EuropeanPost!Graduate!School!of!International!&!Development ... Papers...Research Papers N 20 EuropeanPost!Graduate!School!of!International!&!Development!Studies! Sustainable Tourism

Research Papers N° 20

European Post Graduate School of International & Development Studies

Sustainable Tourism Policy as a Global Instrument for Economic Growth, Poverty

Alleviation and Peace

Ronny Natusch

2012

Master of Arts in International Politics (M.A.)

Ronny NatuschN°: 1229Supervisor: Professor André Miroir

THESIS

Sustainable Tourism Policy as a Global Instrument for

Economic Growth, Poverty Alleviation and Peacekeeping

The Importance and the Political Role of Tourism in the 21st Century

Can sustainable tourism governance make a significant contribution to achieve

economic stability, peace and development

throughout the world?



1

“I am so convinced of the advantages of looking at mankind instead of reading about them, and of

the bitter effects of staying at home with all the narrow prejudices of an Islander, that I think there

should be a law amongst us to set our young men abroad for a term among the few allies our wars

have left us.”

Lord Byron (1788-1825)

English poet and leading figure in the Romantic era (approximate period from 1800 to 1840)

“Travel has become one of the greatest forces for peace and understanding in our time. As people

move throughout the world and learn to know each other, to understand each other’s customs and

to appreciate the qualities of individuals of each nation, we are building a level of international

understanding which can sharply improve the atmosphere for world peace.”

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

35th President of the United States of America



2

Abstract

According to the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), since the 1950s tourism has turned into one of the

world’s fastest growing economic sectors and simultaneously into one of the world’s largest generators of Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) and employment. Even after periods of political or economic turmoil, global tourism has

always recovered remarkably quickly, reaching a record of 990 million1 tourist arrivals in 2011 and generating a

total revenue of US$ 1.2 trillion. Against the backdrop of tourism’s increasing importance for economic stability

and social welfare, this dissertation takes an in-depth look at ways in which tourism can spur the economy, create

jobs, favour cross-border understanding and alleviate poverty. In order to put into relief the significance of tourism,

this dissertation concentrates primarily on the academic work and the commitment on behalf of the UNWTO as

well as on recent documents and projects to highlight the pioneering role of tourism in the 21st century.

After having outlined the fundamentals of the tourism industry, this dissertation throws light on the socio-economic

role of sustainable tourism. An analysis of the latest developments in selected regions presents evidence for the

increasing importance of tourism for the world economy. As economic growth is essential in eliminating global

poverty, the third chapter explains what methods tourism can apply to fight poverty and to promote development in

poor states. In this framework, a focus lies on the correlation between tourism and the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals. As travelling encourages exchanges and promotes understanding between

religions and cultures, the fourth part of this dissertation deals with the issue whether tourism can contribute to

building peace. In this context, the UNWTO Silk Road Programme constitutes a prime example demonstrating

ways that several states follow to cooperate peacefully and to benefit together from the tourism sector. On the

grounds of tourism’s substantial impact on the economy, on poverty eradication and on peace, the UNWTO calls

on governments worldwide to recognise and harness sustainable tourism as a driving force for development.

Examples demonstrate how national states, the G20 and multi-state initiatives are beginning to place tourism

prominently on the global political agenda. To conclude, there will be an evaluation whether tourism deserves

international political recognition as a suitable tool for achieving economic growth, peace and poverty alleviation.

1UNWTO (2012) UNWTO Tourism Highlights, p. 3 (retrieved on 11 September 2012)



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Table of Contents

1. Introduction and Fundamentals....................................................................................................... 5

1.1. The Variety of Tourism Definitions ................................................................................................. 5

1.2. The History and the emerging Diversity of Tourism in the course of time...................................... 7

1.3. The symbiotic relationship between Tourism and Sustainability ................................................... 12

2. A Driver for Economic Growth in the Era of Globalization ....................................................... 13

2.1. The Importance of the Tourism Sector in the World Economy ..................................................... 14

2.2. Considerable Growth in International Tourism Receipts and Expenditures .................................. 18

2.3. The BRIC States as the world’s top spenders................................................................................. 19

2.4. First outcomes of 2012 ................................................................................................................... 20

