Com cerca de 50 páginas, o Livro Verde releva a importância que os Oceanos representam para a Europa nas suas várias vertentes. Transcrevemos abaixo, apenas algumas passagens relacionadas com a componente associada ao desenvolvimento do Turismo Náutico.
2.1. A Competitive Maritime Industry
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The oceans and seas also generate income through tourism. The direct turnover of marine tourism in Europe is estimated at € 72 billion in 2004. Tourists spending their holidays in coastal areas benefit from the seas, the beaches and the coastal area in very different ways. Many tourist destinations owe their popularity to their proximity to the sea and are dependent on its environmental quality. A high level of protection of coastal areas and of the marine environment are therefore essential for the sustainability of tourism in general and the rapidly growing branch of ecotourism in particular. Tourism generates business for the shipbuilding industry. The cruise industry in Europe has expanded strongly over the last years with an annual growth rate of more than 10%. Cruise ships are virtually all built in Europe. Cruise tourism contributes to the development of coastal areas and islands. The recreational boating industry experienced steady growth during the past years and forecasts point to a 5-6% annual growth within the EU. “There is no other form of participative recreation which covers such a diversity of ages, interests and locations”.
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3.3. Developing Coastal Tourism
Coastal areas and islands are important elements of the attractiveness and success of coastal tourism. The sustainable tourism developments of those regions must be supported in order for Europe to remain the N° 1 world tourist destination.
Sustainable tourism can contribute to the development of coastal areas and islands by improving the competitiveness of businesses, meeting social needs and enhancing the natural and cultural heritage and local ecosystems. The need to improve or maintain their attractiveness is an incentive to an increasing number of destinations to turn towards more sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices and policies. Several destinations are making genuine efforts to implement an integrated quality management approach. They define strategies with their partners, implement good practice and develop monitoring and evaluation tools to adjust their approach. Their experience can be the basis for recommendations disseminated to all coastal tourist destinations.
The Commission is working on the preparation for a European Agenda 21 for the sustainability of European tourism. This Agenda 21 will contribute to promoting the efforts to promote the sustainability of Europe’s coastal areas and islands.
The diversification of tourism products and services can contribute to the competitiveness of coastal and island destinations, especially when tourists are offered the opportunity to enjoy cultural and natural sites on the coast and in the rural or urban hinterland, and diversified sea attractions such as sea mammal watching, diving and underwater archaeology or wellness and thalassotherapy. This diversification produces multiple benefits such as reduced pressure on the beaches, alternative sources of income for former fishermen in coastal communities, and the creation of new activities to support the preservation and development of the area’s heritage.
Diversification can help extend the tourism season, creating more growth and employment and reducing the environmental, economic and social impact caused by concentrating tourism in a few months of the year.
The continued contribution of tourism to the development of coastal regions depends on the availability of infrastructure for leisure activities. According to EURMIG, “finding an available boat mooring becomes ever more difficult. Yet there is strong, objective evidence that marinas and boat launch ramps are major stimulants to reinvigorating decaying water fronts”.
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- in Livro Verde para Política Marítima Europeia
Nota da Direcção:
No início dos anos 90, aquando da decisão sobre a realização em Lisboa da Exposição Universal sobre a temática dos Oceanos - a Expo'98 - , Portugal liderou o primeiro movimento Europeu que chamou à atenção para a importância dos Oceanos e para o potencial que estes representavam para o desenvolvimento das populações.
| Lamentavelmente, depois da Expo'98, os diferentes Conselhos de Administração da Parque Expo'98 colocaram os seus Gabinetes voltados de costas para o rio, e o resultado não se fez esperar: A marina, única saída para o mar da Expo dos Oceanos, ficou convertida no maior tanque de lama da Europa, e todos os seus espaços envolventes foram votados a um incompreensível estado de desleixo e abandono. |
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Esperamos que o conteúdo deste livro verde faça reflectir os nossos políticos, de forma a que tão breve quanto possível possamos devolver a dignidade àquele espaço, um ex-libris da Expo'98 que projectou Portugal além fronteiras.
Saudações Náuticas,
A Direcção da ANMPN |
