So what is sustainable tourism? The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (www.unwto.org) has defined sustainable tourism as an enterprise that achieves a balance between the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development so as to guarantee long-term benefits to recipient communities. According to UNWTO, it should:

• Make optimal use of environmental resources, maintaining essential ecosystems and helping conserve biodiversity

• Respect socio-cultural authenticity, conserve built and living cultural heritage, and contribute to cross-cultural understanding and tolerance

• Ensure long-term socio-economic benefits, fairly distributed to all community stakeholders, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities, social services, and poverty alleviation

This is commonly called the triple bottom line for sustainable development: environmental, economic, and cultural returns on investment. Some identify a fourth benefit of well-managed tourism: public education for both visitors and residents to deepen understanding of cultures and ecosystems, though this is also a cultural benefit.

A lot depends on the situation in which a destination finds itself. How wealthy or poor is the region? How well do locals understand and support the characteristics that make their place attractive to tourists? How vulnerable are those assets? Which type of potential tourist is most appropriate? How many tourists come, what do they do, and who gets their money?

When an attraction such as a popular national park or renowned cultural monument is involved, impacts depend a lot on tourist interaction with neighboring towns, called gateway communities. So good management means thinking about the destination as a whole — not just the protected site, but also its human, natural, and cultural settings.

From 2004 through 2010, National Geographic Traveler (http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/destinations-rated/intro-text) has published global “destination stewardship” surveys of expert opinion about the sustainability and quality of whole places. To capture the entire tourism experience and its impact, expert panelists consider six criteria — environment, cultural integrity, built heritage, aesthetics, tourism management, and overall trend — and submit a combined score for each destination.

Responses have shown remarkable consistency over the years. Top-scoring places often escape heavy tourism traffic, such as Norway’s Western Fjords (an excellent 87 out of 100), Portugal’s Douro Valley (76), and Palawan in the Philippines (72). But some very popular places, such as Alhambra/Granada (81) in Spain, still rate well. More often, though, tourist overcrowding, misuse, and crass commercialization along the periphery of the site can lower a score, as it does in Angkor in Cambodia (48) or in the Great Smoky Mountains (49) in the U.S.

(To be continued)

Cooper, the 6-month old miniature Australian Sheppard lost in Carmel Valley was found in one of the vineyards, and has been reunited with his owner! YAY!

As of 3:40 pm, 2225 acres, 60% contained, forward motion stopped. Releasing aircraft.

2:30 pm – UPDATE: up to 600 acres. 5 tankers and dangerous rate of spread.

1:20 pm –  vegetation fire is approx. 100 acres with potential to 1,000

1:15 pm – All I have is a tweet moments ago from Cal Fire SLO, even BEU hasn’t tweeted about it yet, so not sure of exact location. I do have a mutual aid request to SLO which includes two tankers and air attack aircraft out of Paso. I will add more when I know more.

CAL FIRE/San Luis Obispo County Fire Department sending personnel and equipment to assist with a reported vegetation fire off Turkey Flat Road within southern Monterey County.

• Distinguishing between traditional and sustainable tourism

• Understanding the  basic principles of sustainable tourism development

• Identify tools to manage destinations more sustainably

• Grasp the state of the art of this still-developing field — lessons learned, challenges, and the importance of key players.

You know the scene: it is high season and today the famous historic site is drawing hundreds maybe even thousands of visitors. Tourists trail guides with colorful umbrellas held high. You hear routine explanations about kings, battles, artists, and architecture delivered in English, Japanese, French, Italian, and Arabic.

A minister of tourism (or Chamber of Commerce or Convention and Visitor’s Bureau) might look at the scene and smile, “Business is good.” Preservationists might look at the scene and fret, “Can the site withstand all this traffic?” Many residents simply avoid the area, while other more entrepreneurial types rush in with their wares and scams to prey on the crowds. And many affluent and educated visitors take one look at this scene and hasten elsewhere, “Too touristy!”

How to handle all this? In 1960, when affordable jetliners helped to launch the modern-day tourism explosion, the world experienced fewer than 70 million international arrivals a year. Since then, humankind has grown — a lot. We are more numerous and more affluent, and we want to see new places. Tourism’s growth confronts destinations with both opportunity and stress. Now international arrivals approach one billion, a fourteen-fold increase in tourism traffic — and that is only a fraction of domestic tourism, which has soared recently in countries with fast-growing middle classes such as China, Mexico, India, and Brazil.

In popular destinations, this increasing visitation offers both challenges and opportunities. Destinations that hope to become popular face a choice: traditional tourism or a more sustainable approach.

For the traditional tourism model, short-term reward often outranks long-term planning. Low- margin quantity can eclipse high-benefit quality; success is measured in sheer number of arrivals, not benefit per tourist. Without careful planning and management, the negatives outnumber positives. The issues transcend just overcrowding. Reckless development harms the environment, degrades scenery, disrupts local culture, and channels tourism revenues away from local communities. Delicate historic, archaeological, and natural sites suffer physical wear and tear. Oil residue from hands and fingers slowly erodes aging limestone blocks and gypsum walls. On coral reefs clumsy divers bump into living polyps, crush them with flippers, or bury them under kicked-up sand. In caves, even carbon dioxide from too many human exhalations can chemically alter both rock formations and prehistoric paintings. Entire landscapes fall victim to resort and vacation home sprawl, and developers force out native residents.

Yet simply adding more planners and managers does not necessarily work. Destination leaders and stakeholders need to embrace principles and techniques to make tourism sustainable.

(To be continued.)