3. Tourism as an Instrument for Poverty Alleviation....................................................................... 22

3.1. Tourism’s increasing Economic Significance for Developing Countries....................................... 22

3.2. Tourism’s potential to eradicate poverty ........................................................................................ 22

3.3. The power of the ST-EP Initiative.................................................................................................. 25

3.4. Harnessing Tourism for the Millennium Development Goals........................................................ 29

4. Peacekeeping and Cooperation in a multilateral world order .................................................... 30

4.1. Tourism Policy in the relation to the Constructivism Theory ........................................................ 30

4.2. The Seoul Declaration on Peace and Tourism................................................................................ 31

4.3. The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism ......................................................................................... 33

4.4. The Silk Road – a pioneering paradigm for International Tourism Cooperation ........................... 35

5. Tourism in the Global Political Mainstreaming ........................................................................... 39

5.1. The Reform Process within the UNWTO....................................................................................... 39

5.2. Tourism high on the international agendas – from T20 to G20...................................................... 40

5.3. Obama’s commitment to Travel Facilitation.................................................................................. 42

5.4. The Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign ................................................................................... 44

6. Outlook and Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 47

6.1. Forecasts of the UNWTO............................................................................................................... 47

6.2. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 48



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7. Annexes............................................................................................................................................. 51

Annex 1. List of the 155 Member States of the UNWTO ..................................................................... 51

Annex 2: List of the World’s Top Destinations in International Tourism Arrivals............................... 54

Annex 3: List of the World’s Top Destinations in Internationals Tourism Receipts ............................ 55

Annex 4: Overview of the ST-EP Projects ............................................................................................ 56

Annex 5: Network of the Members of the Silk Road Programme......................................................... 59

8. Bibliography..................................................................................................................................... 60

8.1. Tables and Figures.......................................................................................................................... 60

8.2. List of Literature............................................................................................................................. 60

8.2.1. Books and Documents ................................................................................................................. 60

8.2.2. World Wide Web......................................................................................................................... 61



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1. Introduction and Fundamentals

1.1. The Variety of Tourism Definitions

According to the tourism expert William F. Theobald2, the term “tour” is derived from the Greek “tornos“ and the

Latin “tornare“, respectively meaning a lathe, a circle or the movement around a central point. In this context,

Theobald defines the suffix -ism as an action, a process, a kind of behaviour or a quality and -ist as someone who

performs a given action. Combining the term “tour” with the suffix -ism, there is an action of movement around a

circle. Against the background that a circle represents a starting point ultimately returning back to its beginning, a

tour can be considered as a journey in the form of a round-trip. Therefore, a tourist is someone who undertakes

such a journey.

However, there is no universally accepted definition of tourism. In the course of the 20th century, it has been

defined in many different ways. The League of Nations initially used the French words “tourisme” and “tourist” as

official terms to describe travellers who spend more than 24 hours abroad3. In 1941, Walter Hunziker and Kurt

Krapf, two Swiss researchers, explained tourism as the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the

travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any

earning activity4. While in 1976 the Tourism Society of England described tourism as the temporary, short-term

movement of people to destinations outside their home environment5, the International Association of Scientific

Experts in Tourism did not attach great importance to the duration of stay. It determined tourism in 1981 as the set

of particular activities selected by choice and undertaken outside the home6. These are just some of the many

definitions put forward by politicians and scholars from all over the world.

These traditional definitions7 of tourism do not take into account the increasingly intensified economic

interdependences among states in the framework of the globalization process and the consequent dwindling of

economic and political barriers. It fell to the UNWTO, a United Nations agency dedicated to the promotion of

responsible and universally accessible tourism, to point out the comprehensive impact of tourism on societies and

to draw up a clear definition valid for developed and developing economies. At the International Conference on

2 Theobald, William F. (1998). Global Tourism (2nd ed.). Oxford [England]: Butterworth–Heinemann. pp. 6–7.

3 Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Rudra Prasad Upadhyay (2006) Tourism and Economic Development in Nepal Northern Book

Centre, p. 10

4 http://tourismmanagement.info/tourism (retrieved on 8 September 2012)

5 Beaver, Allan (2002). A Dictionary of Travel and Tourism Terminology. Wallingford: CAB International. p. 313

6 http://www.docstoc.com/docs/72406452/1-Principle-of-Tourism (retrieved on 2 September 2012)

7UNWTO (1995) Concepts, Definitions, and Classifications for Tourism Statistics, Technical Manual No. 1, p. 9



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Travel and Tourism Statistics8, held in Ottawa (Canada) from 24 to 28 June 1991, the UNWTO stipulated

“Tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual

environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes9”.

