What are the steps to promote and develop sustainable tourism?

Published on : Thursday, September 4, 2014

Sustainable-travelAs a core mandate, UNWTO continues to promote sustainable tourism. Last year, World Tourism Day (WTD) was celebrated under the theme Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future, which highlighted tourism’s responsibility in ensuring a sustainable water future.

The principles of sustainability are outlined in the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, UNWTO’s founding document. WTD 2014 will be held under the theme Tourism and Community Development – focusing on the ability of tourism to empower people and provide them with skills to achieve change in their local communities.

Let’s have a look at the major steps taken to promote sustainable tourism development on a global outlook:-

Advancing sustainability of inland water destinations:
With an increasing number of tourists visiting inland water destinations every year, the challenges and opportunities of responsible tourism management in these areas have become a growing concern.

Nearly Zero Energy Hotels (NEZEH) project:
With the launch of the Hotel Energy Solutions (HES) online toolkit, it enables the hotels to assess their energy consumption and move towards more sustainable energy alternatives. NEZEH aims to provide technical assistance and solutions to hoteliers across Europe, with pilot projects in seven countries – Spain, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Romania, Croatia and France.

 

NEZEH will build a methodology demonstrating profitability and feasibility through business cases that show the environmental and socio-economic benefits of becoming a Nearly Zero Energy Hotel.

Sustainable Tourism Observatories:
In 2013, the first Sustainable Tourism Observatory in Europe under the auspices of UNWTO was inaugurated on the Aegean Islands in Greece.

 

This Sustainable Tourism Observatory examines the environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism in the archipelago and serves as a model to expand the concept to a national level.

Private Sector Commitment to the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism:
More than 200 prominent hotel chains, tour operators and professional travel and tourism associations have now joined the Private Sector Commitment to the Code of Ethics, an international campaign launched in 2011 to promote the implementation and dissemination of the Code by the private sector.

UNWTO Committee on Tourism and Sustainability (CTS):
The CTS aims to advance the sustainable development and management of tourism and focus on the generation of social, economic and cultural benefits at tourism destinations, while minimizing the negative impacts upon natural or socio-cultural environments.
Source: UNWTO

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