MODUL on jury of EDEN Sustainability Award

Prof. Dagmar Lund-Durlacher of MODUL University served as chair of the jury when this year's EDEN award was given to the Seelentium recreation area, a region located south-east of the Inn river. EDEN stands for European Destinations of Excellence, and is a project promoting sustainable tourism development models across the European Union.

The project is based upon annual competitions to select a tourist “destination of excellence” in each participating country. Through the selection of destinations, EDEN effectively achieves the objective of drawing attention to the values, diversity and common features of European tourist destinations. It enhances the visibility of emerging European destinations, creates a platform for sharing good practices across Europe and promotes networking between awarded destinations (European Commission, 2010).

The theme for EDEN 2010 was 'water,' as water plays a central role for many holiday makers. "This award gives us the opportunity to present exemplary projects and institutions and thereby contribute to a strengthening of the sustainability concept in the Austrian tourism industry," says secretary of the state Christina Marek. Many cannot imagine having a holiday away from water, and the quality of the water at the destination is an important criterion which influences holiday destination choice. For this reason, sustainable water use and the protection of water sources must be emphasized.

Visitors to Austria increasingly seek experiences and activities near water which acknowledge our responsibility to protect nature. Tourism products that are designed with thoughts of sustainability in mind are important for Austria to position itself as a competitive destination and contribute to efforts in marketing our national tourism product. All of the projects considered for the EDEN award are excellent examples of the quality and innovation of Austrian destinations, says Petra Stolba of the ÖW.

To see the full article in German on the Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth web site, please follow this link:
EDEN award 2010

EDEN 2010: Director of ÖW, Petra Stolba, Secretary of the State, Christine Marek and chairman of the EDEN Jury Dagmar Lund-Durlacher Foto: BMWFJ/HBF/Hartl

Contact:
Tina Tiller, MODUL University Vienna, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Am Kahlenberg 1, 1190 Wien, Austria
tina.tiller@modul.ac.at | www.modul.ac.at/tiller