DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/8hzh-tz51

Organizer/Presenter/author Information // Informations sur l'organisateur / le présentateur / auteurs

Bartomeu Deya, Can Det SLFollow

Biographical Information // Informations biographiques

Bartomeu Deya is an economist and owner of Can Det SL, a company dedicated to managing the estates of his family in the Serra de Tramuntana, with the production of olive oil, the cultivation of citrus and almond trees, rental of holiday homes and guided tourist visits. Before that he was Director of the Consortium Serra de Tramuntana UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape. He also served for many years as Director of the Mallorca Tourist Board. He was responsible for the promotion strategy of the island and the necessary coordination with the tourist sector, the remaining stakeholders and the authorities.

Keywords

Cultural Landscapes, Rural Heritage, STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION, AGRICULTURAL RESILIENCE, RESPONSIBLE TOURISM, TRADITIONAL CRAFTS, ECONOMIC EXTERNALITIES.

Abstract // Résumé

The main theoretical concepts of cultural landscapes will be connected to the practical management of the rural cultural landscape of Serra de Tramuntana, which was declared a World Heritage site mainly due to the stone structures built for agricultural use and the water channeling systems. This site has a very strict level of protection, however, during the last 40 years it has suffered the decrease of agricultural profitability and many habitants have left their rural activities to work in more attractive, growing sectors such as tourism. The main challenge to tackle is that these landscapes have deeply contributed to the island’s attraction as a tourism destination but mainly benefit the crowded tourist resorts while the land owners have received a very small part of the tourism income. The only way to improve the local economy is related to the local products. The aim is fostering proximity and slow food concepts for both, locals and tourists. At that stage the resilience approach is the key issue. Any profitable model needs to adopt new technologies and harvesting systems but the authenticity is vital for the positioning of the products. Some clear examples will demonstrate how to improve the economic viability of small farms, which in turn will benefit the cultural landscape.

Given that the role of local community decision-making has never been seriously considered by authorities and big business organizations, new trends in social participation will be described. Almost all of the population is aware that the island’s income comes predominately from tourism, but there is little forward thinking about the threats from over-tourism. Insights into how to maintain and revive the local traditional economy are extracted from an example of a working agriculture-tourism approach. This example is based on my own experience with owning a 400 years old family company dedicated to the harvest of ancient olive groves with olive oil production using traditional systems and also maintaining old orange orchards. In conclusion, the aim is to demonstrate how a rural-based cultural heritage tourism can be revived.

Bibliographic References // Références Bibliographiques

Taylor, Ken, Archer St Clair and Nora J. Mitchell (eds). 2015. Conserving Cultural Landscapes: Challenges and New Directions, Routlege.

Plieninger, Tobias and Claudia Bieling (eds). 2012. Resilience and the Cultural Landscape, Understanding and Managing Change in Human-Shaped Environments.” Cambridge University Press.

Larsen, Peter Billie and William Logan. 2018. World Heritage and Sustainable Development. New Directions in World Heritage Management. Routledge.

Coccossis, Harry and Alexandra Mexa. 2004. The Challenge of Tourism Carrying Capacity Assessment. Theory and Practice. Routledge.

Goodwin, Harold. 2016. Responsible Tourism, Using Tourism for Sustainable Development.” Second Edition Goodfellow Publishers.

Included in

Agribusiness Commons

Share

COinS
 

Panel 8. Paper 8.2 Responsible Tourism at a Rural Cultural Landscape: Opportunity or threat?

The main theoretical concepts of cultural landscapes will be connected to the practical management of the rural cultural landscape of Serra de Tramuntana, which was declared a World Heritage site mainly due to the stone structures built for agricultural use and the water channeling systems. This site has a very strict level of protection, however, during the last 40 years it has suffered the decrease of agricultural profitability and many habitants have left their rural activities to work in more attractive, growing sectors such as tourism. The main challenge to tackle is that these landscapes have deeply contributed to the island’s attraction as a tourism destination but mainly benefit the crowded tourist resorts while the land owners have received a very small part of the tourism income. The only way to improve the local economy is related to the local products. The aim is fostering proximity and slow food concepts for both, locals and tourists. At that stage the resilience approach is the key issue. Any profitable model needs to adopt new technologies and harvesting systems but the authenticity is vital for the positioning of the products. Some clear examples will demonstrate how to improve the economic viability of small farms, which in turn will benefit the cultural landscape.

Given that the role of local community decision-making has never been seriously considered by authorities and big business organizations, new trends in social participation will be described. Almost all of the population is aware that the island’s income comes predominately from tourism, but there is little forward thinking about the threats from over-tourism. Insights into how to maintain and revive the local traditional economy are extracted from an example of a working agriculture-tourism approach. This example is based on my own experience with owning a 400 years old family company dedicated to the harvest of ancient olive groves with olive oil production using traditional systems and also maintaining old orange orchards. In conclusion, the aim is to demonstrate how a rural-based cultural heritage tourism can be revived.

 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.