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Sustainability is an aspiration. It will only be realised if and when we take responsibility for making tourism sustainable. Responsibility drives sustainability. Responsible Tourism is about "making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit."

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The diversity of our world makes travel worthwhile and generates tourism. Few businesses or destinations can address all the issues on the Responsible Tourism agenda. We need to explain why we take responsibility for the things we choose to improve through tourism and the impacts of our efforts.

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Responsible Tourism:

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• Recognises that greenhouse gas emissions, plastic waste, and biodiversity extinction are global issues requiring local action. Potable water is also an issue in many places, but not everywhere;

• Sets goals, measures and reports efforts to minimise negative economic, environmental, and social impacts, including crowding and overtourism;

• Generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities by providing better employment conditions, developing shared value with local businesses to create more and better livelihoods and addressing the economic needs of the economically poor and marginalised;

• Involves local people in decisions that affect their communities, their lives and life chances;

• Makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world's diversity, lived cultures and cultural monuments;

• Addresses biodiversity loss and is nature-positive;

• Provides inclusive employment for the differently abled and people of diverse ethnicities, gender and sexual orientation;

• Provides more enjoyable experiences for all, through more meaningful connections with local people and a greater understanding of local history and culture, and social and environmental issues;

• Offers culturally sensitive experiences engendering respect between tourists and hosts, and building local pride and confidence.

 

We call upon countries, multilateral agencies, destinations, and enterprises to develop practical guidelines and to encourage planning authorities, tourism businesses, tourists and local communities - to take responsibility for achieving sustainable tourism and creating better places for people to live in and for people to visit.

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Recognising that sustainability is a journey and that we will need to do more when we can, we commit to:

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• do what we can to make tourism better,

• explain why we focus on particular issues and what we are doing to address them, and

• recognising that transparent and auditable reporting on the impacts of our efforts is essential to demonstrating what is being achieved by those taking responsibility,

• moving our sector towards sustainability.