ECEAT International
The European Centre for Ecological and Agricultural Tourism (ECEAT) was established in 1991 by several environmental, organic agricultural and nature protection organisations.
The first participating countries were Poland, former Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and most of the tourists were Dutch. Gradually the network spread across Europe. Scandinavia was included at the end of the 1990’s, thanks to Ceciel Verheij and Jan von Boeckel, a Dutch couple who moved to Sweden with their children and helped the Nordic partners to build up independent ECEAT organisations in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
For the first ten years the ECEAT movement was coordinated from an international office in Amsterdam, but in 2002 the new international, non-profit, non-governmental organisation ECEAT International was established. The goals of ECEAT concern rural development, sustainable land use, and the environment in relation to sustainable tourism. They are defined in ECEAT's core programme, the eco-agrotourism initiative.
ECEAT accommodation in different countries includes more than one thousand organic and traditional farms and hundreds of ecological guesthouses, small campsites and environment-friendly hotels. Accommodation can vary from B&B to full board, or cottages and group accommodation. ECEAT accommodation is often related to protecting cultural heritage or is situated near national parkland, so it can be an ideal starting point for excursions.
Through the host families the visitor has a chance to get to know local people and their culture.
Sometimes visitors can also participate in farm work or buy organic products. In some countries, like Poland and the Czech Republic, ECEAT also organizes round-trips and packages.
On the ECEAT International website www.eceat.org you can find links and contact information for all ECEAT partners in various European countries. Some ECEAT partners – for example Holland, Germany and Latvia - also offer Green Holiday Guides in various languages.