For the full text of this guide on Destination Management see:

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2151/DMOworkbook_130318.pdf

Today’s Date: Monday, July 30, 2018

District:       05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa                               Cruz Counties

Contact:                  Susana Z Cruz (bilingual) or Colin Jones

Phone:                              (805) 549-3138 or 549-3189

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EMERGENCY RETAINING WALL WORK AT PAUL’S SLIDE REQUIRES THREE FULL OVERNIGHT CLOSURES IN BIG SUR STARTING SUNDAY NIGHT, AUG. 5

MONTEREY COUNTY – Augmenting the existing retaining wall will require both directions of State Route 1 at Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6) to fully close overnight for three nights, starting on Sunday, August 5^th.

The highway will be closed from 10 pm to 6 am the next morning. Motorists/cyclists are advised to plan around these three emergency overnight hard closures. This roadwork should be completed by Wednesday morning, Aug. 8^th at 6 am.

Paul’s Slide suffered major storm damage last January, 2017, losing part of its embankment including the southbound lane and closing for several months. Paul’s Slide remains active and continues to be monitored; it has currently been operating under a temporary traffic signal for the last 12 months and the signal will remain in place.

John Madonna Construction is the contractor for this project. Augmenting the existing  retaining wall at Paul’s Slide will ensure a safer environment for all travelers.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through Highway work zones.

For more information on this project and for traffic updates on other Caltrans projects in

Monterey County, residents can call the District 5 toll free number at 1-831-372-0862 or

can visit our website at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/paffairs/release.htm#mon

# # #

–PHOTOS ATTACHED AND BELOW—

Paul’s Slide Photo #1 from today showing Retaining Wall needing Repairs

Paul’s Slide Photo #2 from today showing Retaining Wall needing Repairs

Susana Z. Cruz

Caltrans District 5

Public Information Officer

Portavoz de Relaciones Públicas

para Caltrans en el Distrito 5

805.549.3138

805.549.3326–fax

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On the River Fire in Mendocino and Lake Counties. Couldn’t resist adding a second photo today, once I saw this one.  Photo by Kent Porter

10:15 – UPDATED CHP DISPATCH

Below is from the CHP website. Problem is, Los Burros and Willow Creek Rd are one and the same, and the RP, a former BSVFB member, would know this, so somehow, dispatch got this one confused.

Here is the LPF WildCAD and then the CHP:

There is a new fire in San Benito County that is 50 acres and traveling in a SW direction reported by BEU (MoCo and SanBenCo CalFire) Here is the approximate location. I will be watching this throughout the day, given the high temps with no cool down at night. It was 92 here last night at 9:30 pm.

There is also a nightmare of a fire that started this afternoon in SoCal that is spreading rapidly and has closed roads and caused the evacuation of Idyllwild. The IC asked for 10 airtankers. He is getting 1 LAT and one VLAT (914). I mention this because it will be drawing down resources, as this one will go extended based on what I am reading.

Ernest Chung and others have worked tirelessly on this project, and it looks like they have a pilot program! Congratulations!

L

 

As most of you know, Monterey-Salinas Transit has submitted a grant application to the Monterey Bay Air Resources District for the Park It! Point Lobos Area Shuttle.  The shuttle service is a key element of the summer 2019 Demonstration Project.  Other elements of the project include offsite parking north of the Carmel River, a reservation system, and elimination of Highway parking in the vicinity of Point Lobos. We are thankful that MST is leading the effort to provide shuttle service during the demonstration.

 

Park It! is most appreciative of your overwhelming support of the shuttle grant application.  We understand that many of your respective organizations have already expressed your support to the Air Resources District, including:

 

Big Sur Land Trust

Big Sur Marathon Foundation

Carmel Chamber of Commerce 

Carmel Highlands Association

Carmel Meadows Homeowners Association 

Carmel River Watershed Conservancy

Carmel Valley Association 

Central Coast Lighthouse Keepers

Coast Property Owners Association

LandWatch Monterey County

Lobos Ridge Road Association 

Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau

Point Lobos Foundation 

Ventana Wildlife Association

 

We are also deeply grateful to Assemblymember Anna Caballero, Assemblymember Mark Stone, Senator Bill Monning, and Supervisor Mary Adams for their strong support.  You maybe interested in reading their support letters which are attached.  Please thank them, not only for their tremendous support of Park It!, but also their dedication to making our communities better for all of us.

 

To better understand the visitation pattern and numbers to Point Lobos State Reserve, our partner Point Lobos Foundation is commissioning a traffic and visitation study at the park.  The study is scheduled to begin in August.  Data from the study will be used for the planning of offsite parking capacity, requirements for the reservation system, and impact of eliminating parking along the Highway.

 

While we are planning for the demonstration project and what might make sense for subsequent phases, the east side of Highway I around Point Lobos is actually closed to parking during the construction of the Highway 1 Climbing Lane Project.  We have all noticed a distinct improvement in traffic safety, a reduction in parking-related traffic congestion, and better emergency vehicle access to communities south of the park.  It adds to our confidence that the Demonstration Project will work well.  In fact, some of you have suggested maintaining the current “No Parking” zone while we work on a more comprehensive, longer term solution.  We want to hear from you about your experience, and what you think would make good sense in the near and longer terms.

 

We still have much work ahead in order to pull off the demonstration project next summer.  We are only able to continue our progress through the dedicated efforts of a small group of volunteers.  But we can use more help.  If you have expertise in public engagement, project planning and management, and coastal access and land use permitting, would you consider helping us?

 

Our gratitude for your support.