World summit on Sustainable Tourism

20th ANNIVERSARY of the world charter for sustainable tourism

In 1995 the Charter for Sustainable Tourism was adopted at the first World Conference on Sustainable Tourism, held on the island of Lanzarote (Spain). This historic action took place under the auspices of UNESCO, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the leading associated international organisations and related programmes, such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the MAB Programme (Man and the Biosphere), the World Heritage Centre, the European Commission and the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development. The conference saw the birth of the term and the concept of Sustainable Tourism, which, along with the Declaration, was a significant shift in the tourism industry and the carrying out of tourism towards more responsible ways of conducting and conceiving this activity. Twenty years later, major changes have occurred in today’s world and in the travel and tourism industry, obliging us to rethink and update the terms and objectives of the initial declaration in order to give new drive and meaning to the commitment to sustainability in this key sector. The World Summit on Sustainable Tourism (ST+20) is therefore the major event of 2015 to bring together the key actors in sustainable tourism in the search for a new drive to work towards its goals.

CHARTER FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM (1995)

ORGANIZERS

RTI came up after the "World Conference on Sustainable Tourism: Towards a New Tourist Culture" (Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, April 1995) sponsored by UNESCO. The ITR's main objective has always been promoting the principles of the "CHARTER FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM".

RTI is an independent organization and its purpose is implementing actions and programs of sustainable development in the touristic industry. For this target, ITR follows the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, Rio 1992), and of the guidelines from several programs of the World Tourism Organization and UNESCO about sustainable development and cultural and natural heritage protection.

Basquetour is the public society of the Department of Economic Development and Competitiveness of the Basque Government, created in 2006 to lead the promotion and implementation of the strategy for Basque tourism competitiveness, currently defined for Euskadi in the "Strategic Plan of the Basque Tourism 2020" in collaboration with public and private entities that make up Euskadi 's tourism industry.

The mission of the Basque Tourism Agency, Basquetour, is to lead the promotion and implementation of the strategy of tourism competitiveness defined for Euskadi.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) serves as the international body for establishing and managing standards for sustainable tourism. The GSTC strives to promote sustainable tourism through a common language, and one of its key objectives is to facilitate the adoption and creation of universal principles for sustainable tourism.

The GSTC works towards better understanding of sustainable tourism practices and the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles around the four pillars of sustainable tourism: effective sustainability planning; maximizing social and economic benefits to the local community; reduction of negative impacts to cultural heritage; and reduction of negative.