Tourism

The Wadden Sea is a significant contributor to the local and regional economies, primarily through tourism. The area attracts millions of visitors each year, many of whom come to enjoy its unique tidal landscapes, diverse wildlife, and rich cultural heritage. Tourism is a significant economic sector for the Wadden Sea, providing direct and indirect benefits to local communities and supporting the preservation and management of this unique and valuable ecosystem. Visits and other tourist activities that take place in the vicinity of or in the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site interact with the natural environment of the site. The inscription on the World Heritage List led to an increase in the number of visits to the site, which in turn may have an impact on the conservation and maintenance of the outstanding universal value of the site.

Tourism is a multidisciplinary field covering a wide range of issues including infrastructure, social, health and safety aspects. The Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation (TWSC) focuses on the environmental integrity of the area and therefore this database concentrates on this topic. As tourism intersects with other key themes covered in the database (e.g. shipping or fisheries), overlap is likely.

This legal database provides an inventory of relevant regulations concerning tourism in the Wadden Sea World Heritage Area. It includes regulations in force at international, European, trilateral, national and local levels. It collects regulations that are otherwise scattered among international organisations and countries and aims to provide a detailed overview of the legal framework applicable to tourism and to facilitate the analysis or comparison of regulations. It also provides a basis for reflection on how to improve environmental protection in the Wadden Sea. Each regulation is briefly described and filters can be applied to narrow down the search.