North Devon UNESCO Biosphere & TDC join forces on Nature Tourism Agenda

North Devon UNESCO Biosphere have joined forces with Torridge District Council to drive forward the council's 'Nature Tourism Agenda', which will help businesses to grow by supporting them in showcasing the region's abundance of natural assets and adventure activities.

Nature Tourism covers three dimensions:

·         Tourism in the environment - Activities such as kayaking, yoga, hiking and forest bathing

·         Tourism about the environment - Experiences that leave the participant with an improved understanding of the surrounding landscapes and nature, such as wildlife walks and star gazing

·         Tourism for the environment - Responsible tourism that unites conservation, communities and sustainable travel

During March, a series of tourism workshops will be held to support and show businesses across northern Devon how to create new, bookable, nature experiences or enhance the offer they may already be providing. Hosting these workshops will be Chris Brant, Director and Founder of Unmissable England, who says

"No longer do visitors just want to see the sights when they visit a place. They're looking for authentic guided experiences that connect them with the locals and the places they know best. Visitors want to be captivated by fascinating stories about nature and the landscape well beyond the tourist trail. They want to immerse themselves in local history and heritage and leave with a better understanding of the places they have experienced. 

I cannot wait to see what new nature experiences are developed by local businesses in Unmissable England's latest series of experiential tourism training". 

An Introduction to Experiential Tourism Webinar will be hosted by Chris, followed by an in-person workshop, which will include interactive activities to help participants discuss ideas and identify opportunities to work together to create new and unique experiences across northern Devon.

The series of FREE workshops can be found on North Devon UNESCO Biosphere's EventBrite page, or email biosphere-mailbox@devon.gov.uk for the link to the collection.

Following these workshops, Nature Tourism Officer and Biosphere Business Partner Coordinator, Sarah Jordan, will be offering a limited number of businesses a FREE 1:1 support session to discuss ways they could offer Authentic Experiences for their guests, become a more sustainable business, and increase their year-round offer. Sarah says "Having worked with numerous tourism businesses over the last couple of years on the UNESCO Biosphere's 'Bio-Cultural Heritage Tourism' project, this collaboration is a logical next step to ensure we keep up the momentum of increasing sustainable tourism across the region. I can't wait to meet new businesses and help them discover ways of increasing their offer."

Torridge District Council have already created a range of resources to help tourism businesses extend their season, understand the wildlife and experiences that Torridge has to offer, and to bring new/targeted customer groups to their business.

The free resources include a nature tourism business toolkit, which looks at tourism patterns in Torridge, what makes our region so special, nature tourism case studies, and how businesses can develop their offer. The kit also includes free resources such as high quality photos of Torridge through the seasons, seasonal itineraries to print and display, a wildlife spotting calendar and posters on coastal and inland landscape features. This toolkit may be useful to all tourism businesses across Torridge and wider northern Devon.

To be kept up to date with nature tourism news and events, businesses can sign up to the Nature Tourism mailing list: https://www.torridge.gov.uk/article/20025/Mailing-List

04 March 2022