“A tool for more responsible tourism”

The final document prepared by the Communication Working Group of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation is the result of efforts to pool wide-ranging expertise, and therein lies its value as a shared resource to guide responsible promotion and communication regarding the Dolomites.

Le Pale di San Martino nella foto di Albero Perer

Ph. Alberto Perer

Fragility and superficiality are incompatible

“It is my hope” commented the director of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation, Mara Nemela, “that these reflections can serve as a basis for those operating on a day-to-day basis in the field of promotion and communication regarding the Dolomites. There is no desire to resort to a certification model, but neither can we ignore the fact that many phenomena that are damaging to the integrity of the Property or the quality of the visitor experience often derive from superficial representations of the Site and messages that, at scale, have a boomerang effect on such fragile environments. This risk can be avoided by ensuring that certain principles positively condition the awareness of those in charge of communication regarding the mountain region”.

Analysis

How has tourism changed?

We asked Prof. Umberto Martini, lecturer in Economics and Management at the University of Trento and coordinator of the working group, to explain why this issue has become so urgent, at least at an institutional level.

“In recent years, numerous factors have altered tourism, affecting both visitor flows and the expectations, desires and behaviour of tourists. Mountain tourism is no exception, and has actually seen a significant increase in demand. The numbers of people trekking and tourists hosted in mountain areas have been high, leading to significant impacts also of a social and environmental nature. This is partly attributable”, notes Prof. Martini, “to a post-pandemic effect, which strengthened the association of mountain regions with ideas of well-being and good health, together with movement and physical activity — long connected with practices typical of mountain tourism — and highly evocative ideas tied to pure air and open spaces.”

The effect of social media

What has the impact of social media been on communication regarding the mountain region?

“New forms of communication, first and foremost social media, have contributed to generating growing interest in mountain places and the activities enjoyed in them. Mountain areas have thus been the focus of strong interest not only from habitual visitors, alpinists and hikers who have always dedicated a significant proportion of their free time to mountain activities, but also from ‘new visitors’. This latter group, inspired by the communicative effect that has been generated, travel to high altitude areas for the first time, often without the necessary technical knowledge, equipment and awareness of the objective risks and dangers that inevitably characterise such areas.”

A lack of awareness heightens fragility

And not to mention the fragility of mountain areas… “Of course…,” continues Prof. Martini, “the intrinsic fragility of the mountain environment is increasingly threatened not only by the increase in flows themselves — and the consequent need for services, hospitality and infrastructure — but also by the aforementioned ‘lack of awareness’ of new visitors, who often have high expectations of services, demands and conduct that are far from sustainable. For these reasons, it appears entirely necessary that the institutional bodies appointed to manage these areas, particularly those which are most fragile, take action to stem the highest-impact and most aggressive models of mountain tourism.”

Responsibility and quality develop hand in hand

How can we move forward towards a more balanced relationship between tourism and the environment?

“Not only through the dissemination of best practices and appropriate mountain tourism culture,” comments Prof. Martini, “but also through the generation of communication content geared towards protecting the mountain environment and promoting sustainable and responsible practices amongst visitors (including personal safety). These are primary objectives in order to best maintain a balance between mountain tourism and conservation/safeguarding of the natural, social and cultural resources that animate it and make mountain regions attractive, particularly to those living in high-density urban settings. Efforts to control communication from other parties, above all via social media, is also critical in this regard, avoiding misleading messages and those creating a picture of the mountains that is incompatible with the realities of mountain tourism.”

A final wish?

“I hope that these actions can serve as a tool capable of fostering more responsible and higher quality tourism, guaranteeing the fundamental support to mountain life that only tourism seems able to provide, without compromising the conservation of the natural, landscape, social and cultural values that represent the intrinsic value of mountain regions.”

Read the document here.