Mrs Linda Gillham took part in the seminar on "Beyond the high season - promoting sustainable tourism throughout the year" in Ponta Delgada, Azores on 6 June 2014. According to the UNWTO, sustainable tourism is defined conceptually as "development guidelines" and management practices are applicable to all forms of tourism in all types of destinations, including mass tourism and the various niche tourism segments. Sustainable tourism attempts to make as low an impact on the environment and local culture as possible, while helping to generate future employment for local people.
During the discussion the focus was on four different specialised tourism areas, valorising local tangible and intangible heritage and using it in a sustainable manner for the benefit of tourists and the local community. Mrs Linda Gillham in her speech explored how tourism seasonality affects European destinations and what can be done to encourage more visits beyond the high season. She gave some examples from the UK mentioning that the UK has managed remarkably well to remain attractive to visitors round the clock and can boast a very balanced arrival pattern. Mrs Gillham said that tourist destinations (sites) should be more accessible and more customer friendly.
