Charting a new path forward for travel and tourism

The travel industry has had an unprecedented journey over the last few decades. From the 1970s to 2019, international tourist arrivals grew from 200 million to 1.6 billion. As a result, many places struggled with overtourism and the resulting resident dissatisfaction. Other places struggled to attract tourism and capture that capital for local conservation and communities. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism came to an unprecedented stop globally. The sector was one of the hardest hits by pandemic-related border closures and public health measures, which left tourism businesses and tourism-driven economies permanently changed. While there are positive signs of recovery, business and leisure travellers alike have become more discerning and more cautious about the impact of further COVID-19 developments or related travel disruptions and increasingly considerate of the impact of their travel choices on climate, the environment, and communities. As governments and businesses cautiously reconsider investment strategies, risk mitigation and how to manage continued demand volatility, there is no better time for destinations to inventory their assets and make plans to restore and shape the conditions and management of places for the long run. Tourism’s astounding growth in the past 50 years has contributed to global job creation and economic development; but as with many sectors, it has not been without impact on the global climate crisis, biodiversity, and traditional ways of preserving environments held by communities worldwide. With adequate governance and considerate redesign, tourism can instead be an effective vehicle for biodiversity conservation and climate action and help fulfil the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Sustainable Tourism has collectively developed these Ten Principles for Sustainable Destinations to guide policymakers, businesses, and destination management companies to enable positive planning and behaviour change to restore destinations and optimize their offerings for a sustainable future. The principles are usefully aligned with the SDGs so that they can be integrated meaningfully into existing or complementary initiatives or planning processes that seek to achieve the Global Goals.

source :

https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Ten_Principles_for_Sustainable_Destinations_2022.pdf