The proposed St Kilda Centre on the Isle of Lewis has been recognised as a “key case study” of global importance after UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee adopted a sustainable tourism strategy aimed at increasing local economic benefits from internationally-significant sites.
Meeting recently in St Petersburg, delegates from 150 countries backed a programme to co-ordinate and influence tourism developments at World Heritages sites, of which there are fewer than 1,000 world-wide. Most have little or no tourism infrastructure around them while others suffer the threat of over-exposure to commercial tourism.
The document states: “If undertaken responsibly, tourism can be a driver for preservation and conservation of cultural and natural heritage and a vehicle for sustainable development. “But if unplanned, or not properly managed, tourism can be socially, culturally and economically disruptive and have a devastating effect on fragile environments and local communities”.
St Kilda is one of five World Heritage sites in Scotland and one of only 29 in the world with a double designation, recognising both its outstanding natural and cultural history.
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