U.N. talks encourage tourism industry changes

According to the U.N., the tourism industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy, sought especially by developing countries to boost foreign investment and earnings

May 5, 1999
Web posted at: 3:45 PM EDT

The first United Nations meeting on sustainable tourism concluded last week with new suggestions and broad plans for combating the negative environmental and social impacts of tourism.

The talks were held April 19-30 as a follow-up to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit at the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development. Participants included representatives from the tourism industry, national and local governments, trade unions and activist groups.

According to the U.N., the tourism industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy, sought especially by developing countries to boost foreign investment and earnings.

The number of people travelling internationally is expected to increase from 612 million in 1997 to about 1.6 billion by the year 2020 and earnings from international tourism will rise from $443 billion in 1997 to more than $2 trillion by 2020, according to the World Tourism Organization. Industry groups cite research showing that in 2000, travel and tourism will generate, directly and indirectly, 11.7 percent of global GDP and nearly 200 million jobs.

However, uncontrolled growth can lead to environmental and social problems that, in addition to harming local residents, in the long term will undermine the profits and jobs created, as idyllic destinations become less desirable, according to the U.N. The conference sought to develop solutions to this problem and suggest ways governments can make tourism more sustainable.

At the conference government officials developed a consensus action plan, which was adopted by the commission.

"We've come up with some good recommendations," said Simon Upton, the current commission chair and New Zealand's Minister of Environment, at a press conference. He was particularly pleased with the concrete proposal that airlines show in-flight videos to educate tourists about the environmental and cultural sensitivities of their destination, and he urged all governments to talk to their airlines.

For his own country, for example, a video might let incoming tourists know the severe problems caused to ecosystems by invasive species brought in by visitors, since the isolated island nation has many unique flora and fauna, and also make tourists aware of the cultural sensitivities of the indigenous Maori people.

The commission urged governments to develop national strategies or master plans for sustainable tourism and to work in partnership with the tourism industry and other major groups, especially at the local level.

The tourism industry highlighted their efforts to promote environmentally sound practices, for example through the "Green Globe" program, which independently rates tourist destinations by certain "green" criteria, and the International Hotels Environment Initiative. The U.N. commission asked the tourism industry to continue these voluntary schemes and called for a comprehensive survey and assessment of the results.

A new initiative to integrate tourism into local government planning was announced during the talks by the World Travel and Tourism Council, which coordinated industry participation in the U.N. meeting. They will link their "Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry" with the "Local Agenda 21" program used by more than 1,800 mayors and community leaders worldwide. These are both based on "Agenda 21", the global blueprint for sustainable development adopted at the Rio Earth Summit.

There was general agreement at the dialogue that a number of pilot communities should be selected to show how these two programs could together improve tourism planning, and the U.N. commission encouraged such joint schemes.

For more information, contact Pragati Pascale, UN Department of Public Information, (212)963-6870, email: pascale@un.org.

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