Development and Promotion of Mediterranean Sustainable Adventure Tourism

Tourism in the Mediterranean is a key driver for socio-economic progress
and a major income source for many of its countries. Some of the sectorial
challenges lie within the predominance of mass seaside tourism and
the seasonality of the industry.

MEDUSA project tackles these challenges via targeted cross-border interventions to develop and promote Adventure Tourism (AT) as a sustainable niche in the tourism market that provides the opportunity to reveal less known destinations and attract tourists throughout the whole year.
MEDUSA project is co-financed by the European Union under the European
Neighbourhood Instrument cross-border cooperation programme “Mediterranean Sea Basin” 2014-2020 (ENI CBC MED).

The planned project activities include:

• The overall objective of the project is to develop a competitive form of
  AT in the Mediterranean based on environmental, social and economic
  sustainability values.
  Concretely, MEDUSA aims to:
  • Identify and valorise territorial assets for developing AT products, especially
  off-season, based on a thorough understanding of market demand
  drivers, supply and competitiveness variables.
  • Promote a multi-stakeholder engagement towards capacity building
  and exchange of experiences and adopt strategic alliances that will
  formalise roles and responsibilities for AT destination stewardships.
  • Implement pilot actions rolling out improved and new AT products as
  well as develop and promote tourism packages through a cross-border
  marketing alliance to international source markets.

Key outcomes
The ambition of the project is to increase the visibility and attractiveness of
less known destinations resulting in increased international tourist arrivals
in the targeted regions.

Furthermore, an equalisation of tourist streams in terms of seasonality and
geographical areas results in a more balanced distribution of income and
strain on the territory and population. A sustainability-oriented approach to
tourism management safeguards biodiversity, wildlife, natural and cultural
resources as well as rural communities.