CONCURRENT SESSION 3C SPEAKERS
Tourism in rural communities: benefits and issues

Cees van Rij, Liaison officer, Agriterra

No biography available at this time.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “Rural tourism and the role of agriterra”

No summary available at this time.

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Apolónia Rodrigues, President, Alentejo Network of Village Tourism, Genuineland, Évora, Portugal

Áurea Rodrigues, Associate professor, ISPGaya, Vila Nova de gaia, Portugal

Apolónia Rodrigues is Coordinator of the European Network of Village Tourism | Genuineland, President of the Alentejo Network of Village Tourism and National Expert of Sustainability at the TSG, DG Enter, European Commission. She holds a Degree in Tourism Management and Planning from the University of Aveiro. Her research interests include networks, rural, nature tourism and sustainable tourism.

Aurea Rodrigues is a Professor in Tourism at the Gaya Polytechnic Institute (Vila Nova de Gaia- Portugal). She holds a Degree in Tourism Management and Planning and a Master’s Degree in Tourism Management and Development from the University of Aveiro and is at present lecturing at the ISPGaya, where she coordinated the undergraduate programme in Tourism between 2005-2008 and also a PhD Student at University of Aveiro. Her research interests include rural, nature tourism, sustainable tourism, consumer behaviour in tourism.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “Cooperation through network between European rural tourism destinations and the impact on their sustainable development: the Genuineland case”

European Network of Village Tourism, Genuineland, involves ten European regions from Portugal, Italy, Finland, Greece, Poland, Romania, Belgium and Slovenia. Born in 1999, the project developed a tourism product based in a partnership working approach with a solid networking system not only at international level but also at regional level, combined with a bottom-up approach in the development of the activities with the communities involved.

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Paul te Molder, MSc. in International Development Studies, Specialisation on Tourism Development

No biography available at this time.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “Tourism in rural societies: a window to prosperity?”

Paul te Molder presented his masters´ thesis on the social and economical impact of community-based tourism in Madre de Dios, Peru.

AN EXCERPT
Recommendations for external actors planning to start with community-based tourism:
• Identify clear goals & population
• A study on the characteristics of the community
• A plan has to be made and managed by and for the community members
• Every resident has to be informed about the activities
• Do not promise too much!
• Be aware of what the consequences of change might not be sustainable
• Practicing tourism demands knowledge of industry
• A sound plan of commercialization is needed!

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Willem Reynders, Managing tourism consultant for CBI

Willem Reynders is a tourism consultant for mainly marketing and promotion of destinations in developing countries. Focus on sustainability, active and community based tourism. During the first half of his career he held management positions in the travel trade, both outbound and incoming tourism.

PRESENTATION TITLE: “Look here, I have shoes!”

Only if tourism is considered a business may it offer opportunities to improve the conditions of day-to-day life of the people involved. Without proper planning, marketing, training and quality control you will create poverty and low-quality standards of living.

Centre for the Promotion of Imports (CBI) from developing countries is an agency of the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its activities fall under the responsibility of the Minister for Development Co-operation. The general aim is to develop such activities as will help to extend the range of products and services imported from developing countries to Western European countries, and so to boost developing countries' economies.

CBI deals already more than 35 years with North-South and South-South co-operation and the tourism sector, since the mid-eighties sustainability plays an important role in its activities.

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