was reasonable considering the number of partners and SME involvement and concerned over the higher financial allocation to Norway, but this was felt to be justified due to the higher costs incurred for project management. The Scottish RAG recommended the project be approved without conditions with recommendation that evidence is provided of a balance of SME location and sector. 

 

The Finnish RAG agreed that in order to convince an audience of the credibility of the tourism development, product development and the marketing, the project definitely required the contribution of businesses that define both the output results and the necessary measures for achieving them. The Finnish RAG recommended that the total budget of the project should be cut down by approximately 50% and recommended resubmission.

 

The project was considered to be important by the Swedish RAG and encouraged links with other projects dealing with similar topics. The Swedish RAG would like something on the ground after the project ends. The Swedish RAG suggested a sort of demonstration such as a new kind of visitors centre or a new way for presenting a destination. The Swedish RAG recommended the project for approval without conditions.

 

Evaluation by the Joint Programme Secretariat

 

The project was in line with the programme objectives for measure 2.1. The project is based on a preparatory project Green Tourism Network. The project had a clear-targeted group and represented potentially complex partnership with strong justification and high European value-added aspects of the project.

 

This project will work with small-scale tourist companies to exchange ideas and experiences, encourage collaboration, develop products and promote nature-based tourism. The project will encourage the sustainable development of nature based tourism and in so doing create growth, prosperity and employment for rural areas whilst ensuring the primacy of nature conservation.

 

Decision of the Steering Committee

 

The Steering Committee approved the project and allocated max. 878 685 EUR for the project’s execution: 391 185 EUR to Member States and 487 500 EUR to Non-Member States, Norway 450 000 EUR and Iceland 37 500 EUR. However, the support may not exceed 60 % of eligible costs. The project must note that the implementation of the project must be started within three months of the Steering Committee decision and finished within three months of the end date of the project.

 

The Steering Committee recommended the project to:

 

 

No other activities except work on the final report and auditors statement are allowed after 31/12/2006