Positive Economical Impacts of Tourism:
Capacity building and training for the local population result in the creation of long-term employment possibilities

The magical Art Café is owned by a member of Association of Sustainable Tourism of Banska Stiavnica. Photo by Viktor Kovac

Case Study: Seminars on Sustainable Tourism in Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia

Banska Stiavnica is among the most strikingly beautiful and historically interesting towns in Slovakia, surrounded by scenic protected landscape. However, the local people do not utilise the opportunities for tourism development sufficiently. A training programme fostered tourism development and directed it towards the sustainable use of resources to assure the preservation of the attractiveness of the area for future generations.

Banska Stiavnica is located in central Slovakia, in the neovolcanic Stiavnicke Vrchy Mountains (1,009 metres above sea level at the highest point). The region is well known for silver and gold mining from the 13th to the 18th century. Its Mining and Forestry Academy, which existed between 1764 and 1919, was one of the most important educational institutions on mining, nature and forest management in Europe.

The historical town of Banska Stiavnica, which features technical monuments in its vicinity, is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The region around Banska Stiavnica is a Protected Landscape Area (PLA) and features several small-sized reserves and Natura 2000 sites. Besides the natural assets, the cultural heritage — notably the technical monuments (remains of mining), the artificial lakes with connecting channels and the historical centre of the town of Banska Stiavnica with its many impressive architectural and historical monuments — is also highly valuable.

It is obvious that the area has a high potential for tourism development. However, the advantages are not sufficiently utilised. Therefore a set of seminars focused on tourism development was organised. Altogether at least 70 people from public bodies, small private businesses and the general public participated in at least in one of the seminars.

The seminars were organised within the project Promoting Sustainable Tourism in Central and Eastern Europe — A Demonstration Model Applied to the Natural and Cultural Heritage of Banska Stiavnica. This project was intended to support sustainable tourism development in the Banska Stiavnica region. It was implemented by the association of the NGO Ecological Tourism in Europe (Germany) and Amber Trail (Slovakia), in 2001-2005.

Both the content and form of the 10 seminars were shaped by the main goal of attracting and educating stakeholders in order to involve them in the tourism development process. The topics of the seminars included, among others, positive and negative impacts of tourism on the environment, the vision of Banska Stiavnica’s development and the role of tourism in it, and marketing and certification of tourism.

Most important outcomes of the seminars:

1. General awareness raising among the local population: The people interested in tourism came to understand the meaning of sustainable tourism. Generally, the appropriate means of tourism development and operation became much more public and frequently represented topics in local debates, articles and in meetings of the city council. A large part of the population realised that local cultural and natural heritage are assets worthy of protection and that they can be utilised for tourism.
2. Establishment of a tourism association: It was realised that local natural and cultural heritage are among the main marketing advantages of the region and that they are therefore worth protecting. In this context, the strong need for a tourism association was declared by the small local entrepreneurs. The establishment of the association in the beginning of 2006 can be regarded as a direct result of the seminars. The main goal of the association is to improve the environment for tourism businesses regarding collaboration, coordination, joint marketing and common lobbying.
3. Joint elaboration of tourism development priorities: The participants of the seminar jointly elaborated general priorities for tourism development and operation in the region. These priorities then served as guiding principles during various meetings and discussions related to tourism development.
4. Establishment of tourist facilities: The seminars gave the “final kick-off” for the establishment of two small businesses — on the one hand, a private accommodation in Banska Stiavnica and on the other hand a guide-business with a strong focus on pupils and students.
5. Adjusting the operation of small businesses in tourism: The seminars positively influenced the collaboration and networking between businesses and provided a common understanding of how the cultural heritage should be used for tourism in the region.

It has to be mentioned that these results mainly concern the local population and small businesses. The commitment of the local authorities was generally rather low. However, in order to achieve the successful implementation of sustainable tourism the participation of all the stakeholders is necessary.

For more information please contact:
Jan Rohac, Ekopolis Foundation / Slovak Environmental Partnership
E-mail: rohac@stonline.sk