Tourism and resource use
Any future here?
Stefanos Fotiou
United Nations Environment Programme
Sustainable tourism
development
Assets
Tangible
e.g. Objects
Mobile
Fixed
e.g. Facilities
Humans
e.g. Landscapes
e.g. Traditions
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


Conserve the assets of the tourism
development


Increase profits
Assure future profits
Diversify the tourism products and thus
target new markets

Generate new profits
Thank you for your kind
attention
[email protected]