This relatively broad definition permits to identify tourism both between states and within a country. In this

framework, the UNWTO also recognizes that tourism comprises a large variety of activities going beyond the

common perception of being confined to holiday activity only10. Furthermore, the so-called Ottawa Conference

resulted in an adoption of a set of resolutions conveying the statistical needs of the industry for analysis, market

research, industry performance and tourism forecasts11. In order to assure the utmost accuracy and efficiency of

tourism statistics, the UNWTO has published the “Recommendations on Tourism Statistics” that assist

governments and businesses to establish clear standards for measuring tourism. According to this document, the

UNWTO proposes to divide travellers into visitors (one-day trip) and tourists (overnight stay)12 and classifies them

in three categories:

1. Domestic tourism (residents of a given country travelling within this country)

2. Inbound tourism (non-residents travelling in the given country)

3. Outbound tourism (residents travelling in another country)

Combining these tourism flows, the UNWTO makes a distinction between the following three forms13:

1. Internal Tourism (consists of domestic tourism and inbound tourism)

2. National Tourism (made up of domestic tourism and outbound tourism)

3. International Tourism (comprises inbound tourism and outbound tourism)

In order to understand the significance of tourism and its challenges in the global economy, it is essential to have

the historical development and the diversity of this sector in mind.

8UNWTO (1994) Recommendations on Tourism Statistics p. V

9UNWTO (1995) Concepts, Definitions, and Classifications for Tourism Statistics, Technical Manual No. 1, p. 10

10UNWTO (1994) Recommendations on Tourism Statistics p. 5

11UNWTO (1994) Recommendations on Tourism Statistics p.V

12UNWTO (2010) Recommendations on Tourism Statistics 2008, p.10, ISBN : 978-92-1-161521-0

13 UNWTO (1994) Recommandations on Tourism Statistics p. 5



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1.2. The History and the emerging Diversity of Tourism in the course of time

Antiquity – the first Golden Age

It can be assumed that tourism is as old as civilisation. In particular, trade gave a vital impetus to travel. Already

2000 years BC, the port of Lothal (India) became an important centre of trade between the Sumerians in

Mesopotamia and the Indus valley civilisation14. The earliest form of leisure and cultural tourism goes back to the

Babylonian and Egyptian empires. Probably the first museum on “historic antiquities” opened to the public in

Babylon at around 600 BC. In addition, the Egyptians organized many religious festivals that attracted not only the

devout but also many people who were more interested in admiring architecture and works of art. It is likely that

towns provided not only accommodation facilities at this time but also services such as guides or sellers of food,

drinks and souvenirs. Apart from trade and leisure, travel was mainly induced by religious purposes. The first

pilgrimages can also be traced back to antiquity. For instance, thousands of Buddhist followers have travelled to the

four holy sites15, Lumbini (Nepal), Bodhgaya, Kushinagar and Sarnath (India) all referred to the stages of Siddharta

Gautama’s life (born 623 BC16).

From around 500 BC onwards, the ancient Greek population travelled to sites of healing gods, to religious and

sports festivals, like the Olympic Games. The city of Athens turned into a magnet for travellers because of a large

variety of sights such as the Acropolis and the Parthenon. As the independent city-states in the ancient Greece were

not subordinated to a central authority, very few roads were built outside the cities so that most tourists travelled by

sea. Consequently, seaports began to prosper with a multitude of inns to satisfy travellers' needs. Owing to the

increasing density of inns and the emerging competition, tourism marketing might have its roots at this time since

advertisements in the form of signs directing people to inns were already known in this era. The lands of the

Mediterranean produced a remarkable evolution in travel due to commerce, festivals, religious purposes, medical

treatment and even education. These events submit evidence that an active tourism began at a very early date. As a

matter of fact, the era of ancient Greece was also characterized by the first travel writing. The Greek historian

Herodotus (484–425 BC) is considered to be the world’s first travel writer. Guidebooks made their appearance in

the fourth century BC on destinations including Athens, Sparta (Greece) and Troy (Turkey)17.

The Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 476) gave a boost to tourism by facilitating travel because of its large territory,

common currency, economic prosperity based on free market and the “Pax Romana” guaranteeing homeland

security and armed forces keeping piracy in check and easing safe travelling by sea18. Simultaneously, first class

14 http://www.deshnaf.net/travel-history/ (retrieved on 28 August 2012)

15 http://www.buddhist-tourism.com/four-holy-sites.html (retrieved on 28 August 2012)

16 http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666 (retrieved on 28 August 2012)

17 http://www.deshnaf.net/travel-history/ (retrieved on 28 August 2012)

18 http://www.aboutroma.com/history-of-rome/roman-empire.html (retrieved on 8 September 2012)



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roads and staging inns (precursors of modern motels) favoured the rise in travel. Domestic tourism began to

flourish. Roman citizens frequently travelled for trade or leisure purposes. When during the reign of the emperor

Constantine I (ca. 272 –337) Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire at ca. 300 AD,

journeys to the “Holy Land” turned very popular19. Wealthy classes made second homes built close to the coast.

Towns on the Apennine peninsula started to concentrate on special tourism segments. For instance, Naples

attracted retired and intellectual people, Cuma was preferred by the fashion set whilst Baia became popular among

tourists reputed for rowdiness and drunkenness and was therefore nicknamed “harbour of vice”20. Tourism thrived

in Asia, Europe and the northernmost part of Africa during antiquity and experienced a comparable boom only in

the 20th century.

The Middle Ages

In the aftermath of the decline of the Roman Empire and the Migration Period (about 400 to 800 AD), travelling

became testing and dangerous due to drawn-out power struggles among dynasties in Asia and Europe. The

emerging feudalism did not allow lower social classes to travel for leisure. In general, travelling was mostly

reserved to the nobles who used it for political purposes. For instance, Charlemagne (742-814) did not possess only

one residence but several imperial palaces in order to control and extend his empire21. Two distinctive kinds of

tourism characterized this era: business and religious obligations (pilgrimages). The latter experienced a boost due

to the rise of Christianity and Islam. The Hajj, a pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca (Saudi Arabia), represents the

fifth pillar of Islam and is a religious duty that must be performed at least once in the lifetime of an able-bodied

Muslim22. Apart from religion, travelling mostly served business interests. European states tried to discover a sea

route23 to India in order to avoid customs duties or plundering common on the overland routes in the 15th century.

When explorers discovered unknown parts of the world, like Bartolomeu Dias the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 or

Christopher Columbus the American continent in 1492, deep sea shipping gained momentum. With the hope of

founding colonies and exploiting raw materials, European expeditions initiated travelling and trading on a global

scale.

19 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/christianityromanempire_article_01.shtml (retrieved on 8 September 2012)

20 http://www.odyssei.com/travel-tips/4521.html (retrieved on 8 September 2012)

21http://www.navigator-allgemeinwissen.de/die-wichtigsten-fragen-und-antworten-zur-weltgeschichte/fruehes-mittelalter/karolinger/karl-der-

grosse-reichsstrukturen/1239-warum-war-eine-hauptstadt-fuer-karl-den-grossen-nicht-geeignet.html (retrieved on 8 September 2012)

22 Fleet Kate, Krämer Gudrun, Matringe Denis, Nawas John, Rowson Nawas, Rowson Everett (2007) The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. E.

J. Brill, p. 31

23 Hug, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang (1991) Geschichtliche Weltkunde. Verlag Moritz Diesterweg GmbH, p. 14



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The Recovery of Tourism

The influence of the Renaissance movement and the revival of ideas from antiquity entailed a new form of tourism

in the early 17th century. Under the aegis of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland (1533-1603), young men

seeking positions at court were sent to mainland Europe in order to accomplish their education and gain experience.

