Box 4.8 Sustainable tourism policies
Government input: central, regional and local
The aim overall is to ensure that national regional and
local tourism development agreements highlight sustain-
able tourism development policies and practices. Such an
emphasis calls upon government agencies to select a soci-
etally appropriate balance between mass tourism and
eco-tourism in accordance with the following principles.
1 Ensure that national and local tourism development
agreements highlight a policy of sustainable tourism
development, based on locality-specific as well as
sector-specific assessments of the environmental
and cultural tourism assets.
2 Ensure that all those involved in tourism at central
regional and local levels of government are briefed
on the concept of sustainability.
3 Ensure that aggregate tourist visitor days at destina-
tions are well within absorptive capacities.
4 Establish educational-awareness programmes to
connect people to sustainable tourism.
5 Support lower levels of government (subsidiarity) to
develop their own sustainable tourism development
strategies and conservation strategies and include
tourism in the regional and local land-use planning
process,andelaborate design and construction stan-
dards which will ensure that tourism development
projects are safe and sympathetic in relation to local
culture and the natural environment.
6 Enforce regulations to control illegal trade in historic
objects and crafts; regulate against unofficial archae-
ological activities; prevent the erosion of aesthetic
values and desecration of sacred sites; regulate and
control tourism in environmentally and culturally
sensitive localities.And, where appropriate, also to:
7 Support the elaboration of economic models to
define appropriate levels of economic activity for the
natural and humanized areas visited by tourists.
8 Develop standards and regulations for environmen-
tal and also cultural impact avoidance, alleviation and
mitigation.
9 Apply sectoral environmental-economic indicators
and accounting systems for the tourism industry,
including procedures for conducting the assessment
monitoring and auditing of tourism projects.10 Engage tourism advisory boards in public consulta-
tion in order to involve all stakeholders, including
NGOs.
11 Develop tools and techniques to analyse the effects
of tourism development projects on heritage sites
and ancient monuments as an integral part of cul-
tural and environmental impact assessment.
12 Ensure that tourism interests are represented at
major caucus planning meetings that affect the
society the environment and the economy.NGO inputs
Non-government organizations (NGOs) represent and
promote the interests of their community.They also have
access to local information, expertise and labour.1 NGOs are to be represented on tourism advisory
boards at all practical levels of government and indus-
try to provide input into tourism planning and devel-
opment. This includes involvement in regional as well
as site-specific development plans and the planning of
appropriate land uses.
2 NGOs are to be engaged to seek local support for
achieving socially appropriate tourism development as
well as opposing inappropriate tourism development.
3 NGOs are to be encouraged to promote the use of
local residents to assist in tourism research and data
collection.
4 NGOs are to be involved in public education, high-
lighting the economic, social, and environmental sig-
nificance of tourism development.
5 NGOs are to be encouraged to identify and commu-
nicate with regional and local agencies on issues
related to tourism as well as providing an NGO view-
point on solutions to problems.Tourism industry inputs
The private sector is largely responsible for delivering
products and services to the tourist as consumer. In this
regard it is imperative that the industry ‘players’ support
socio-environmental tourism development through the
following actions:1 Sustain the use of resources by ensuring a lasting
openness of access to land, water, forests and the
atmosphere.