Global Guidelines for the Development of Sustainable Tourism

In 2005, the UNWTO published a guide together with the UNEP, in which a total of twelve development goals or principles for sustainable tourism are defined and which are still used worldwide (see Fig. 1). They are briefly outlined below (cf. UNEP/UNWTO 2005):

Figure 1: Principles for sustainable tourism (UNWTO/UNEP 2005)

Tourism companies and destinations only contribute to the creation of local or regional prosperity if they act in an economically viable manner. The expenditures of tourist should as far as possible remain within a regional destination; the economic and social benefits should as widely as possibly be distributed within a community and also benefit underprivileged parts of the local population.

The tourism offer must meet the demands of the visitors and be experienced without endangering the health of the guests. Visitors must not be discriminated. When planning and managing tourism the needs of the local population are to be taken into account. The communities also benefit in terms of infrastructural improvements through the develepent of tourism in their region (e.g. health and supply facilities). Exploitation of residents through tourism is prevented (e.g. sex tourism).

The tourism industry respects and promotes the historical heritage of the destination and its original characteristic features (culture and traditions). At the same time, it contributes to the preservation and improvement of the landscape and townscape as well as to nature conservation (protected areas, habitat protection, wildlife protection) and avoids damage to the environment with its activities. The use of scarce or non-renewable resources as well as the emission of pollutants and the contamination of water and landscape is reduced to a minimum in the scope of the development and operation of tourism infrastructure (e.g. hotels) and in the implementation of tourism activities (e.g. transport).

Tourism should create qualified and appropriately paid jobs with the best possible working conditions in a region. Companies should not discriminate employees based on their gender, age, race or similar (for all princiaples see UNEP/UNWTO 2005).

The implementation of the principles of sustainable tourism requires the use of both soft and hard control- and steering instruments. Tourism in a region can only be made more sustainable in the long term if all stakeholders work together at the best of their ability. Important stakeholders here are:

• Tourism companies such as tour operators/agents, transport companies, accommodation and catering establishments, leisure facilities, etc. (Possible control instruments: design of offers and information, voluntary commitments), Actors in sustainable tourism
• Administrative bodies, ministries, parliaments (possible control instruments: funding, legislation, taxes, fees).
• Tourism organisations, lobbyists/interest groups (possible control instruments: information and educational work, projects, initiatives, competitions; aim: influencing politicians, companies and consumers),
• Schools, universities, research institutes (possible control instruments: education, information and educational work in teaching, research) and
• the demand-side (influence: appropriate travel behavior).

Strong leadership and effective international policies for sustainable tourism are needed to maintain a positive and intact natural, cultural, social and economic environment for the tourism industry. There are a number of international organizations, governments, and non- governmental organisations which take on this leadership role and have developed a series of guidelines, policy papers and recommendations for sustainable tourism development over the past 30 years. Therefore, a few organizations and tourism stakeholders that operate on a global level to foster sustainable tourism within the frame of specific guidelines will be presented in the following.

Of particular note is the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which is the United Nations agency consisting of representatives of the private business sector, tourism associations, tourism authorities and educational institutions which is responsible for promoting sustainable tourism policies worldwide (UNWTO, n.d.-a), and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), a forum of travel and tourism industry leaders to discuss and formulate global travel and tourism policies to "raise awareness of the full economic and social impact and potential of travel and tourism" (WTTC, 2021a). The UNWTO and WTTC very often work together to respond to current issues, challenges and crises.

As the leading international governmental organisation, the UNWTO is responsible for promoting sustainable and inclusive tourism as a driver of economic growth. Due to its 159 member states and thus global reach, the UNWTO provides not only networking and partnership possibilities but rather supports the tourism sector and its development by providing assistance in tourism policy integration, capacity building and knowledge transfer on a global level.

The focus of the UNWTO lies on the major topics “Sustainable Development”, “Competitiveness”, “Innovation, Investment and Digital Transformation”, “Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility” and “Technical Cooperation”. In addition to that, the UNWTO functions as a global platform for tourism statistics and offers opportunities for training and job creation in the tourism sector via its UNWTO Academy (UNWTO, n.d.-a). Through international conventions, programmes as well as initiatives and publications, the UNWTO contributes to sustainable tourism development on multiple levels. A first milestone on sustainable tourism policies was released together with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2005, the Making Tourism More Sustainable: A Guide for Policy Makers (UNWTO & UNEP, 2005). Furthermore, the UNWTO contributed to the development of the first international standard on accessible tourism for all named ISO 21902 Tourism and related services – Accessible tourism for all – Requirements and recommendations, published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2021 (UNWTO, n.d.-b). Another relevant publication is the UNWTO Global Guidelines to Restart Tourism which was published in 2020 by the organisation to assess and visualize the impact of the corona pandemic on international tourism and provide guidelines to cope with respective challenges in recovering. At the same time, the UNWTO started a collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to form a “Global Tourism Crisis Committee” consisting of key UN agencies, the chairs of its Executive Council and Regional Commissions, and private sector leaders. The committee’s purpose is to provide assistance and guidance to the tourism sector while building a foundation for future resilience and sustainable growth (UNWTO, 2020b).

