The general objective of the project was to contribuite to the development of knowledge sharing and capacity building among tourism stakeholders across Europe. Specific objectives were: - promote the implementation of sustainable tourism strategies in micro destinations that benefit both visitors and local communities. - increase the understanding and skills related to sustainable micro-destination development for policy makers and planners. These skills include cross disciplinary understanding of the impacts on sustainable tourism in the micro destination as a whole from decision and policies made in its parts. - increase the awareness of community based approaches for placemaking and micro destination development, an area where the knowledge and research from academia seldom meets reality.
Micro destination development is closely related to the fields of destination development through who is involved, but in the processes it's closer to placemaking. Micro destinations, which are smaller and less well-known destinations, often have unique cultural, natural, and historical assets that can attract visitors. These attractions are not limited to sites, and can include intangible assets such as traditional festivals, local cuisine, biodiversity, indigenous knowledge, heritage sites, and storytelling. These assets can be used to develop sustainable tourism strategies that preserve local identity and heritage while ensuring economic benefits for local communities. However, these destinations are also vulnerable to the negative impacts of tourism, such as hyper-seasonality, swings between over- and under-tourism, environmental degradation, and cultural commodification. Additionally, regions and municipalities struggle when it comes to streamlining methods for managing the developing clusters of micro destinations and retaining competence on micro destination development. With this project we wanted to find solutions and methods to work actively with these challenges and special needs.