MEET NETWORK

Context

Ecotourism has high potential to support protected areas in achieving their conservation goals, serving as a laboratory for sustainable development, and generating positive impacts for local communities. But there are many challenges in doing it well, including:

Lack of resources, capacity and incentive at Protected Areas level
Difficulty understanding, reaching, and meeting expectations of the market
Lack of consistent guidelines and tools for monitoring and improving quality, sustainability, and impact
The consistent pressures coming from mass tourism
Lack of policy frameworks and cohesive promotional strategies at regional and national levels, resulting in a weak enabling environment for PA ecotourism to thrive in the Mediterranean

Background

Formally launched in 2018, the MEET Network is a registered association of Mediterranean parks which supports protected area managers with ecotourism through exchange, capacity building, advocacy, and tools for product development and management. To date the network has worked with nearly 40 protected areas in 12 countries on creating a model for ecotourism itinerary development for Mediterranean Protected Areas

The MEET Network also has a commercial strategy, through a partnership designed to support market and sell the highest performing packages in terms of quality and sustainability to the international market.

This approach, which focuses on the development, management, and promotion of ecotourism products in and around protected areas has been designed in a way that is coherent and applicable to the Mediterranean region´s unique assets and particularities.

Currently the MEET Network is attracting a high level of interest from the sustainable tourism industry, as well as, appealing to potential donors and partners who are interested in the MEET Network model and tools.

MEET Model

The MEET Network model has a product based approach which places quality, participatory process, capacity building and sustainability at the centre of every MEET ecotourism itinerary developed. This product based model, boosts collaboration between protected area staff and local tourism providers, it is what differentiates MEET from other associations and has helped spark a significant amount of interest from the private and public sectors.

The MEET Network model was created by protected areas for protected areas. Ultimately MEET enables parks to advance their own ecotourism efforts locally while engaging in meaningful exchanges and marketing their products under a common regional brand.

What is Included in the MEET Model?

A governance model for public-private collaboration on ecotourism development (Local Ecotourism Clusters)
An ecotourism product guidelines and standard that helps PAs measure and manage quality, sustainability, and impact of the ecotourism products created
An online monitoring tool for improving performance over time
Several training modules which will eventually become an online platform
A methodology for measuring the Ecological Footprint of ecotourism itineraires and identifying key drivers of that impact
Expert assessment, capacity building, and on-the-spot support both for parks and for local providers

How is the MEET model different from any other ecotourism product development process?

MEET, through its Network, ensures that parks and conservation are at the centre of the product offer.
MEET requires that all of its products are community-based, and created and managed in a participatory manner, including with market needs in mind
MEET requires part of the itinerary to be directed toward a conservation activity of the park
MEET expects that the entire supply chain of its products are managed by local providers, including local tour operators.

MEET model is being replicated in the following projects:

DestiMED PLUS

GEMWET Tunisia

MEET Intrepid Project

MEET MAVA Learning Platform

Photo: ENI CBC MED