Photo: Kimmo SalminenPAN Parks aims to change tourism from a threat to an opportunity in certifed PAN Parks. The sustainable tourism development process helps to ensure that tourism provides real benefts for the rural communities in and around the protected areas, and in the same time reduces the pressure caused by tourism on the park. However, without the genuine support of local communities, the task of nature conservation is pointless. The sustainable tourism development strategy of PAN Parks is developed through a collaborative process between park managers and all relevant local stakeholders The sustainable tourism development strategy is a cornerstone, ensuring that tourism supports nature conservation, and guaranteeing that tourism is not introduced in sensitive areas.
 
Local tourism related businesses can also undergo a certification process ensuring that the business is working in harmony with the park management, this helps those involved make real improvements and gives them a business advantage. This also helps to involve local communities and businesses, raising awareness of the real value wilderness has. This integrated approach is the key to effective management of protected areas and is becoming rapidly recognised as being the model of best practice. In Romania as a result of the success of verification process in Retezat NP, the national management authority has adopted the PAN Parks Sustainable Tourism Development model as the standard for all national parks.
 
International tour operators and travel organisations are increasingly under pressure to offer more sustainable products and this opens up excellent opportunities for certifed protected areas and their surrounding regions using this approach to be able to market themselves as branded sustainable destinations. The PAN Parkbrand enables tourists to be assured of that they are really visiting the best of Europe’s wilderness.