Tourism and resource use Any future here? Stefanos Fotiou United Nations Environment Programme

Sustainable tourism development

Assets Fixed Mobile e.g. Objects e.g. Landscapes e.g. Facilities e.g. Traditions Humans Tangible Intangible

The main argument The survival of tourism development is depended mainly (but not only) on patterns of: Consumption of resources (natural, social, cultural, economic…); Consumption (use) of tourism products and services Consumption oriented problems to be addressed with production based solutions AND behavioural change

The needs Measure the impacts (qualitative and quantitative approach) Develop a policy framework for sustainable tourism Create tools for governments, the industry and the consumers Implementation

Do we have solutions? Current technology can reduce tourism’s carbon footprint by almost 35% NOT ENOUGH We need also behavioral change Technology + Modal shift: 45% reduction The main challenge: Aviation

UNEP’s response Global Sustainable Tourism Partnership Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria Tourism Sustainability Council Sustainable Investment and Finance in Tourism (SIFT) Green Passport Campaign ENVIROTEL tool Tourism and natural disasters Sustainable coastal tourism ……………………………

Tourism of the future? Serve human wellbeing and not human vanity Protect and conserve natural environment Support local businesses and create local employment Working with communities

Sustainable tourism and economic efficiency Decrease the cost of handling the impacts Increase profits Conserve the assets of the tourism development Assure future profits Diversify the tourism products and thus target new markets Generate new profits

Thank you for your kind attention