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21/03/2013

Nice to meet you

• Anneleen Mengels, Tourism OfficerNational Park Hoge Kempen, Belgium

• Only National Park in Belgium, Flanders

• anneleen@rlkm.be

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FACTS AND FIGURES

• 5.700 ha, 5 gateways

• Opened in 2006

• 725.000 visitors per year

• 7.000 species / big geological value / culturalheritage of coal mine industry 

• investigation in becoming a UNESCO Geopark

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• European Commission: British consultant ‘The Tourism Company’ in 1996-1997

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• It’s NOT: – Entrance fee of a tourist attraction– Obligated taxes (tourist tax)– Sponsoring or adoption corporate-sector

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• Key‐elements:

– Voluntary act of visitor / tourists …

– …to contribute to the management of the (natural) heritage

– …in order to compensate the negativeimpact on the heritage

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Nature Tourism Nature Tourism Degradated Nature

Self-destructing Tourism

Loss of Attractiveness

Unreversable degradation of both:

nature and tourism

Solution: visitor payback?

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It seems so simple

• If each tourist in Europe offers 0.10 Euro per overnight‐stayfor nature‐conservation… 

• …an annual budget of 180 million Euro will be created…

• This is 3 X more than the annual budget of the European LIFE‐program..

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Always???

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Digital Visitor PaybackConcepts

• 14 ‘digital’ concepts

• Result of Interreg Ivb project WECAN

• 2 pilots 

• Online: itunes, websites, … free for everyone

http://wecan‐interregivb.eu/documents/content/DigitalVisitorPaybackConcepts_copy_1.pdf

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First Insight

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How will it make money?

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How to copy this?• Now:

App downloadable in every country + Profits for the Hoge Kempen NP

• Possibility: DisconnectApp per country + Profits for 1 local nature organisation

• Steps to take: – Eliminate specific country in current DisconnectApp (by rlkm)– Set up a Google Developer Account and Google Checkout Account,

$25 (by foreign partner)– Adjust the App; default message, bankaccount.. (by Boondoggle)– Submit the App for specific country (by Boondoggle)– Voluntary donation to Hoge Kempen NP Foundation (not for wecan-

partners)

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How to copy this?

• Contact RLKM

• Logo and corporate identity are free of charge for nature organisations

• Volunatary donation to National Park Foundation

• The more the concept is copied, the more it is recognised as the CareParkconcept

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