Overview

Coastal over-development, a lack of integrated planning and intensive, seasonal tourism are factors severely stressing the Mediterranean areas. Decades of a continued tourist pressure over a fragile and frail environment has jeopardized its future. If no new measures are carried out to preserver such areas, its economic, natural, cultural and social heritage is threaten.

Therefore, European regions from four Mediterranean countries are working together to avoid these uncertainties. SHIFT project, part-financed by the European Commission Med programme, will develop new strategies aiming at fostering sustainable development in the Mediterranean basin.

The common objective is to redistribute tourism pressure over an extended season and toward different market segments drawn from local cultural and natural diversity. At the same time, the idea is developing sustainable tourist sites and promoting a high quality, specialized tourist offer.

Project partners are following a “total quality” approach, embracing ethical, strategic and commercial criteria that constitute the key to the competitive quality of tourist destinations. The initiative is led by the Naples Chamber of Commerce. From the Valencian Region, partners are Chamber of Commerce of Valencia, Business Confederation of the Province of Alicante and Fundación Comunidad Valenciana – Región Europea (FCVRE), who is in charge of international dissemination of the project.

Project:

SHIFT (“Sustainable Tourism In Fragile Territories”)

Program:

Med

Budget:

1.3 million euro

Lengh:

From January 2009 to April 2011

Leader:

Naples Chamber of Commerce (Italy)

Partners:

Region of East Macedonia & Thrace and Prefecture of Dodecanese (Greece), Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Marseille Provence (France), Chamber of Commerce of Valencia, Business Confederation of the Province of Alicante, Andalusian Council of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Shipping and Fundación Comunidad Valenciana – Región Europea (Spain).

Web site:

www.shiftmed.eu