Island Lošinj

The island is currently home to selected international experts gathered by the INTERREG DestiMED PLUS project, whose task will be to evaluate the value of the newly created innovative ecotourism package as a green and sustainable protected area created in participatory cooperation between local and regional partners. local community support through all three aspects of sustainability.

We remind you that at the end of 2019, the Institute of Tourism joined the European INTERREG DestiMED PLUS project called 'Ecotourism in Mediterranean Destinations: From Monitoring and Planning to Promotion and Policy Support', and now after 2 years of dedicated work the project is at its peak. DestiMED PLUS takes place in parallel in the Mediterranean protected areas and 12 project partners from Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia and Albania are actively participating in it. The leading partner is the Lazio Region, and the IUCN and WWF Mediterranean are also involved in the implementation of the project. The island of Lošinj, which is an integral part of the maritime protected area Cres - Lošinj under the protection of the NATURA 2000 network and which is a leader in the application of sustainable tourism development in the Republic of Croatia, was chosen as the pilot destination of the Republic of Croatia for this innovative project.

The subject of the project is the development of an innovative ecotourism package in each of the selected protected areas of project partners, which in iterative processes is created, tested, improved and adapted to market needs by accurately measuring the footprint of environmental sustainability and all other indicators to all dimensions of sustainability. It is a project that aims to minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the environment, economy and community by exact measurement, and not only by declarative, pre-expected recommendations. Therefore, this week Lošinj will host a modern travel simulation.

The project is based on the success of the MEET Network standard and the previous DestiMED project, in which the Republic of Croatia was represented by the pilot destinations Kornati National Park and Lastovo Nature Park. The aim of the project is to support Mediterranean regions in strengthening the conditions that enable ecotourism in their protected areas, and to promote integrated destination management that connects tourism and sustainable development, by creating a Local Ecotourism Cluster (LEC that manages the selected protected area) and a Regional Ecotourism Cluster. which oversees the work of the LEC), with the aim of joining the Mediterranean Ecotourism Consortium (MEC), which aims to exchange best practices and develop an integrated development and participatory model of ecotourism for the Mediterranean.

Project development in the pilot destination Cres - Lošinj is supported by: Institute of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Sports, WWF Adria, Primorje - Gorski Kotar County (Administrative Department for Physical Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection and Administrative Department for Tourism, Entrepreneurship and Rural Development); Blue World Institute, Mali Lošinj Tourist Board, ASL tourist agency, Primorje - Gorski Kotar County Public Institution, and OTRA Cres.

Given that the quality of the DestiMED PLUS project is recognized among many renowned faculties and world organizations, it is certain that within the selected protected area and the island of Losinj, where most of the ecotourism package takes place, will shine again and confirm the status of a green destination. the most sustainable in the world and serve as a good example of practice and a guide to the development of other Croatian tourist destinations.