World Tourism Day 2007 and sustainable tourism

September 27 was World Tourism Day and as I walked through Plaza Mayor (one of Madrid’s main plazas), I was given white margharitas in celebration of it. This year, the United Nations World Tourism Organization chose to highlight the importance of women in the industry, and promote their role and development in the travel-occupation, with special focus on accentuating women of developing countries.

The fact that “Tourism Opening Doors For Women” was their slogan for the year, redirects to thoughts on the importance of “Sustainable Tourism”.

According to the UN’s Tourism Gender website: “Tourism is one of the world’s largest employment and export sectors accounting for approx 5% of global GDP. It is the only service sector with a positive balance of trade towards the developing world. It offers special opportunities in regional, rural & remote areas in all parts of the globe – whether developing or developed.”

In other words, while you travel, you can make a difference.

You can do so in the following way:

1)Make efficient use of environmental resources and help to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.

2) Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.

3) Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.

There are many websites and online travel communities that can give you guidance on how you can make a difference while you are traveling: Transitions Abroad , National Geographic’s Center For Sustainable Destinations, and Matador Travel are good places to start.