Tourism Policy
„2050 – Tomorrow's Tourism" by Ian Yeoman brims with enthusiasm, optimism and daring prophecies as his predictions are projected from today’s wealth, technology and resources. As a result, the consequences of global technology and income divides that will definitely persist beyond 2050 are paid...
According to all reliable scientific scenarios, the Mediterranean is one of the world's regions where the effect of climate change will be most pronounced, together with Central America, the Caribbean and large areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Temperatures have already started to increase...
Sanit tried to maintain his stride while walking towards the sea, but everybody knew that he was sick. A while ago, Sanit, who is 36, was diving down more than 20m to collect fish from traps on the seabed and rose to the surface too quickly. That caused him to suffer decompression sickness,...
Many economic sectors have developed standards for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), e.g. the "Better Cotton Initiative", the "Floriculture Sustainability Initiative, "Responsible Care" in the chemical industry, or "Bettercoal". Instead of a CSR standard, the tourism industry has more than...
Since the revolution in Tunisia in January 2011, package tourism has recovered a bit. However, as Eveline Brändle-Ouertani reports, hotels, restaurants and traders are still suffering because many Europeans consider a trip to Tunisia rather unsafe. The economy, which the government had most...
From 26th to 30th March, 2013 the World Social Forum is planned in the Tunisian capital of Tunis. In cooperation with international partners, Bread for the World – Tourism Watch is planning several events focussing on tourism and human rights.
Workshops will discuss working conditions in the...
The 9th Asia-Europe People's Forum (AEPF) in October in the Laotian capital of Vientiane drew international attention to the small South East Asian state and helped to strengthen civil society in the country. With more than 1000 participants, AEPF 9 was the most successful so far. Every other...
Without proper legislation in place, touristification of Myanmar has already begun. The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism declared tourism the country’s ‘national priority sector’ in its Responsible Tourism Policy (RTP) in September. In the same month, the Ministry had signed Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar...
Tourists travelling to Sri Lanka might unintentionally support businesses linked to war crimes and human rights violations. We asked Fred Carver, coordinator of the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, why travellers should take a closer look at who benefits from their holiday. The Sri Lanka...
Subject of this research isthe analysis of selected social and sustainability label in the tourism sector regarding to the theme "Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism".
This involves the question of whether and how the aspect of "measures ofchild protection" in the underlying...
This study focuses on the climate change adaptation of the tourism sector in Cambodia. Climate change adaptation has come into focus since it has generally been realised that climate change impacts are certain and inevitable, see reports such as the Stern report, in 2006, and the IPCC report, in...
Prior to the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM9) in Vientiane, Laos, in November, the 9th Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF9) will be held from 16th to 19th October, 2012. The civil society event is about people’s solidarity against poverty and for sustainable development. In cooperation with partners...
With climate change and increasing natural disasters, coastal protection has become a burning subject. Large amounts of funds have been allocated for coastal protection, which leads to corruption and the setting of wrong priorities. Coastal conservation has become a money-making business for...
Tourism in Cambodia is multi-faceted. As Jürgen Hammelehle of EED reports, the world-famous temples of Angkor Wat attract mass tourism, while in the village of Chambok, about two hours south of the capital, the local people have developed their own small-scale, community-based tourism.
From...
More than 1.5 billion people worldwide don't have access to modern forms of energy supply. Since energy is of crucial importance for economic and social development, including tourism, the United Nations declared 2012 the "International Year of Sustainable Energy for All".
On this year's World...
The "Green Economy" is not the future that large parts of civil society would like to see. This became evident at the "Peoples' Summit" which took place prior to the UN Conference Rio+20 at Rio de Janeiro in June.
René Schärer was there and shares disappointments, challenges and perspectives....
All-inclusive is a clever way of selling an easy and low-priced holiday to the tourist. At the same time, it offers high returns to the tour operator. On behalf of EED TourismWatch, Adina Pannicke studied the impacts of all-inclusive tourism.
Many of the products offered in destinations such as...
Coastal communities and others in ecologically important areas are primary stakeholders of the eco-system. Mangroves, rain forests, and riparian forests are being destroyed at alarming rates.
Unless the local communities are partners in the protection and conservation of these areas, eco-...
As from the mid-80s, the boom in the global hotel industry has occurred in parallel with an unprecedented expansion of financial capitalism. The point of connection, or synergy, between the two has been the creation of a huge tourism offer in the form of business clusters which have added a wide...
The UN Committee on World Food Security has adopted "Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests".
The guidelines are meant to protect local populations against land grabbing. Big investors, including from the tourism sector, have increasingly...
New companies, new customers: Speech by Klaus Töpfer in honour of newly TourCert-certified companies
There is a need for new enterprises as pioneers for sustainability in tourism, but also for new customers, says former UNEP director Klaus Töpfer. Consumers increasingly pay attention to the conditions under which products have been produced or services rendered.
Both will reinforce each other...
It is being opposed to "business as usual", at least rhetorically: the "green economy" – one of the subjects on top of the agenda of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2012.
The concept, however, fails to question the prevailing growth paradigm and seriously neglects...
The Rio+20 conference might be a new chance to stress that a global policy change is overdue. However, there is increasing evidence that governments will not succeed in setting the right course for sustainable development, says Michael Frein (German Church Development Service).
The current...
The destination became the main competitive unit in the tourism sector, and is defined as as a tourist product and then as a specific supply involving a set of resources, activities and actors of a territory. Further, sustainable destination management is defined as the joint management of a...