Another relevant stakeholder and driver of sustainable development is The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which functions as the leading global environmental authority. The purpose of the UNEP is to “provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations” (UNEP, n.d.). Besides the already mentioned milestone document Making Tourism More Sustainable: A Guide for Policy Makers, the UNEP contributes worldwide on multiple levels to sustainable development including programmes and initiatives linked to sustainable tourism such as the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative in collaboration with the UNWTO and The One Planet Network.

The World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) mission is to “maximise the inclusive and sustainable growth potential of the Travel & Tourism sector by partnering with governments, destinations, communities, and other stakeholders to drive economic development, create jobs, reduce poverty, security, and understanding in our world” (WTTC, 2021a). The organisation therefore focuses on three key initiatives “Security and Travel Facilitation”, “Sustainable Growth” and “Crisis Preparedness, Management & Recovery” and collaborates with public and private stakeholders to foster destination stewardship and enable the growth of travel and tourism (WTTC, 2021b). To contribute to the tourism recovery, the WTTC launched the SafeTravels Protocol initiative as well as the world's first health and hygiene Stamp SafeTravel Stamp to identify destinations and businesses that comply with global health and hygiene standards (WTTC, 2021c).

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation that works for better policies and better lives. Its aim is to shape policies that promote prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all. For the tourism industry, the OECD analyses and monitors policies and structural changes that affect the development of domestic and international tourism. A range of reports, policy briefs, articles and digital data provide its members and partners with knowledge that they can use to inform policy decisions in their countries (see OECD). One of its most important publications is the OECD Tourism Trends and Policies, the latest edition of which was published in 2020 (OECD, 2020). Considering the most recent challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the paper Managing tourism development for sustainable and inclusive recovery was published which calls for a greater policy focus on the environmental and socio-cultural pillars of sustainability. Five policy solutions were recommended which aim to: i) rethink tourism success, ii) adopt an integrated policy-industry-community approach, iii) mainstream sustainable policies and practices, iv) develop more sustainable tourism business models, and v) implement better measure to better manage (OECD, 2021).

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a global organisation that promotes and contributes to international cooperation and development in education, science, culture and communication and information. As an active participant in the implementation of the global Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UNESCO manages international programmes and provides a network to exchange knowledge and ideas regarding educational tools, scientific projects and cultural heritage and equal dignity. The UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme “represents a new approach based on dialogue and stakeholder cooperation where planning for tourism and heritage management is integrated at a destination level, the natural and cultural assets are valued and protected, and appropriate tourism developed” (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2021). In 2016 in collaboration with the UNEP, the UNESCO published the report World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate which examines the impact of climate change on tourism and World Heritage as well as provides a basis for taking action (ibid.).

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations whose purpose is to fight world hunger and malnutrition by leading programmes and global initiatives focusing on food access, security and quality for all. The FAO, bringing together 194 member states, operates in over 130 countries and is especially engaged in achieving the common Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals SDG1 “No poverty” and SDG2 “Zero Hunger”. Based on this, the FAO launched the initiative Hand-in-Hand that focuses on identifying and supporting countries in need to “accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development” (FAO, 2021). Via its five Principles “Target the poorest”, “Matchmaking”, “FAO mandate and SDG targets”, “Provide a framework” and “Partnerships”, the initiative strengthens international cooperation and provides countries with the highest rates of poverty and hunger with guidance and support to take action (ibid.). In the context of sustainable tourism, the FAO and the UNWTO collaborate to boost sustainable rural tourism, strengthen rural economies and conserve ecosystems as agreed on in the so called “Memorandum of Understanding” (UNWTO, 2020a).

2.2.1       Sustainable Consumption and Production, the Circular Green Economy and Green Tourism

Worldwide, the tourism industry has a significant impact on the global and local environment, e.g., through pollution and waste, depletion of natural resources and increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and can threaten healthy ecosystems and habitats of flora and fauna that form the basis for tourism activities (UNEP, 2019).

To avert or reduce damage, tourism operations have to be transformed into low carbon and resource-efficient operations along the whole tourism supply chain which requires circular and sustainable production and consumption practices.

The circular economy model aims to optimise resource use and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions, focusing on avoiding waste and using materials, resources and products as long as possible in the entire value chain. Similarly, the circular economy model aims to build and secure human and social capital through the creation of fair jobs and through a more equal and equitable distribution of resources and financial capital. Circular economic practices therefore offer a suitable set of tools for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and thus for sustainable development (Einarsson & Sorin, 2020).

The principles of the circular economy are effective in all sectors of the tourism industry. In capital-intensive sectors such as accommodation, catering, and transport, the most important lever for circular transformation is circular procurement, i.e., the procurement of equipment and inputs suitable for maintenance, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling. This enables tourism value chains to transform into low Co₂ and resource-efficient operations.

For service-oriented tourism sectors such as travel agencies and tour operators, the possible lever for transformation is clear market positioning and differentiation oriented towards circularity and cooperation. Targeted storytelling, awareness raising, dialogue with customers, business partners and stakeholders in destinations aim to promote circular initiatives along the entire tourism value chain and thus achieve a positive impact (Einarsson & Sorin, 2020).

The circular economy offers the tourism industry a transition to a resilient and sustainable tourism system and has the potential to significantly optimise resource use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while creating competitive advantages for businesses and thus contributing to higher value creation. A significant decoupling of resource use from economic value creation takes place and a positive contribution is made to the regeneration of natural (through the elimination of waste and negative impacts on the ecosystem) and human capital (e.g., through innovation, learning and skilled jobs). At the same time, higher resource productivity along tourism service chains leads to higher value creation in the form of cost reductions, reduced risks, new product and service innovations, and new revenue streams.

The realization that the long-term goal of a shift towards circularity and sustainable consumption and production patterns (SCP) on a global level requires commitment and international cooperation of both developed and developing countries, led to the adoption of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP) at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012. Covering the period 2012-2022, the 10YFP shall enable the UN member states to develop, exchange and thus multiply innovative and effective approaches to accelerate sustainable consumption and production. To ensure the implementation of the 10YFP the multi- stakeholder partnership The One Planet Network was formed. Through its six programmes Public Procurement, Buildings and Construction, Tourism, Food Systems, Consumer Information, and Lifestyles and Education, the One Planet Network functions as a platform to guide, measure, and monitor the worldwide shift to SCP patterns (The One Planet Network, n.d.-a).

After the adoption of the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a Mid-term Review of the 10YFP, the Network published the 5-year strategy “One Plan for One Planet” for the period 2018-2022 to strategically address and implement the transformation towards sustainable consumption and production in alignment with Goal 12 of the Agenda 2030.

Part of this strategy is The Sustainable Tourism Programme of the One Planet Network supporting initiatives which decouple tourism’s growth from the increased use of natural resources and promoting circularity and sustainable consumption and production as keys to advance the 2030 Agenda (UNEP, 2019). Besides The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative that aims at reducing Tourism’s global plastic pollution, a major focus of the Sustainable Tourism Programme lies on the restart of the tourism sector due to the recent challenges of the COVID- 19 pandemic. Therefore, the One Planet Vision for a Responsible Recovery of the Tourism Sector promotes and recommends actions for supporting a more sustainable and (crisis-) resilient tourism sector in pandemic and post-pandemic times (The One Planet Network, n.d.- b).

The document Indicators of Success of the One Planet network not only demonstrates the process and methodology to achieve a worldwide shift towards SCP patterns, it also provides “a breakdown of the concept of SCP into more tangible elements or ‘SCP impact areas’ such as biodiversity protection and sustainable land use, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, water use efficiency and waste reduction (World Tourism Organization and United Nations Environment Programme, 2019, p.7).

The Indicators of Success methodology served as well the Baseline Report on the Integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns into Tourism Policies that was released by the UNWTO and UN Environment Programme to advance the integration of Sustainable

Consumption and Production into tourism policies by recommending five strategic approaches, “including using the SDGs as a guiding framework and prioritizing SDG 12 for multiplier effects, outlining SCP policy instruments to pave the way towards implementation, supporting the regular and timely measurement for effective implementation, incorporating geospatial data to visualize the interactions with the environment and embracing other innovative  approaches, particularly circularity” (World Tourism Organization and United Nations Environment Programme 2019, p. 60-67). Furthermore, the report “presents for the first time a global assessment of the presence of SCP policy instruments in national tourism policies and sets – therefore, a baseline” (World Tourism Organization and United Nations Environment Programme, 2019, p.6).

2.2.2       Tourism and the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

In 2015, the United Nations established the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which provide a new and comprehensive vision for sustainable development until 2030. Their predecessors, the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), were in place from 2000 to 2015 and all had specific, measurable targets across a broad spectrum of poverty reduction, human development and environmental sustainability. The SDGs differ from the MDGs, although they build on them both conceptually and institutionally. The scope of the SDGs is broader and they aim to engage multiple interests and actors from the public and private sectors as well as civil society (Hwang & Kim, 2017). The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are further refined to 169 targets which address economic, social and environmental aspects. As the SDGs are not legally binding, governments are supposed to create national frameworks for achieving the 17 goals. The primary responsibility for reviewing progress towards the goals lies with the individual countries, which requires high-quality, easily accessible and timely data collection. Though the SGDs are universally accepted by various governments, their success relies heavily on activities and collaboration with the business sector and civil society (Woodbridge, 2015). Multi-stakeholder partnerships are key to the successful implementation of the SDGs. Such stakeholder groups work across sectors including governments and engage in projects, initiatives, advocacy, knowledge sharing, and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda. Prioritising sustainable production and consumption also has a positive impact on the success of the SDGs. This can be achieved by developing sustainable and inclusive economic models. Successes within the SDGs, which are particularly cross-cutting, can best be achieved through effective vertical integration i.e., cooperation between all levels of government and involvement of key stakeholders (Woodbridge, 2015).

The major challenges for the successful implementation of the SDGs are, on the one hand, the likelihood that national governments only focus on the goals that are in line with their existing development agenda and thus miss the integration potential associated with the SDGs. On the other hand, collecting, analysing and disseminating data to monitor the achievement of the goals is a major hurdle for many countries (Woodbridge, 2015).

Three SDGs explicitly mention sustainable tourism.

In SDG 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth” the Target 8.9 states “By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products” which refers to tourism’s contribution to job creation and also recognizes tourism as one of the driving forces of global economic growth (UNWTO, 2015, p. 2).

Goal 12 of the SDGs generally addresses the issue of "sustainable consumption and production". A tourism sector that adopts "sustainable consumption and production patterns" (SCP) can play an important role in accelerating global change towards sustainability. This reflects Target 12.b of SDG 12, namely to "develop and implement tools to monitor the impact of sustainable development on sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products" (UNWTO, 2015, p. 1).

As already mentioned, the “Sustainable Tourism Programme” (STP) of the One Planet Network aims at developing such SCP practices.

Within SDG 14 “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” the Target 14.7 states “by 2030 increase the economic benefits to SIDS and LDCs from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism”. This means that tourism development must be a part of “Integrated Coastal Zone Management in order to help conserve and preserve fragile marine ecosystems and serve as a vehicle to promote a blue economy” (UNWTO, 2015, p. 1).

UNWTO also considers that tourism may be relevant in many more goals and targets beyond those that explicitly mention sustainable tourism. The private sector in tourism plays an important role in the implementation of the SDGs. While the private tourism sector can internalise and contribute to all 17 SDGs, its activities mainly relate to SDGs 1, 4, 8, 12, 13, and 14., which deal with "No Poverty", "Quality Education", "Decent Work and Economic Growth", "Responsible Consumption and Production", "Climate Action", and “Healthy Marine Ecosystems. Some tourism businesses have also recognised that aligning business objectives with the SDGs can lead to greater efficiency, cost savings and competitiveness (UNWTO & UNDP, 2017).

• Networking, Clustering and Knowledge Transfer - The Need for Collaborative Action

If the 80s and 90s were all about desktop computer networking, and the 00s and 10s gave us online information-sharing communities, then the 20s and 30s are proving to be the age of network clustering and the full development of a global knowledge economy. This has been recognised at the global level since the beginning of the Millennium when the UN's World Summit on Sustainable Development promoted the concept that sustainability cannot be achieved without collaboration between government, business and civil society stakeholders.

