Benefits of Community Tourism in Sardinia

Benefits of Community Tourism in Sardinia Narrator: It’s not as jam-packed as the Costa del Sol but the impact of tourism on the Sardinian Coast is taking a heavy toll. Vanni Pucconi: Well, you have communities on the coast, villages and small settlements that during the winter and in the spring and autumn only have a few hundred people living there. And then the population just shoots up to tens of thousands during the summer peak months. You can imagine what that means in terms of concentration of pollution, of water consumption plus there is of course an impact on why the species with a lot of boats for instance going to visit the Grotta del Bue Marino. The disturbance has been such that monk seal has actually become extinct. And this was largely due to an overcrowding by tourists. Narrator: And it’s not just species at risk. Vanni Pucconi: If we let the tourism load on the beaches continue to grow, eventually that business is going to put itself out of work. One day it’s just going to collapse. The beach is not going to be attractive anymore, there will not be enough water for tourists to consume, and the whole thing is just going to go to the ducks. Narrator: With its stunning scenery, untouched villages and ancient ruins, inland Sardinia has a lot to offer. If it could top these attractions and lure tourists away from the beaches, there’s a chance the coastline could be saved. Vanni Pucconi: But it’s absolutely vital that we have tourism in the interior of Sardinia as well. To take off some of the load from the beaches, and so that we avoid the interior becoming depopulated or turning to other types of economic activities which would have heavy impact on the environment such as mining of natural resources or heavily impacting industry. Female: At Su Gologone, pioneering businesswoman Madam Pascua has proved there’s temptation beyond the beach. Madam Pascua’s secret is her conviction that local recipes and traditions have pulling power. Pasta from the Pascua kitchens is famous. Maria has been hand rolling it for nearly 20 years. Roast pork is another specialty. It may look easy but training the staff has taken many years of hard work. It wasn’t like this when she and her husband started out. Madam Pascua: At the time, there were no professional schools for hotel staff, so we found ourselves in difficulty in how to start from scratch but we succeeded in creating a body of staff who could behave in the way we would treat people traditionally in our homes in Oliena. Female: Madam Pascua’s impact stretches far beyond the hotel boundaries. She’s created jobs in nearby Oliena and gives locals an incentive to stay instead of leaving for better pay on the coast. Vanni Pucconi: Su Gologone is an excellent example of the kind of thing we should have here. First of all, it has been the first really significant example of how to make money from just being a Sardinian or an Olienanese, how to put a value on that. So, it has built confidence in the value of local products, it has built pride in their spirit and in their culture which is an essential ingredient if you are going to be a craftsman, for instance. And instead of trying to indicate objects from another culture, you’re going to produce your object and put a value on them and make them better and sell it. Narrator: Tourism isn’t just about a boon in local arts and crafts. Things like trekking and carefully managed ecotourism create jobs for younger people. Vanni Pucconi: We see a lot of young people now who instead of looking for jobs on the continent or in the cities or in industry, they’re setting gaps their own little enterprise in ecotourism or crafts or whatever. So, the message that came out of this place, your culture has a value. We are proud of being Olienanese. We are proud of being from Barbagia. We are proud of being Sardinians and we can own a good way of life through this crucially.