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Organization type: Contractor
Profile:
ARD’s approach to sustainable tourism is built on 28 years of worldwide experience in environmental and natural resource management, governance and institutional development, agriculture and rural enterprise development, and infrastructure development. A privately-owned firm, ARD adheres to the highest professional standards to achieve results, and it has established an enviable record in sustainable natural resource management, environmental management, and conservation. The firm employs approaches and tools that are based on the experience gained through more than two decades of practical, field-based work, coupled with strong academic training.
Areas of Sustainable Tourism (ST) expertise:
Since 1995, ARD has provided technical assistance to 13 sustainable tourism projects funded by USAID, the African Development Bank, the World Bank/GEF, and the USDI National Park Service. ARD’s work has focused primarily on cultural and nature-based tourism/ecotourism and the development of community-based tourism, environmental management systems and best practices for sustainable tourism, and the management of natural heritage sites and protected areas. Through ARD-implemented projects in protected areas planning and management, biodiversity conservation, watershed management, and environmental management, the firm has carried out activities that have contributed to the development of sustainable tourism in national parks, protected area buffer zones, watersheds, coastal zones, and culturally significant sites. To design and develop sustainable tourism initiatives, ARD has applied expertise in:
- National and Eco-regional Sustainable Tourism Strategies and Action Planning:
- Community-based tourism planning and development
- Natural resource/multiple-use conflict resolution
- Public-private partnership development for tourism implementation
- Tourism policy analysis and promotion
- Tourism Services Small Business Planning and Financing
- Tourism cluster development
- Tourism development investment planning and financing
- Community-based tourism training and services delivery
- Marketing and promotion training
- Market surveys
- Protected Area Tourism Management Planning and Operations
- Trail and infrastructure design and construction
- Tourism concession development and policy
- Environmental impact assessments
- Buffer zone circuit planning
- Protected area finance mechanisms with the tourism sector
- Environmental Management Systems/Clean Production for Tourism Industry
- Environmental audits of tourism establishments
- Clean production best practices demonstrations with hotels
- National policy for improved environmental management systems
- Formal and Non-formal Ecotourism Education and Training
- Tertiary tourism training curriculum development
- Environmental interpretation and education
- Guide training
- Tourism Impact and Success Monitoring and Evaluation
- Environmental and social impact assessment
- Tourism-carrying capacity assessment/Limits of Acceptable Use
- Indicator development
Regions worked:
- Africa:
- Asia and the Near East:
- China
- Philippines
- Sri Lanka
- Europe and Eurasia:
- Latin America and the Caribbean:
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Nicaragua
- Panama
USAID projects:
- Bulgaria: Biodiversity Conservation for Economic Growth I & II
(BCEG: 2000-2004)
- Uganda: Conserve Biodiversity for Sustainable Development
(COBS: 1999-2002)
- Uganda: Action Program for the Environment (APE: 1996-1999)
- Jamaica: Coastal Water Quality Improvement Project (1997-2003)
- Jamaica: White River Integrated River Basin Management Project (2002-2005)
- Nicaragua: Co-Management of Protected Areas (COMAP: 2000-2004)
- Central America: Increased Use of Less Polluting Technologies
(IR4: 2001-2005)
- Philippines: Government and Local Democracy (GOLD: 1995-2001)
Recent ST partnerships and collaborations:
ARD has carried out sustainable tourism development activities with various national and international organizations and tourism associations. International groups have included the UN-World Tourism Organization, World Tourism and Travel Council, UNEP/UNESCO-Tour Operators Initiative, United Nations Development Programme, the Regional Center for Central and Eastern Europe, the International Ecotourism Society, Foundation for Environmental Education's Blue Flag Program, and Green Globe. Nationally, ARD works closely with country and cluster-specific tourism associations, chambers of commerce, government ministries of tourism, tourism operators and hoteliers, and universities/tourism training institutions.
Contact:
ARD, Inc.
159 Bank Street, Suite 300
PO Box 1397
Burlington, VT 05402 USA
Phone: (802) 658-3890
www.ardinc.com
ARD and Sustainable Tourism fact sheet (PDF 96KB)
ARD ST Assistance Matrix (PDF 91KB)
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