{{Short description|Tourism agency in Europe}} thumb|Chamois, Aosta Valley thumb|Cogne, Aosta Valley '''Alpine Pearls''' is a cooperative established in 2006, consisting of 23 municipalities in five alpine countries. The tourism association claims to support and promote active mobility. The cooperation’s members fulfill strict quality criteria like town centers with reduced traffic, transfer services, environmentally friendly leisure time facilities, the guarantee of mobility without a car, and ecological minimum standards.
== History == Alpine Pearls was established in 2006.<ref name="Nadegger166">{{harvnb|Nadegger|Dobusch|2022|p=166}}</ref> It is the result of two successive EU projects (Alps Mobility and Alps Mobility II – Alpine Pearls).<ref name="Nadegger166"/> The cooperation emphasizes the importance of sustainable tourism, combining tourist attractions with environmentally friendly active mobility.<ref name="Ilić246">{{cite book |last=Ilić |first=Milan |editor1-last=Koščak |editor1-first=Marko |editor2-last=O'Rourke |editor2-first=Tony |date=2023 |chapter=Ethical and Responsible Tourism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aB24DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT304 |title=Ethical and Responsible Tourism: Managing Sustainability in Local Tourism Destinations |location=Abingdon, Oxon |publisher=Routledge |page=246 |isbn=978-1-00-335868-8 |accessdate=2024-03-26 }}</ref><ref name="Heslinga2019-04-09">{{cite journal |last1=Heslinga |first1=Jasper Hessel |last2=Hillebrand |first2=Hans |last3=Emonts |first3=Tanja |date=2019-04-09 |title=How to improve innovation in sustainable tourism? Five lessons learned from the Austrian Alps |journal=Journal of Tourism Futures |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |issn=2055-5911 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=35–42 |doi=10.1108/JTF-09-2018-0054 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Verbeek2011-11-22">{{cite journal |last1=Verbeek |first1=D.H.P. |last2=Bargeman |first2=A. |last3=Mommaas |first3=J.T. |date=2011-11-22 |title=A sustainable tourism mobility passage |journal=Tourism Review |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=45–53 |doi=10.1108/16605371111188731 }}</ref> The association encourages tourists to visit less popular places. The scholar Sarah Seidel said this relieves the burden on the crowded, popular places and allows inhabitants of the less popular places to benefit from those tourists' money.<ref name="Seidel2018">{{cite book |last=Seidel |first=Sarah |date=2018 |chapter=Distribution at the Destination: An underestimated force to improve hospitality services and enhance sustainable development |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsRLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |title=Sustainable Value Creation in Hospitality: Guests on Earth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsRLEAAAQBAJ |location=Oxford |publisher=Goodfellow Publishers |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PsRLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 56] |isbn=978-1-911396-39-0 |accessdate=2024-03-26 }}</ref>
== Member municipalities ==
{{Div col}} === Germany === * Bad Reichenhall<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Berchtesgaden<ref name="Nadegger166"/>
=== Italy === * Ceresole Reale<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Cogne<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Chamois - La Magdeleine<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Forni di Sopra<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Moena<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Moos in Passeier<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Mals * Ratschings * Villnöß<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Limone Piemonte<ref name="Nadegger166"/>
=== Austria === * Hinterstoder<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Mallnitz<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Neukirchen am Großvenediger * Weissensee<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Werfenweng<ref name="Nadegger166"/><ref name="Wheatley2011-02-06">{{cite news |last=Wheatley |first=Paul |date=2011-02-06 |title=Green skiing in the Alps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/feb/06/green-ski-holidays-alps |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=2024-03-26 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326094955/https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/feb/06/green-ski-holidays-alps |archivedate=2024-03-26 }}</ref>
=== Switzerland === * Arosa * Interlaken * Disentis / Mustér<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Les Diablerets
=== Slovenia === * Bled<ref name="Nadegger166"/> * Bohinj<ref name="Nadegger166"/>
{{Div col end}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== Bibliography == * {{cite book |last1=Nadegger |first1=Monica |last2=Dobusch |first2=Leonhard |editor1-last=Lupova-Henry |editor1-first=Evgeniya |editor2-last=Dotti |editor2-first=Nicola Francesco |date=2022 |chapter=Meta-organisations as drivers for sustainability across tourism clusters in the Alps: A case study of 'Alpine Pearls' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvCKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT178 |title=Clusters and Sustainable Regional Development: A Meta-Organisational Approach |location=Abingdon, Oxon |publisher=Routledge |via=Google Books |pages=160–175 |doi=10.4324/9781003215066-14 |isbn=978-1-00-321506-6 |accessdate=2024-03-26 }}
== External links == * [https://www.alpine-pearls.com/en/ Official website]
Category:Ecotourism Category:Tourism in Europe Category:Local government organizations Category:Tourism marketing Category:Municipal international relations Category:Paradiplomacy in Europe Category:Alps