In Arthungal, 30 km north of Alappuzha in Kerala, South India, the Kerala Independent Fishermen's Federation has been one of the most active local groups in the fight against tourism's expansion. Recently, they fought to help people regain access to a local church, which had been cut off by a new...
Land rights are a difficult issue in Kenya, as in many other African countries where land title deeds are not common. This leads to serious tensions and conflicts between the indigenous rural population and governmental institutions that often give preference to the tourism sector.
As Patrick...
The human rights related responsibilities of companies have been posing new challenges to the tourism industry. Peter-Mario Kubsch, CEO of Studiosus Reisen, summarises what Studiosus is doing and going to do in order to strengthen human rights in the company's operations.
In early March, the German parliament (Bundestag) will be addressing human rights and tourism. In an interview we asked Klaus Brähmig, MP about the work of the parliamentary tourism committee on human rights, climate change and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The EU's unilateral move to include aviation into the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has met with fierce resistance from a large number of countries, including many developing ones.
We are pleased to invite you to this year´s ITB certification celebration of tourism enterprises by TourCert. By now, 54 tour operators have been awarded with the red label for corporate responsibility and sustainability in tourism. This year is the first time that not only tour operators but...
(Bonn, 02.02.2012) As every year, Tourism Watch will participate in the International Tourism Convention in Berlin from March, 7th - 11th 2012.
Therefore, we already would like to announce our event during the ITB and would like to invite you: On Wednesday, 7th of March at 4pm, we will organise...
At an "International Forum on Alternative Tourism" held in November in Cambodia, the Asiaand Pacific Alliance of YMCAs (APAY) discussed current challenges in tourism and formulated strategic directions on alternative tourism. As Heinz Fuchs reports, the acronym "CHANGE" used by the YMCA stands...
Violence is still common in Timor-Leste (East Timor), years after independence from the Indonesian oppressors in 2002. It also affects small tourism businesses, as Christian Wollnik reports. The country has coral reefs with a high biodiversity. The National Directorate of Tourism focuses on water...
At a side event organised in Durban on the occasion of the recent climate negotiations, representatives of civil society, the tourism industry, government and the World Tourism Organization discussed the nexus of tourism and climate justice. Sabine Minninger reports on the discussion which...
On the front wall, there are posters promoting adventure and fair trade in tourism. At the back of the small briefing room, there are posters explaining the fatal impact of drug use. "Stormsriver Adventures" is active on different fronts. The South African company in Stormsriver has gained a...
Ella Mahlulo (40) is one out of many. She is one out of very many people in South Africawho have suffered in the past. But she is one out of not so many who have faith in the future and have taken the initiative to make a difference in their community. Together with Penny Mainwaring, Ella runs "...
Tourism Concern, together with six NGOs, under them EED Tourism Watch and Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT) have renewed calls for the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to enable poor communities negatively affected by tourism to have a voice in UNWTO processes. This is vital if human...
By Christina Kamp. All actors in tourism have to honour their obligations under the international human rights framework. With reference to our study on human rights and tourism, published by the German Church Development Service (EED) earlier this year*, we asked Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General...
According to a draft CRZ Notification 2010, issued by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests in April 2010, the current protection mechanisms for fragile coastal ecosystems are to be further diluted. Since the introduction of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification in 1991, there...
Tourism is one of the few income opportunities for coastal communities in the Dominican Republic. In an extensive field research, Yolanda León has investigated people's perspectives with regard to tourism. She found that most of the people in rural coastal areas consider tourism as an important...
After the disintegration of the Soviet bloc, Cuba experienced a major economic, social and political crisis. As Enrique Navarro Jurado reports, international tourism was seen as part of the solution. This included opening the sector to foreign investment, in the form of joint-ventures and the...
Tourism has often been praised as a tool for poverty reduction. However, the example of the Dominican Republic shows the limited benefit of the tourism sector for the improvement of people's quality of life, especially in places where it is particularly prominent. The analysis by Pável Isa...
By Christina Kamp
Tourism in Central America has fast become an important economic factor and has contributed to a significant structural change. We asked Ernest Cañada to highlight the social conflicts emerging from this new setting, as well as civil society responses. Ernest Cañada is...
Socially responsible and environmentally sustainable tourism has not yet become an integral part of tourism training. Travel agents are often at a loss if customers happen to ask for sustainable products. As Randy Haubner reports, the Information Centre on Human Rights and Development in Bremen...
By Sumesh Mangalassery
The guns have fallen silent in Sri Lanka's bloody civil war, but the deep wounds of conflict have not even begun to heal. The re-election of President Mahindra Rajapakse seems unlikely to move Sri Lanka to long term peace. His post war policies are deepening the division...
By Rina M. Alluri
The tourism industry is extremely susceptible to violent conflicts. However, the tourism sector's corporate engagement in peace promotion remains mostly indirect. The results of a study carried out jointly by Swisspeace and the Cologne Business School* show that tourism has an...
Not only Israel, but Palestine, too, is home to various tourist attractions. However, the major share of tourist arrivals and tourism income goes to the Israeli tourism industry. If tourism is to have positive effects in conflict regions, there is a need for conflict-sensitive corporate social...
The wildlife reserves of Kenya and Tanzania have become an integral part of the tourism product. While most of the visitors only use their cameras to "hunt" animals, a few wealthy trophy hunters pay huge amounts of money to shoot a buffalo, elephant or lion. As Ulrich Delius reports, the land...
The war is over. The twenty six year war, or rather the civil war, in Sri Lanka was officially declared over when the Tamil separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed by Sri Lankan military on May 19, 2009. In the island, no one talks of terrorism...
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