This year the local community of Milltown is undertaking a sustainable tourism project. The goal of the project is to actively involve the inhabitants of the parish by giving their opinion on how they feel that sustainable tourism should be developed in their community and to make them aware of and appreciate the beautiful area they live in.

This project leads from the "Croi Solais" group or Heart of Light. This name was chosen because of the fact that Milltown lies in the heart of Kerry, and after the Abha Solais, the river that flows through the town. The group that was established under the Community Council has been very active in promoting local culture, tourism and health & wellbeing. A successful festival focussing on a modern slant on the traditional Bealtaine festival that was held last May resulted in the idea of developing Milltown as a sustainable tourism destination. Many initiatives have been undertaken since then. A local business directory was launched and a website is being developed www.visitmilltown.com with information on things to see and do in the area. The "Croi Solais" group however wanted more. The community council attracted funding from LEADER+ Programme for rural development to carry out a sustainable tourism project. The idea behind the project is to get the community involved in the development of Milltown as a sustainable tourism destination that will benefit the local people, stimulate local culture and protect the environment.

An advantage for Milltown in developing this kind of tourism is that Milltown already has a "health and wellbeing" reputation. The community is already widely known in the region for its organic market and the many alternative therapy practitioners. At present Milltown is not part of the mainstream tourist routes throughout Kerry. This should be seen as an advantage since the community can still decide in which way they want to develop tourism!

The whole community will be involved in the project by means of eleven workshops in which ideas are generated. Topics include: The Great Outdoors, Culture, Health & Wellbeing, Accommodation etc. The workshops are open to everyone in the community and most workshop leaders also live in the community. This is a so called bottom-up project, which is the strongest form of community consultation. These types of projects are rare. The approach Milltown has taken can be used as an example for other communities.

All the workshops have a similar set up. The goal of the workshops is to identify what kind of attractions, tourist products and services currently exist and can be developed in Milltown. From this inventory one or more themes are identified for each topic that will show the direction the community wants to take. Sustainable tourism principles will constantly be kept in mind during this process.

Outcomes from the workshops are presented in a development plan. This plan identifies one or two desirable directions that determine how Milltown will be promoted to the outside world. A local marketing group is responsible for promoting sustainable tourism in Milltown and following up the actions that are defined in the development plan.

Alison Winfield is project coordinator and Green Direction assistant in the development of this project. For more information please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it