Training materials and resources are increasingly available through online courses and webinars. Some of the free-to-use resources are described here:

 

• The IUCN has established a free Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) on Valorisation of protected area resources , which contains three modules dedicated to the IUCN Best Practice Guidelines on Tourism and visitation in protected areas : Guidelines for sustainability .

• UNESCO’s ‘ Teaching and learning for a sustainable future’ is a multimedia teacher education program that includes a sustainable tourism course. The course materials related to NBT include units on The benefits and problems of ecotourism and Teaching about ecotourism .

• The European Union provides free online training for members of the European Ecotourism network . The courses supporting NBT include Ecotourism training for businesses and Ecotourism training for evaluators in English and other languages.

• A course manual for Interpretation techniques and ecotourism management training has been developed under the Mediterranean Experience of Ecotourism (MEET) Project. This includes guidance on the development of interpretation for NBT.

• Colorado State University’s website includes a number of training materials and management tools , including adaptation of the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum for use in Latin America.

• The International Ecotourism Society offers education and outreach programs for its members, including a Certificate in Sustainable Tourism Management and an EcoTourism Master Class series .

• USAID has established a series of online training resources on sustainable tourism. These include courses on tourism and conservation, project development, destination management, tourism investment and finance, enterprise development, scientific, academic, volunteer and educational travel and also case studies from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Mali, Montenegro, and Uganda. The course on Tourism and conservation – sustainable models and strategies provides online course workbook that focuses particularly on sustainable marine tourism. It provides guidance on business planning, operations and management, staff training and sales and marketing (see Figure 10). All of the other courses can be applied to a variety of forms of tourism, including NBT.

 

Figure 10 : Contents of Tourism and conservation – sustainable models and strategies



 

Also, the Travel Foundation has produced a case study on Whale shark guide training in Mexico , that was conducted to help boat trip operators conserve them.

 

Relevant webinars on elements of NBT include the following:

 

• The Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals offers webinars to members and non-members on topics including establishing trail systems, partnerships with federal agencies, visitor use monitoring and management, and understanding economic impact studies.

• The IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)’s Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group (TAPAS Group) hosts webinars on NBT topics with partners. These are available on topics including international perspectives on visitor use management ; the Visitor Use Management Framework ( part 1 and part 2 ), tourism concessions and partnerships , certification tools and standards for protected areas management , and more than just signs on designing visitor experiences .