News

Blue Tourism Initiative Closing Webinar: Key Policy Takeaways and the Way Forward

16th July 2026

After four years of collaboration, innovation and learning, the Blue Tourism Initiative (BTI) officially concluded with its Closing Webinar, “Achievements, Lessons Learned and the Way Forward”, bringing together partners, policymakers, practitioners and experts to reflect on the initiative’s achievements and discuss how to scale sustainable blue tourism solutions for greater regional impact.

Funded by the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), the Blue Tourism Initiative has supported pilot actions across the Caribbean, Western Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean to demonstrate how tourism can contribute to marine conservation, local livelihoods and resilient coastal development.

>>>>> Link to the policy brief <<<<

Key takeaways

From pilot experiences to policy recommendations

Throughout the webinar, speakers emphasised that the initiative has gone beyond testing innovative approaches on the ground. By documenting and evaluating practical experiences, BTI has generated a valuable body of knowledge that can help policymakers, destination managers and practitioners design more effective and locally adapted blue tourism strategies.

A recurring message throughout the discussion was the importance of building future policies on evidence-based good practices. The experiences developed through the initiative—from community-based tourism and eco-labelling to destination governance and marine protected area management—demonstrate that sustainable blue tourism is not a theoretical concept but an achievable pathway when supported by strong partnerships and local ownership.

Turning policy into action

Participants also highlighted that many countries already possess policy frameworks recognising the importance of sustainable tourism. However, achieving meaningful change requires moving beyond policy ambitions towards effective implementation.

Strengthening institutional coordination, investing in capacity building, ensuring long-term financing and establishing monitoring mechanisms were identified as essential conditions for translating policy commitments into tangible benefits for coastal communities and marine ecosystems.

Governance as the foundation of sustainable blue tourism

One of the strongest conclusions emerging from the webinar was that effective governance is the cornerstone of sustainable blue tourism.

At the regional level, participants stressed the need to improve cooperation across marine regions, reduce policy fragmentation and strengthen collaboration between tourism and ocean governance. Emerging initiatives such as the Mediterranean Blue Tourism Flagship Initiative and regional innovation networks were recognised as promising mechanisms to foster knowledge exchange, policy coherence and collective action.

Equally important is governance at the destination level. Inclusive stakeholder engagement was highlighted as a prerequisite for successful implementation. The experience of the Kwale County Blue Tourism Stakeholder Forum in Kenya illustrated how bringing together local authorities, tourism operators, communities, conservation organisations and civil society can strengthen ownership, improve coordination and support long-term sustainability.

Sustainability standards that work for destinations

The webinar also explored the role of sustainability standards and certification.

While internationally recognised sustainability labels provide valuable reference frameworks, speakers agreed that there is no single model suitable for every destination. The BTI experience demonstrated that participatory and locally adapted eco-labelling processes can provide an accessible and effective pathway towards improving sustainability performance, particularly for smaller tourism operators. Locally owned approaches not only increase adoption but also ensure that sustainability criteria reflect the specific environmental, cultural and socio-economic characteristics of each destination.

Looking ahead

Although the Blue Tourism Initiative has reached the end of its implementation phase, its legacy will continue through a series of knowledge products designed to support policymakers, practitioners and coastal destinations.

These upcoming publications include:

A Policy Brief summarising the project’s governance lessons and policy recommendations for scaling sustainable blue tourism.
A Mediterranean Regional Roadmap outlining priorities and opportunities to advance the emerging Mediterranean Blue Tourism Flagship Initiative.
A series of Thematic Briefs for practitioners presenting practical guidance and lessons learned on community-based tourism, managing blue tourism in Marine Protected Areas and Ramsar Sites, participatory eco-labelling processes, and other successful approaches developed through BTI pilot experiences.

Together, these resources aim to facilitate the replication of successful practices and support more coherent, inclusive and resilient blue tourism governance across regions.

Thank you to everyone who made this journey possible

The Blue Tourism Initiative would like to express its sincere gratitude to the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), Our Blue Future, IDDRI, Eco-union, IUCN, CANARI, CORDIO East Africa, all implementing partners, local authorities, community organisations, tourism stakeholders, experts and the many individuals working behind the scenes whose dedication and collaboration made this initiative possible.

Over the past four years, the initiative has shown that sustainable blue tourism is built through partnership, shared learning and collective action. While this chapter comes to a close, the work continues.