Volume: 2  Number: 3  Page: 156–167  doi:10.2167/jht057.0

Tourism, Partnership and a Bunch of Old Fossils: Management for Tourism at the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site

Janet Cochrane International Centre for Responsible Tourism, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK

The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, declared in 2001, is Britain's first mainland World Heritage Site (WHS) inscribed for its natural values, and one of only eight in the world designated according to geological criteria. The study of exposed rock strata and dinosaur fossils found here has made – and continues to make – a major contribution to understanding the Earth's history; in addition, the WHS covers fine scenery and several nature reserves. Administratively, management of the site is complex because of its mosaic of owners and occupiers and, as WH status carries no statutory powers in the UK, the partnership approach was the only obvious solution. The Site's coastal towns and their rural hinterl and have been afflicted by economic and social decline in recent decades, and the Jurassic Coast initiative is being used as a tool for regeneration. There has been some success already in efforts by local entrepreneurs and the public sector to exploit the opportunities for a renaissance both of the economy and local morale. This paper examines the planning and early implementation stages of the Jurassic Coast programme, detailing successes and examining the linkages between the theory and practice of collaborative management.

Keywords: collaborative management, tourism partnerships, regeneration, coastal decline, sustainable tourism, tourism trends

© 2007 J. Cochrane

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