Close-Knit Communities, Examples of Community Collaboration and Innovations in Land Resources to Enhance the Tourism Product in the Sheep's Head Peninsula, Ireland.

With the unprecedented growth of tourism it is inevitable that sustainable planning guidelines must be adhered to. During the next decade, the tourism industry is expected to grow by an average of 4% annually to constitute 10% of global GDP (US$10 trillion) and by 2022 it is predicted that globally 1 in every 10 jobs (328 million) will be tourism-related. Sustainable management of our natural resources are now a high priority, as tourism planners attempt to avoid past problems with the mass tourism market such as the rapid growth of the Costas around the Mediterranean Sea from the 1960s until the 1990s. This type of mass or 'fast tourism' characterises the very antithesis of a type of tourism that is considered sustainable. Past models of tourism development illustrated little or no concern for the existing landscape, social, environmental or economic and it is hoped that the dawn of 'slow tourism' and more ecological approaches that are based on a valorisation of natural landscapes can remedy the problems of the past and rejuvenate rural economies. This paper analyses the innovative use of natural resources (i.e. the local landscape, marine resources and flora and fauna) to enhance the tourism industry in the Sheep's Head Way, on the south-west coast of Ireland. The initial primary data and information gathered form a narrative of the innovative efforts that led to the development of the walkway. An impending census of the peninsula will provide an in-depth analysis of landowners' and farmers' attitudes to the evolution of the walkway as well as other attributes such as; environmental awareness, issues of sustainability, community links, farm diversification and conservation of the landscape. This is achieved through effective collaboration, financial assistance from REPS1 (Rural Environmental Protection Scheme) payments, and desire to showcase their native and spectacular landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]