These so-called “Grand Tours24” of mostly three or more years became very popular and served as a model for

other upper echelons of society all over Europe. Although a Grand Tour primarily served for education, young men

were more attracted to enjoy social life and culture in predominantly French and Italian cities, such as Florence,

Paris and Venice. The pleasure during the journeys also drew the European gentry to take the Grand Tours

customary at the end of the 18th century. However, the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) inhibited travelling to a large

extend and let to a decline of the Grand Tours.

The typical mindset of the subsequent Romantic Period (1795-1840) placed a new emphasis on emotions and the

esteem of the picturesque qualities of nature and landscapes. This attitude made a great contribution in the

development of the Alps as a destination25 for hiking and exploring the unknown peaks26. Alpine Clubs dedicated

to the exploration of the Alpine range came into fashion. A wave of first ascents of peaks around the world sparked

off, such as the Mont Blanc (France/Italy) in 1786, the Grossglockner (Austria) in 1800, the Mount Kosciuszko

(Australia) in 1840, the Monte Rosa (Switzerland) in 1855, the Chimborazo (Ecuador) in 1880, the Kilimanjaro

(Tanzania) in 1889, the Aconcagua (Argentina) in 1897 and the Mount McKinley (USA) in 1913. Mountains

sparked interest so much that numerous ski resorts, hill stations and mountaineering spots emerged.

When the knowledge of the therapeutic qualities of mineral waters gained prominence, numerous spas were set up

for medical purposes27. Although (thermal) spas had already been well established during the Roman Empire, their

popularity increased in the 19th century. Beginning on the British Isles, health tourism became wide-spread across

Europe, such as Spa in Belgium, Bad Ischl in Austria or Bath in the United Kingdom. In due course, taking the cure

in a spa turned to a status symbol and the original medical purpose changed more and more into seeking pleasure.

In this way, spas became popular centres of social life for the European jet set. This great popularity resulted in

overcrowded inland spas. Therefore, the upper classes replaced them with sea side resorts. According to the

common knowledge in this time, sea water led to health benefits. The introduction of steamboat services

contributed to the extension of sea side resorts.

The onset of industrialisation radically changed the social and political dimension of tourism in Europe. Factory

workers longed for an escape to places of natural beauty. On the whole, the working class (proletariat) felt the need

24 http://www.deshnaf.net/travel-history/ (retrieved on 8 September 2012)

25 Profanter, Annemarie (2009) Kulturen im Dialog. Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, p. 79

26 http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D16338.php (retrieved on 8 September 2012)

27 http://www.deshnaf.net/category/travel-history/ (retrieved on 8 September 2012)



10

to change the routine from physically and psychologically stressful jobs with long working hours to rallying trips to

the countryside. However, the majority could not afford to realize this wish as working hours were often up to 14

hours a day from Monday to Saturday28. Nonetheless, the significance of travel and tourism changed dramatically

in the course of the 19th century. The close relationships between industrialised countries and their colonies in the

context of imperialism fostered constant global travelling. The advent of the steam engine permitted a considerable

cut in travel time. On the one hand, railway networks expanded quickly all over Europe and North America. On the

other hand, the United Kingdom used this pioneering technology to organize faster transoceanic crossings by

steamships and dominated hence the maritime market in the second half of the 19th century. The technological

achievements allowed reducing time and taking on numerous passengers.

Thomas Cook, a British preacher, harnessed these advantages and laid the foundation stone for package tours. He

arranged for a train on 5 July 1841 to carry parishioners from Leicester to Loughborough in the countryside.

Approximately 500 passengers travelled with the Midland Railway Company charging only one shilling for a

return ticket, meals and brass music. This was the first package tour29 for the general public. Cook also established

the first travel agency, the present Thomas Cook Group. The spread of Fordism30 in the industry at the turn of the

20th century led to mass production and higher wages for workers. Therefore, the automobile got used as a common

private good in Europe and North America. It encouraged active domestic travel on both sides of the Atlantic

Ocean. In spite of these extremely fast technological developments in travelling, the two World Wars

overshadowed the international tourism flows and brought them by and large to a standstill.

