Happy World Tourism Day to you!
Photo by Damir Bosnjak on Unsplash
Since 1980, the UN has celebrated World Tourism Day on September 27, in order to raise awareness on the role of tourism and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide. Some 37 years later, we can clearly see different effects of tourism around the world; from Bhutan who restrict touristic activity dramatically to gain a higher quality tourism, to cities like Venice and Barcelona who struggle with over-tourism, and “tourism as a by-product of an overstressed society” (think Clubmed) as Theodore Zeldin, a philosopher we discovered this year and whose thoughts we find highly inspiring, explains in “Muse Hotels and Tourist Ambassadors“.
Photo by Mark Daynes on Unsplash
So, we think that it is time to re-route tourism and make it great again. For this it needs to be sustainable, not only from an economical point of view. “Sustainable tourism is defined as tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities. It should thus make optimal use of environmental resources, respect host communities and ensure viable, long-term economic operations so that benefits are equitably distributed among all stakeholders.”
We aim to build our project on the principles of sustainable tourism, in order to achieve good business on three dimensions: economic, social and environmental.
Here some sites of other we find very inspiring and helpful when it comes to doing business and/or travelling:
Sustainability Leaders
Sustainable Tourism
Biosphere Tourism
Wecoplan
La Ecoturista
The key is to: think before you travel! There is plenty of information out there to help you have an eco-friendly holiday… enjoy!