The Icelandic Seal Center is very excited to announce our selection as a candidate for the ‘Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism’ Awards 2019. The winners and runners up will be announced at the European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN) Awards ceremony to take place in Granada, Spain, on 24 October 2019. The Awards ceremony will be held during the annual ECTN Conference 2019 that will take place on 24-26 October 2019 at Museo Memoria de Andalucía, Granada, Spain.
The Icelandic Seal Center (ISC) is an example of a community-academic partnership. Established in 2005 as a community-owned non-profit the ISC is a local initiative aimed at developing sustainable and responsible tourism for Húnaþing vestra, and it continues to help in regional development with wildlife tourism as a focus. Academic partnerships with the ISC include Hólar University, The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, and Náttúrustofa Norðurlands vestra. Seal Travel, which is a non-profit tourism agency owned by the ISC helps to establish networks of tourism businesses in Húnaþing vestra and other regional partnerships for tourism development. The ISC has an integral role in nurturing the local identity and distinctiveness of a community, strengthening sustainable rural tourism development, and empowering people at the local level to develop policies for the protection of natural and cultural resources.