Presentation made at the Sustainable Tourism in Small Island Developing States conference, 23-24 November 2017, Seychelles. A partnership of the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation, IUCN WCPA Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group, University of Seychelles, Paris Tourism Sorbonne (IREST), and Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

1. Protect & Prosper: World Heritage and
Tourism in the Wadden Sea
• Anja Domnick - Project Officer,
Sustainable Tourism Strategy
• Common Wadden Sea
Secretariat

2. • 11,400 km² conversation area
• 500 km coastline
• 3 states
Wadden Sea
World Heritage
Denmark
Germany
Schleswig-Holstein
Lower Saxony
Netherlands
Hamburg
• the largest unbroken stretch
of sand & mudflats
worldwide, undisturbed,
• a highly productive
ecosystem,
• a migratory bird hotspot,
• shared by three countries,
• UNESCO World Heritage

3. Per Year
• ca. 50 million overnight stays
• ca. 10 million visitors
• 30 - 40 million day trippers
EUR 2.8 – 5.3 billion turnover
Tourism in the
Wadden Sea area

4. • Tourism Operations & Nature Conservation
A Wadden Sea Cooperative
• The Unique Selling Point
One World Heritage Destination
• Transport, Accommodation & Gastronomy
Key Ingredients for Tourism
• Environmental Education & Interpretation
Bringing the Destination to Life
• Capacity Building & Raising Standards
Creating a High Quality Destination
KEY WORK FIELDS
The Road to
Sustainable Tourism

5. Participation &
Network
• Strategic Framework for cooperation between
sectors & regions
• Shared Approach – Shared Responsibility
• Moving Forward Together

6. • The brand aims to increase the attractiveness of the
whole place – regardless of the country or region.
• It declares our purpose as a World Heritage Site and
serves as the standard against which we weigh our
actions and decisions.
• The brand helps to build our global reputation,
enhance our collective visibility and encourage
greater collaboration and investment.
BRANDING

7. Communication
• To increase public awareness &
knowledge about the Wadden Sea World
Heritage.
• To safeguard consistent & high quality
communications across the entire
property.
• To support everyone to communicate
World Heritage in a way that is both
consistent across the whole property &
relevant to the tourism and business
needs.

8. • Continue to work for conservation & international
cooperation
• Establish, extend & manage the World Heritage brand
• Educate & inform
• Develop & advance sustainable tourism
• Contribute to regional sustainable development
• Promote science & monitoring
Outlook

9. • Stabilize, develop & enlarge multinational partnership
• Identify, pool, develop & implement participative approaches
that integrate SME in a true “Nature-Business-Benefit-
Cycle”
• Support, guide & transnationally connect the creation of
concrete products & services applying the NBBC concept
Approach
Using nature as driver for
sustainable growth

10. Thank You!