Adventure Tourism Challenges and Potential in Sardinia

Jessica Reilly
14 August 2009

This article was first published by our friends at Xola Consulting, who have agreed to its republication here. View the original article on their blog.

Sardinia, the Italian island south of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea, is an adventure traveler’s paradise: rock climbing over turquoise waters, the ancient granite mountain top of Gennargentu covered in snow and mist, well-defined treks across the island and a mysterious prehistoric past defined by 6000-year-old stone temples.

In Sardinia, a three-wheeled vehicle herds sheep into pasture for a daily milking. The shepherds and their sheep produce local milk and cheese for the surrounding area.

I recently returned from a rock climbing trip to the Golfo di Orosei on Sardinia’s eastern coast. I was based out of the small town of Cala Gonone and either walked or drove to world-class limestone sport climbing.

What I saw was both inspiring and perplexing: yet another example of the tension tourism, even in our favorite form – adventure tourism – can introduce in a destination.

Turning More to Tourism

Many travelers know Sardinia for the glitzy and glamorous Costa Smeralda in the north. The economic changes on the coast, however, contrast sharply with the rugged and rural agricultural interior. As the mining industry fails and the population of the country drops, the Sardinians are turning to tourism, increasingly looking to maximize nature and adventure tourism resources as a source of income.

The self-reliant Sardinians have kept a close eye on this progress and tenaciously defended their land against unchecked coastal development. Although Sardinia and the Costa Smeralda enjoyed a reputation as the destinations for clientele such as Jackie Onassis and a long list of the rich and famous in the 1960s, this exclusive resort has opened up to more than just the super wealthy. Tourists now storm in from all over Europe for the sparkling beaches all over the island. This has brought the Sardinians much-needed economic relief.

Yet when Silvio Berlusconi proposed developing the protected Costa Turchese wetlands, the Sardinians put their collective foot down and, through years of protests and petitions, lobbied to save the fragile area from thousands of new buildings, a golf course and a new marina.

Keeping an Environmental Conscience

The Sardinians are a politically active people. They have been enduring the onslaught of foreign interests since the Phoenicians and the Romans started fighting over the island over 2000 years ago and they held fast in their fight against insensitive and unsustainable development. As a result, in July 2004, the government suspended all development along the coast, then turned this into a law, the Decreto Soru, which prohibited all new buildings within two kilometers of the oceanside. This law was named for the new president of the island, billionaire Renato Soru, who won his election based on a promise to address nagging environmental issues.

Katja Wichland leads a climb on limestone cliffs only a few meters from the oceanside near Cala Gonone, Sardinia

Even the fierce independence of Sardinia has its down side though: the strong regional identity of areas throughout Italy creates division where the country needs unification.

Sardinia is still plagued by environmental problems, including ancient water and sewage lines that cause frightening water shortages in the capitol city of Cagliari and beyond. The charm of the rugged and old-fashioned ways of Sardinia is also being pressed and tested by an influx of tourists who want to see this still-wild side of Italy but with the services of the more modern and connected mainland.

So where is the balance? There is great hope that President Soru will be able to work his coalescent magic and help create a strong, unified Sardinia that honors its cultural and rugged past, retains the integrity of its stunning and untouched landscapes, yet keeps abreast of modern improvements.

But then there’s also the Sardinians’ long memory and the tendency of the arrival of foreigners to signal a negative deal. The locals of the island seems to remain wary of development, yet are obliged to entertain it as a way to survive.

As in many places Xola Consulting works, Sardinia teeters on the edge of economic prosperity. We see a destination in which creativity and cooperation can drive adventure tourism as source of revenue, while preserving an unspoiled landscape, but only if development restraint and strong environmental management is also present.

More About Sardinia

The Italian government recognizes the Sardinians as a people distinct from the rest of the Italians. Closer to North Africa than Italy but just a short flight from Rome, Sardinia has retained its own language, Sardo, that is more closely related to Latin than to Italian. All of the locals speak Sardo as well as Italian.

The food may be unmistakably Italian, with incredible local cheeses and wines, yet the Sardinians have their own unique dishes, including a slow-roasted pork dish called porceddu.

The tourist season stretches from a very quiet beginning of May to an apex in July and August, and peters out in October. Nearly the entire coast shutters its windows for the cool winter months.

OFF THE RADAR

By connecting passionate travelers with unusual travel opportunities, Off the Radar and Xola Consulting support adventure travel companies who provide guests with a genuine, personal experience; who believe in sustainable, environmentally sensitive travel and incorporate the local people and traditions of the destinations where they operate.