CP2094-21 Devon County Council North Devon Tourism App

Biosphere Reserves from North Devon and Brighton & Hove in England and Iroise Isles & Sea and Marais Audomarois in France share common issues. They are the only 4 protected areas of the France-Channel-England zone which are recognised by UNESCO Man and Biosphere programme as international demonstration areas for sustainability that connect people and nature. These reserves are highly popular destinations due to their natural surroundings. Collectively, they attract over 20 million visitors per year, which can have an impact on the environment.

Bio-Cultural Heritage Tourism (BCHT) is a European Union Interreg project which aims to use the concept of Bio-Cultural Heritage which celebrate the heritage and cultural practices linked to the environment to develop new tourism products. The BCHT project focuses on the goal to increase the value of tourism whilst safeguarding and enhancing the Biocultural Heritage values of the areas.

For its part in developing tourism management tools, DCC proposed to develop a Tourism progressive web app (PWA) that will guide visitors so that pressure is not unduly placed on sensitive natural sites, that traffic jams can be avoided and activities that are much more rewarding can be promoted to the customer.

The three-year 3.8 million Bio-Cultural Heritage Tourism project will run until December 31st, 2021 over the 4 biosphere reserves. This project is co-financed by the European Union as part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by all project partners above-mentioned. This contract is part of the project and the maximum funding allocated is £55,000.

Additional information: www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk