Samenvatting

White paper: Circular tourism and support from local authorities

The white paper proposes six strategic steps for local authorities to enable the tourism sector transition to a circular economy in coastal destinations. The steps draw from the experience of the EU 2 Seas FACET project as well as relevant examples from other destinations.

The six steps:
1: Develop a local integrated vision and strategy for a circular economy
2: Support the creation of a regulatory conducive environment for a circular economy
3: Facilitate the creation of transition communities for a circular economy
4: Engage pro-actively and provide technical support for a circular economy
5: Enhance circular economy adoption through financing
6: Celebrate and demonstrate success

The six steps help integrate a common circular economy vision and targets at the local level through the participation of stakeholders. Moreover, they guide the facilitation of a conducive regulatory environment, a detailed understanding of the local barriers to a circular economy and the design of a transition framework within which tourism entrepreneurs are supported from the technical, financial, and social perspectives. The six steps also show how the local authorities – through actively liaising with financial institutions – can alleviate the financial barriers faced by tourism businesses when seeking to adopt circular solutions.

Finally, the steps highlight the importance of celebrating successes to allow businesses to inspire other businesses through communication mechanisms that enhance not only the circular solutions that have been implemented but also the short and long-term benefits for the entrepreneurs involved. These successes can feedback to enhance the local environment and infrastructure to further accelerate the adoption and diffusion of innovative circular economy practices, as well as, over the longer term, embolden circular economy visions and targets in other local areas and destinations.