The Most Appealing Destination
The
Faroe Islands has recently come under scrutiny in one of the world’s
great periodicals. In 2007, the National Geographic (National
Geographic Traveler and National Geographic Center for Sustainable
Destinations), conducted a comprehensive survey of 111 island
communities throughout the world.
A panel of 522 welltravelled experts
in sustainable tourism assessed the islands rating them on a list of
the most unspoiled. Surprisingly, the Faroe Islands came out on top as
the most appealing destination in the world.
Rated ahead of the
Azores, Lofoten and exotic islands such as Bermuda and Hawaii, the
Faroe Islands received these remarks from the panel: "Lovely unspoiled
islands a delight to the traveller." The islands earned high marks for
preservation of nature, historic architecture and local pride.
National
Geographic Traveler chose in particular, small and mediumsized islands
or island groups, but made a few exceptions with large, uniform
countries such as Iceland and Tasmania. The magazine asked the experts
to evaluate the islands that they knew, using six different criteria:
environmental and ecological quality, social and cultural integrity,
condition of historic buildings and their archaeological interest,
aesthetic appeal, responsible management of tourism and outlook for the
future. This is an extract from the panel of expert’s survey:
"Superb
glaciated landscape with incredibly steep slopes. Only a small amount
of flat land. A unified local community, resolutely Faroese not Danish,
with its own language. It has a unique architectural heritage, right
down to the grass roofs, quite rightly preserved and cherished.
Tourists are adventurous and wellinformed."
In particular, the
panel mentioned the island of Koltur, where visitors can meet the
farmer, tour the island, experience a living museum of farming today
and sample local traditional food. They went on to explain that, quite
naturally, tourists were expected to do as the Faroese such as
travelling on the rolling ferries and hiking through all sorts of
weather.
The Faroese were more than a little surprised that their
islands did so well in the survey. They thought that sunny beaches and
modern cities with large shopping centres were the most appealing
destinations in the world. After all, how can a few remote rocky
islands in the Atlantic Ocean compare to these? Nevertheless, of
course, the result of the survey was received with pride on the islands
and the Faroese have been telling the world about it ever since.
However,
National Geographic Traveler warned its readers that it was necessary
to ‘tread carefully’ in order not to destroy the very places that we
love the most, especially islands of such a modest size. Nevertheless,
as the expert panel concluded, where there is a strong sense of
identity and cultural heritage, there is a solid foundation for
sensible development.
So, welcome to the world’s most beautiful islands!
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