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Under the Volcano – Can Sustainable Tourism Development be Balanced with Risk Management? 245

much of this work is understandably directed at museums and other attractions, such as those in
the resident communities. Little has been written and around the ruins at Ercolano.
as to how destinations in volcanic regions can However, when considering the efforts
reconcile often much needed economic growth required to interlink the Vesuvius emergency plan
through sustainable tourism development with the with existing and future sustainable tourism
demands required for effective risk management. developments around the volcano there still
While conducting this research the author appears to be few initiatives that focus directly on
found that even in the case of the extensively the nature and relevance of the geological and
analysed Vesuvius emergency plan there does not volcanological forces that created and continue to
currently appear to be full acknowledgement that reshape these dramatic landscapes in the first place.
economic and cultural factors have the potential The only model that did have the potential to
to override the best laid strategies, even if there is bridge this gap was the possible ‘Volcanoes of
great awareness of the volcanic risk. Furthermore, Campania’ geopark. Although at a very early stage
the lack of benefits to the local communities from in its development, by providing a different
the existing tourism products and continued high management configuration outside of current
unemployment is leading many local authorities political structures, the geopark approach might
and agencies around Vesuvius to consider new offer at least one alternative route in the very
ways of developing tourism in their localities. long-term struggle to avoid the grip of the
Thus a collision course seems to be being steered Camorra. For that to become a viable option
between the emergency plan on one hand and though it has been stressed on more than one
social and economic necessities on the other. occasion by local stakeholders that there would
However, the sustainable tourism proposals have to be considerably more dialogue, cooperation
suggested by agencies such as the Vesuvius and understanding of respective roles between the
National Park and environmental NGOs like participating institutions than currently exists.
Legambiente, by working to improve the chances Furthermore, the general public in the locality
of benefits filtering down to the local communities would have to be actively involved in the creation
rather than increasing the risk to populations in and running of the geopark in order for them to
an emergency situation, might actually offer feel connected with it and understand the impacts
additional pathways to ensure that both awareness it could make on local employment opportunities
and preparedness for the next eruption of Vesuvius or more fully comprehend the implications of
are engrained in both residents’ and tourists’ living ‘under the volcano’.
minds. But for such benefits to occur and Transferring from a micro-scale examination
strategies such as the NEPVA not to be of the specific set of circumstances around
compromised, geological tourism with its potential Vesuvius, to the macro scale of more global
to both attract and educate tourists, has to play a projections for volcano tourism, it is important to
central and linked role in any tourism growth. recognize that each active volcanic site around the
Additionally if a modified tourism is to world is set in its own culture-specific setting and
succeed in playing an effective supporting role in exposed to differing levels and opportunities for
the transfer of volcanic risk information and link tourism development to take place. Thus when
more closely with local communities, then new considering the opening question of this chapter,
ways of communicating with tourists and ‘whether sustainable tourism can be developed
permanent residents alike will have to be applied around an active volcanic risk?’, the evidence
to revitalize the situation around the volcano. points to a situation where case-by-case studies
Examples of some more contemporary and should be undertaken if this is to occur. However,
engaging methods have already started to become based on the preliminary research around Vesuvius,
apparent. In particular these have addressed the if one significant generality could be found it is
ways in which archaeological discoveries and this: that as long as development is integrated with
interpretations are presented to the public in ongoing risk management plans, no matter where

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