A recent report ‘Valuing the National Parks of Wales’ has identified that Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire and the Brecon Beacons National Parks helped to generate £177 million each year in revenue and provide some 12,000 jobs.  To find out more please click here.

Creation of Sustainable Tourism Destinations (CREST) is an EU Interreg IIIB North Sea Programme project which runs from May 2006 and ends June 2008.  The aim of CREST is to establish “a definition for sustainable tourism destinations in the North Sea region” and develop “guidelines to address the economical, social and ecological issues for these tourism destinations.”

“With over 700 miles of coastline opportunities for water based tourism experiences, from kite surfing through to sailing and fishing are significant. To download a copy of the Watersports Tourism Strategy for Wales visit the Visit Wales website”.  Source: Visit Wales.

Scotland has the potential to become one of the premium whale watching destinations in Europe.  We understand that the income derived from whale watching is over £1.7 million per annum and additional spend is in the order of £6 million.  If you know of any other interesting examples please let me know.  To find out more visit: Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust

Plans have been submitted to the County Council to erect a stone obelisk to mark the Dorset gateway to the World Heritage Site Jurassic Coast.  The coastline which stretches from Exmouth in east Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset was awarded World Heritage Site status in 2001.  It will be interesting to discover if the planned obelisk will become a destination in its own right.