For knowledge transfer Nicolopoulou (2011) proposes a theoretical framework in the domain of sustainability, which consists of three perspectives: intergenerational, collaborative innovation, and diversity. In this model, the intergenerational perspective takes into account that different generations may have different viewpoints towards sustainability, whereas the collaborative innovation perspective is about transferring “[…] knowledge from a more ‘developed’ context, into a ‘developing’ context […] proactively seeking to engage local stakeholders in the ‘problem identification’ as well as ‘solution creation’ space” (Nicolopoulou, 2011, pp. 530-531). Lastly, the diversity perspective looks at the extent to which human resource management (HRM) practices are in line with and/or supportive of sustainability knowledge transfer practices (Nicolopoulou, 2011).

A case example is the ‘Tourism Research Innovation and Next Generation Learning Experience’ (TRIANGLE) initiative (Gunter & Zekan 2019). TRIANGLE is a so-called Knowledge Alliance originally established in 2017 between four higher education institutions from different EU member countries, as well as three non-academic partner institutions (European Commission, 2017a). These Knowledge Alliances are funded by the European Commission through ‘Key Action 2: Innovation and Good Practices’ within its Erasmus+ Programme (European Commission, 2017b). Their goal is: “to foster innovation in and through higher education together with businesses, and beyond, contributing to new approaches to teaching and learning, entrepreneurship in education, and the modernisation of higher education systems in Europe” (European Commission, 2017b, Key Action 2: Innovation and good practices).

For collaboration and networking, the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 developed the concept of ‘Type 2 Partnerships’ for the implementation of Agenda 21, based on the complex formula of ‘Tripartite Partnerships’. This evolved in 2012 at Rio20+ - into the concept of ‘Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainable Development’. In 2015, as part of the Millennium Goals update and merger with Agenda 21 process, this concept was updated in Agenda 2030 through the development of SDG 17- ‘Partnerships for the Goals’ which has initiated the era of collaborative networking at all levels of territorial activity:

‘A successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships — at the global, regional, national and local levels — built upon principles and values, and upon a shared vision and shared goals placing people and the planet at the centre.’

There are three global sustainability networks outlined below.

The One Planet Network

As already mentioned, The One Planet Network has been the UNs main collaborative multi- stakeholder response in the tourism sector, being a joint effort between the UNWTO and UNEP to involve a range of civil society NGOs in a global networking and knowledge transfer programme. It has become an SDG 12 hub in terms of sustainable consumption and  production (SCP) in tourism.

‘The One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme supports the transition towards a circular economy as a pathway for the sustainable development of tourism’. The One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme aims to accelerate sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in tourism policies and practices to address the challenges of pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change. It promotes knowledge sharing and networking opportunities to define collective priorities and identify solutions.’

Global Council for Sustainable Tourism (GSTC)

The GSTC is the world’s leading collaborative network supporting the development of tourism sustainability through certification. The GSTC is an independent NGO organization composed of national and provincial governments, travel companies, hotels, tour operators, NGO’s, individuals and communities – all looking to implement third party-assessed sustainable tourism. Since 2009 it has been able to bring the qualitative debate on what is a sustainable tourism business into a series of 37 quantitative criteria with over 150 indicators covering governance, economic environmental and cultural issues (see the Industry Criteria for Hotels and Tour Operators). The GSTC now also provides a set of destination criteria for territorial management that supports MSME sustainability certification processes.

The Travel Green Planet Initiative

Ecotrans, the European Network for Sustainable Tourism Development, has spent over 25 years working with the UN, EU and national governments to make tourism more sustainable through the implementation of multi-stakeholder, multi-sector and multi-level sustainability knowledge transfer based on ICT networking. Having created the world’s largest 3rd party certified sustainable tourism market place (with currently over 16,000 certified businesses globally) on its knowledge networking platform Tourism 2030, they launched the Travel Green Planet Initiative at the ITB in 2019 to both upscale their EU work to the global level and develop an international cluster of tourism stakeholders with an interest in tourism supply chain certification. The initiative has developed an innovative Travel Green App and Mapping System for destinations to map certified businesses on a local to global scale in the 2020 – 2030 Decade of Implementation of Agenda 2030 and share the information to cluster participants and travellers alike (see Destinet).

In the framework of the European Tourism Going Green 2030 project the Tourism 2030 Portal is being developed as a local- to-global tourism SCP supply chain certification clustering tool. Information is collected collaboratively through the clustering process and provides b2b, b2g and b2c knowledge transfer in the form of local to global maps of a country or region’s MSME development of certified sustainable and responsible tourism offers (see Destinet https://destinet.eu/who-who/destinet-users).

Table 1: International Milestones and outcomes regarding sustainable tourism

Source: Own compilation, referring to Beyer et al. (2017)

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