Planning for recreation and tourism in forests: Results from the consultation stage of the EU's Tourfor project

This research note outlines the results from a consultation exercise carried out by Tourfor, a European Commission project aiming to develop an ecolabel for forest-based recreation and tourism, based on implementing an environmental management system. The paper will first present the rationale of the project and then discuss the willingness of providers and agencies to apply for this ecolabel, perceived benefits, criteria, and the ecolabel management methods. The paper concludes that there is a critical mass of sites willing to apply for the ecolabel, and outlines suggestions from the respondents regarding the ecolabel.