Adriatic Sea Biodiversity
On 21 October 2021, the EXCHANGE training workshop “Adriatic Sea Biodiversity” brought tourism operators and guides from Dubrovnik County together with marine researchers in Hotel Lero, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
My contribution focused on coordination of the training activity, supporting the project’s wider effort to connect aquatic biodiversity with tourism interpretation across Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.
Introducing Blue Pass to tourism professionals
Dr Nenad Antolović presented EXCHANGE — Explore Cross-border Aquatic Biodiversity, with particular attention to Blue Pass, the joint tourism product being developed through the project.
He invited tourism operators and guides to cooperate with the project team and consider how information about Adriatic biodiversity could become part of their regular presentations to visitors.
This connected the project’s objectives with the practical work of professionals who introduce the region to tourist groups.
Understanding a changing Adriatic Sea
Dr Nikša Glavić presented the geographical and biological characteristics of the Adriatic Sea, providing a foundation for understanding its marine environment.
Dr Valter Kožul explored biodiversity and its dynamic changes, with particular emphasis on newly occurring, non-native species.
The presentations offered guides and operators scientific knowledge they could draw on when explaining the Adriatic’s natural heritage and the changes affecting it.
Photo: Aquarium Dubrovnik, Croatia
Connecting research with tourism interpretation
The workshop supported the diversification of tourism presentations by bringing marine biodiversity into the visitor experience.
Within EXCHANGE, this training complemented the development of Blue Pass and cooperation among destinations across the three participating countries. My coordination contribution supported an activity designed to make research knowledge more accessible to tourism professionals and relevant to their everyday work.
Cover photo: Participants at the EXCHANGE training workshop “Adriatic Sea Biodiversity”, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 21 October 2021.
