Sustainable tourism is “envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems." (United Nations World Tourism Organization) However, there does seem to be some confusion on how to attain sustainability and travelers looking to leave a lighter footprint currently must choose from over 300 different sustainable tourism standards - no easy task.
Here’s some good news. United Nations Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner recently announced the first-ever globally relevant sustainable tourism criteria at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The new criteria – based on thousands of best practices culled from the existing standards currently in use around the world – were developed to offer a common framework to guide the emerging practice of sustainable tourism and to help businesses, consumers, governments, non-governmental organizations and education institutions to ensure that tourism helps, rather than harms, local communities and the environment. Green Globe International, Inc., the premier international green brand for sustainable tourism, has endorsed the new criteria.
The criteria require that tourism operations conduct their business without having an adverse impact on a destination's habitats, local communities, or cultural heritage. If widely adopted, the standard could further expand efforts to green the supply chain of hotels and resorts as well as lessen the impact on wildlife and local communities. This initiative should make information more readily available to travelers and travel providers, and will help ensure that the information is reliable – a step forward, and in the right direction, for sustainable tourism.
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