The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism - Ecotourism in the Cévennes - Your stay

The National Park is a signatory of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas. It has committed itself to a form of tourism that contributes more to the protection and development of natural and cultural heritage. It also sees to it that the visitor is treated with respect and that local tourism professionals are socially and economically fulfilled.

Sustainable development applied to tourism

The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism was born in discussions initiated by the EUROPARC federation and adheres to global priorities set at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It is based on the principles laid down in the World Charter for Sustainable Tourism in 1995.

Its objective is to apply the concept of sustainable development to tourist activities. This implies preserving resources for future generations, and promoting viable economic development and equal social fulfilment.

A local planning tool

The Charter commits the National Park to implementing a local tourism strategy based on consultation with all participants. It thus helps to strengthen positive interaction between tourism, other sectors of the territory and the Cévennes National Park. Finally, it is intended to make travel more meaningful, so that visitors have the time to explore the exceptional scenery of the Cévennes and meet local inhabitants.

Three parts and ten principles

The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas (ECST) has three parts and ten principles:

Sustainable tourism for protected areas;
Sustainable tourism for the tourism-related businesses located there;
Sustainable tourism for organisers of tours into and within protected areas.

The Cévennes National Park implements the first two parts on its territory. It helped draw up the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism and pioneered Part 2, which it has enacted since 2002. At the end of 2008, 45 tourism-related businesses had signed the ECST.