Nadur wins best emerging rural destination award

Nadur is one of 10 European towns and villages that yesterday received the European Destinations of Excellence Award (Eden) for Best Emerging Rural Destination, a pilot project that is co-funded by the European Commission.

The awards ceremony was held in the Algarve, Portugal, as part of the European Tourism Forum (ETF) 2007, the focus of which is Sustainable Management of European Destinations.

Launched last year, the Eden project aims to draw attention to the value, diversity and shared characteristics of European tourist destinations and to promote those where the objective of economic growth is pursued in a way that ensures the social, cultural and environmental sustainability of tourism.

The theme of the first edition of the pilot project was rural tourism.

The other winning Best Emerging Destinations include localities in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia and Croatia - the participating countries that took on the Commission's call for applications and carried out their selections at a national level on the basis of commonly agreed criteria.

In Malta, 10 localities competed, but overall, there were about 400.

European Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen, who is responsible for enterprise and industry, presented the awards, saying Eden was also an opportunity to create a platform for the exchange of good practices at European level, while rewarding sustainable forms of tourism and successful business models.

Eden aims to contribute to help decongestion, combat seasonality and rebalance the tourist flows towards non-traditional destinations.

It would also be facilitating the creation of networks between awarded destinations to encourage others to adopt similar sustainable tourist development models.

The project was part of the European tourism policy and the Commission was convinced that attracting more tourists to Europe would favour the creation of growth and jobs, as outlined in the EU's Lisbon Strategy.

The EU Affairs and Policy Development Unit, within the Tourism and Culture Ministry, participated in the pilot project, which was aimed at identifying a locality in Malta and Gozo that has drawn attention to its characteristics through its authentic and sustainable rural offer and used effective promotional tools to market its attributes over the past three years.

It was maintained that Nadur, which happens to be 90 per cent rural, took on initiatives that have supported the development of rural tourism by making the most of its heritage, offering a different product and improving seasonality spread.

The local council's strategy was to position its territory as a special tourism destination within the Gozo offer, and attract tourists, which include Maltese, in the shoulder months, Nadur mayor Chris Said said.

"The call for applications fitted perfectly into our plans and was a recognition of the work we have been carrying out over the last few years." This included creating quality of life, providing citizens and tourists with a more comfortable town, while working on conserving the environmental heritage and recovering hidden treasures and spaces.

The completion of the Belvedere promenade, for example, has unveiled to visitors "one of the most spectacular panoramas of the archipelago", Dr Said said.

Meanwhile, the Ta' Sopu Tower was also restored and art exhibitions organised.

Among its initiatives, the Nadur council has created six country walks, accompanied by an information brochure, for tourists to be able to enjoy the unique landscape of the bays of San Blas, Ramla and Dahlet Qorrot.

It has planted olive trees and has promoted rural traditions and cultural tourism activities, such as picking and tasting typical local produce.

Although the number of tourists visiting Nadur could not be quantified, everyone passes through it to go to popular locations such as Ramla il-Hamra, San Blas and Dahlet Qorrot, Dr Said said.

Winners had the opportunity during the ETF yesterday to present their best emerging destination to the participants of the forum and to the press at the Eden exhibition, held at the Arade Pavillion, to facilitate networking and enhance visibility.

The EU Affairs and Policy Development Unit is preparing a proposal to participate in the second European Destinations of Excellence Award, with the theme for next year being tourism and local intangible heritage.

The aim is to award the locality that has developed a new tourism offer, based on the appreciation of its specific, local, intangible heritage, such as cuisine and village life.

So far, 18 countries have already answered the Commission's call for proposals - almost double the amount of the last edition.

An analysis of the success of the first two years of the pilot project is to be carried out to allow the Commission to decide on Eden's future.