Emergence of a “Travel Society”

With the dissolution of the League of Nations and the foundation of the United Nations in 1945, the First

International Congress of National Tourism Bodies established the international non-governmental organization,

the International Union of Official Travel Organisations (IUOTU)31. In the 1950s, the world tourism industry began

to boost. This was mainly encouraged by two factors. Firstly, the aviation industry along with transport

infrastructure greatly improved so that aircraft became faster, cheaper and more comfortable for overseas travel.

The possibility to convey numerous passengers by aircraft and the steady growth of private low-cost airlines

promoted the expansion of air travel32. As a matter of fact, aeroplanes allowed the continuous growth of business

travel. Secondly, the socio-financial conditions changed dramatically. Rising income and the introduction of paid

holidays in developed countries increased the general welfare and made tourism affordable for the ordinary

28 Hug, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang (1990) Geschichtliche Weltkunde. Verlag Moritz Diesterweg GmbH, pp. 32-36

29http://www.ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/europe-on-the-road/the-history-of-tourism (retrieved on 9 September 2012)

30http://www.willamette.edu/~fthompso/MgmtCon/Fordism_&_Postfordism.html (retrieved on 9 September 2012)

31http://www2.unwto.org/en/content/history-0 (retrieved on 9 September 2012)

32http://www.deshnaf.net/category/travel-history/ (retrieved on 9 September 2012)



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citizens33. The right to leisure time and paid holidays is anchored in Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights34 dating from 1948 “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of

working hours and periodic holidays with pay”. This article has been an integrative component of international law

and been referred to international treaties, national constitutions and laws.

Due to the steadily increasing significance of international tourism, the IUOTO was transformed into an

intergovernmental body with the necessary abilities to function on an international level in cooperation with other

international entities, above all the United Nations and its sister agencies. After the adoption of the Statutes of the

World Tourism Organization on 27 September 1970, the UNWTO was fully established in 197535. From this time

on, tourism has been characterized by swift and continued growth and evolved into one of the world’s fastest

growing economic sectors. Therefore, tourism has been more and more associated with development opportunity

throughout the world. In the course of the 20th century, tourism also experienced a growing demand for destination

diversification and differentiation. Many places have transformed into tourism resorts including Alpine villages

(Gstaad, St. Moritz and Zermatt in Switzerland), towns (Salzburg in Austria or Bora Bora in French Polynesia),

costal areas (Côte d’Azur in France or Shelly Beach in Kenya) and islands (Mallorca in Spain and the Maldives)36.

However, the right to leisure time, the enhancement of transport and the rise of income also resulted in mass

tourism. Especially the advent of cheap chartered flights spurred the package tour market and favoured mass

tourism. First hot spots of this movement were seaside resorts located in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

During the 1960s and 1970s, mass tourism reached its peak. In particular, tour operators encourage mass tourism

offering both low cost and standardized package tours and employing migrants for low-skill jobs and corporate

staff for the management37. Local citizens are practically never integrated in these tourism businesses. Moreover,

the fast growth of tourism has affected the environment as well as the cultures of the respective regions to a large

extent. For instance, tourist resorts polluted the Spanish coast on a massive scale and untreated sewage was pumped

into the bordering sea water in the 1960s. These circumstances favoured diseases38. Therefore, sustainable tourism

is nowadays essential to protect the environment and the local culture, to reduce mass tourism and to generate

employment for local people. In this respect, sustainability is fundamental for tourism at the dawn of the 21st

century.

33Éditions Nathan (2006) Le tourisme en France, CLERC S.A, p.4

34http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml (retrieved on 20 August 2012)

35 http://www2.unwto.org/en/content/history-0 (retrieved on 9 September 2012)

36 http://www.ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/europe-on-the-road/the-history-of-tourism/ueli-gyr-the-history-of-tourism (retrieved on

9 September 2012)

37 http://www.stepc.gr/_docs/library_docs/GLOBAL_SWOT_Analysis_TOUREG.pdf (retrieved on 9 September 2012)

38 http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/the-impact-of-mass-tourism-in-spain/1569.html (retrieved on 9 September 2012)



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1.3. The symbiotic relationship between Tourism and Sustainability

During the World Conference on Tourism in Manila (Philippines) from 27 September 1980 to

10 October 1980, the member states of the UNWTO recognized for the first time the salient importance of tourism

on an international level. The conference resulted in the Manila Declaration on World Tourism accenting tourism39

as an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the cultural, economic, educational and

social sectors of national societies and on their international relations. However, if the tourism sector is not well

managed, it also faces considerable challenges and potential threats to the environment and local communities.

