Gulf of Maine Times

Gulf of Maine Times

Summer 2004

Q & A: Dr. David Vail
Sweden’s savvy certification model

By Andi Rierden, Editor

As part of the geotourism component leading up to the Gulf of Maine Summit, Dr. David Vail, a Bowdoin College economist, will co-chair a workshop that will introduce a Swedish certification program for tour operators that intertwines nature and cultural heritage called Nature’s Best. To earn certification, tour operators must meet core standards based on principles to make their operations more environmentally sound, and in tune with the local communities. Minimizing environmental damage, educating tourists about nature conservation and cultural heritage and involving local residents in tourism management and benefits are among the program’s key principles, says Vail, who has studied the program with Swedish colleagues and has been working to have a similar model considered in Maine.

The objective of the workshop he says, is to “tease out what is most, and least, applicable to the Gulf of Maine.” The workshop will examine the design, standards, accreditation, evaluation criteria, marketing and promotion aspects of certification programs.

Vail serves on the Maine Governor’s Steering Committee on Natural Resource Industries, which is in the process of developing a new long-term strategy for the revitalization of rural areas, and on the state’s Natural Resources Committee, an advisory body to the state’s tourism office that works on sustainable tourism issues.
In a recent interview, the Gulf of Maine Times spoke with Vail about the Swedish model and how it might be applied to the Gulf of Maine region. Here is an excerpt from that conversation:

Q. How does a tour operator in Sweden earn the “Nature’s Best” label?
A. Tour operators interested in obtaining certification go through quite a rigorous evaluation according to a pretty extensive set of standards. Once they are successful they can use the logo and benefit from a national and international promotion effort.

Q. What are the long-terms goals for certification?
A. There are essentially two goals: one is to enhance nature conservation, to protect the environment, especially tourist hot spots that tend to get overrun. The other is to attract more high-paying tourists, to enhance the destination attraction. And of course offer a benefit to specific businesses that meet those standards. A third goal is to sustain the social and economic vitality of tourist-dependent communities.

Q. Is it possible to have one certification program that could encompass all of the jurisdictions in the Gulf of Maine?
A. It would be really interesting to explore the possibility of a region-wide set of standards and procedures. I don’t presume to know if that’s feasible. I can tell you that, in Maine, there is no interest in starting a government-run, top-down certification system.
One reason I find the Swedish model interesting is because it’s not fundamentally a government activity. The state tourist board is a participant in it, but it really is an outgrowth that involves the Swedish Ecotourism Association and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, the largest environmental organization in the country. This partnership idea is completely voluntary for businesses that aspire to a higher standard in nature conservation and community development and education of the tourists.

Q. Isn’t Swedish-style ecotourism actually geotourism?
A. Geotourism, as conceived by Jonathan Tourtellot and his wife, has in mind something much broader than certified ecotourism. Ecotourism is a niche within the larger niche of geotourism. Geotourism extends to all forms of place-based tourism. In their conception, it’s not just nature-based tourism; it is also culture and heritage-based tourism.
In Maine, we’re trying to find a way to marry the two concepts. What I’m exploring is the potential for a certified or accredited ecotourism to be part of that larger initiative of geotourism.

Q. Some towns, like St. Andrews, are already directly or indirectly promoting geotourism. What about other Gulf of Maine communities?
A. St. Andrews is the perfect venue for geotourism and it has a great record of success at it as well. The challenge for the rest of us in interior and Downeast Maine and most of New Brunswick–I can’t speak to Nova Scotia–is that the more remote areas have not gotten on to the map as destinations. Unlike St. Andrews where the Canadian Pacific Railroad built this marvelous hotel, many rural communities don’t have such a grand attraction. So what we’re really playing with is clusters of attractions that include nature, culture, great food and great lodging. Those are the things that go together to create the potential for areas that, up until now, have been bypassed.

For more information on the Nature’s Best certification program go to www.naturensbasta.com.