Tourism – Current and Future Challenges for Urban Development

Tourism has become one of the biggest and most rapidly expanding industries in the world.

Tourism is not just a business – it also has a profound impact on the urban structure of cities, whilst at the same time it is the urban quality of cities that attracts tourists.

The IFHP International Conference presents the results of 5 years of research into this critical issue - earlybird registration available until April 20th

Conference Venue For this conference, we have chosen a unique, charming yet possibly less well-known venue. Mikulov, one of the main centres of South Moravia lies in the southernmost district of the South Moravia Region in the Czech Republic, close to the border with Austria. The city of Mikulov is a town with a Baroque castle, a renaissance square and an ancient Jewish District. The extraordinary natural, historical as well as architectonic monuments in combination with the favourable warm climate of a vintners´ region create a very pleasant Southern European atmosphere. The conference will be held in the heart of Mikulov´s historic castle.

The uncontrolled development of the tourist industry could cause devastation of the natural and cultural heritage in certain areas. For that reason, it is essential to plan its development carefully, to analyse theabsorption capacity of regions and cities, to learn to utilize the attractive natural and cultural sites in harmony with sustainable social and economic interests of the population. The tourist industry must not damage the very assets on which it depends.

Presenting 5 years of IFHP work
The relationship between tourism and urban development has been studied by the IFHP Working Party “Tourism and Urban Development” in the years 2003 – 2008. The experience of many cities and regions visited and/or studied by the Working Party shows that the rapid development of tourism places new requirements on the use of the territory and its utilities, and that many attractive tourist sites find it difficult to meet these requirements. Regional and urban planning must therefore not only create conditions for the regulation and routing of tourists in a given area, but also for an adequate range of spatial and functional measures that make sustainable development of tourism possible.

The 2009 IFHP Conference theme: Tourism – Current and Future Challenges for Urban Development concludes the five years activity of the Working Party, introducing the topic of tourism and urban development cooperation to a wider forum of experts from all over the world.

The following three sub-themes will be elaborated further in the form of case studies during the Conference:
a. Tourists in Historic Towns – Enemies or Shortcut to Prosperity?
b. Sustainable Tourism in Cultural Landscape
c. Planning for Tourism as a Tool of Economic Development

Local Case Studies and International Workshops
The format of the Conference enables all participants to take an active part in the chosen sub-theme.

Local case studies at attractive places close to Mikulov are being prepared for each sub-theme:

• City Marketing and Tourism Development in the Town of Mikulov
• Cycle Paths in the Dyje River Region (a Cross-border Project)
• Pasohlavky Spa – Development.

Participants will inspect the site of the chosen case study during a field visit on Monday afternoon. Tuesday´s programme is mostly dedicated to the workshops dealing with the topic of the chosen case study.

In addition, there are workshops for those who have a more international focus. These workshops are in fact an overview of selected topics and sites studied by the afore-mentioned IFHP Working Party and will be organised by local experts from cities visited by the Working Party.

Workshops of following cities are in preparation:

• Gdansk, Poland
• Evora, Portugal
• Gothenburg, Sweden
• Maastricht, Netherlands

Full conference programme

Conference website

Register now to attend this important conference in this unique venue