Geotourism & Geoparks
Ideology is at the forefront of global Geotourism development through training, advice and education. Ross is an Advisor to theUNESCO Global Network of National Geoparks, UNESCO Global Network of National Geoparks, a Member of the Asia – Pacific Global Geoparks Network Advisory Committee, and Chair of the Australian Geoparks National Committee.
Ideology hosts Ideology hosts the Global Geotourism Conference which has been held in Australia (2008), Malaysia (2010) and Oman (2011). The venue for the fourth conference is yet to be announced.
Ross has co-edited three major books on Geotourism and has defined the subject. It is:
Geotourism is a form of natural area tourism that specifically focuses on geology and landscape. It promotes tourism to geosites and the conservation of geo-diversity and an understanding of earth sciences through appreciation and learning. This is achieved through visits to geological features, use of geo-trails and view points, guided tours, geo-activities and patronage of geo-site visitor centres.
Defined by David Newsome and Ross Dowling in their edited book Geotourism: The Tourism of Geology and Landscape, Goodfellow Publishers, UK, 2010
Some examples of recent keynote addresses on Geotourism at world conferences include:
- ‘The Future of Geotourism’, The Third International UNESCO Conference on Geoparks, Osnabruck, Germany, 2008
- ‘The Growth of Global Geotourism’, The VIII European Geoparks Conference, Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal, 2009
- ‘Tourism and Geoparks’, The Fourth International UNESCO Conference on Geoparks, Langkawi, Malaysia, 2010