Therefore, the UNWTO puts sustainability on the basis of tourism and has stipulated it at the heart of its mandate

and hence all its operations. The organization is eager to promote an equitable, responsible and sustainable world

tourism order whose benefits are shared by all sectors of society in the context of an open and liberalized

international economy. Sustainable development itself was firmly anchored in the Report “Our Common Future” of

the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) on

20 March 1987 and determined as “the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the

ability of future generations to meet their own needs40”. The UNWTO adjusted this definition to the tourism sector

as follows: Sustainable tourism takes full account of its current and future economic, social and

environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host

communities41.

The three objectives sustainable tourism is pursuing include economic prosperity, social equity and cohesion as

well as environmental protection which are inseparable and interlinked. In this context, a sustainable economy

guarantees benefits distributed fairly to all participants, such as stable jobs and income perspectives. The tourism

sector, with all its facets, continues to create a great amount of employment world-wide. Hence, the socio-

economic benefits of income and employment make an extensive contribution to poverty alleviation42. At the same

time, sustainable tourism respects the host communities and favours inter-cultural dialogue. In this way, the sector

makes great efforts in preserving the socio-cultural and historic heritage as well as the traditions, values, religions

and the attitude of the local communities. For example, this can be achieved by motivating local people to attach

greater importance to the protection of their genuine cultural heritage while providing a reasonable income.

Moreover, the strand of environmental protection is fundamental for tourism development emphasizing the

conservation of vital ecological processes as well as natural heritage and biodiversity. Tourism revenues can be

used to maintain and protect natural areas. In this connection, the Davos Process on Tourism and Climate Change

39 UNWTO (1980) Manila Declaration on World Tourism (UNWTO), p.1

40 http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-02.htm (retrieved on 9 September 2012)

41 UNWTO (2011) Fact and Figures. Tourism and Sustainability, p.1

42 UNWTO (2011) Facts and Figures. Tourism and Sustainability, p. 2



13

dating from 2007 makes a major contribution to appropriate climate conditions, reducing emissions, imposing

innovative technologies and securing financing in order to support poorer regions and countries. In a nutshell,

sustainable tourism intends to optimize the usage of environmental resources, the respect towards the socio-cultural

authenticity of the host communities and to ensure important, long-term socio-economic benefits43. This is why the

UNWTO feels committed to the Agenda 21 keeping the rationale of reconciling environmental protection,

economic development and tackling poverty44.

In order to achieve these objectives, the UNWTO obliges its member states (see Annex 1) and its affiliate members

(more than 400 organizations and companies) to strong political leadership assisting them in imposing

sustainability principles in policy guidelines, management practises, future plans and other activities45. In addition,

it highlights that achieving sustainable tourism is an ongoing process and requires permanent monitoring of

influences and taking ad hoc measures to mitigate unforeseen events. In addition, sustainable tourism can only be

effective when it assures customer satisfaction and raises awareness about sustainability issues.

Besides, sustainable tourism is also in accordance with the recent development model of a green economy46. The

persistent global economic crisis since 2008 and its serious effects on natural resources, like biodiversity, climate,

food, fuel and water, brought about a common wish to establish a new economic paradigm comprising low carbon,

resource efficient and socially inclusive components. Therefore, the UN Green Economy Report considers tourism

as one of the ten economic sectors best able to pave the way for a transition to a green economy. It requires

investment to enhance energy efficiency, waste and water systems and could make a substantial contribution to

GDP while reducing CO2 emissions (52%), energy use (44%) and water consumption (18%). As a result, the

promotion of a green economy can help to generate more income and employment whilst preserving the

environment.

2. A Driver for Economic Growth in the Era of Globalization

Since Neoliberalism has dominated the world economy, tourism has never experienced such continued expansion

worldwide and is still in full swing. In contrast to other economic sectors, it has recovered fairly fast from

occasional economic setbacks and the current international financial crisis beginning in 2008. Meanwhile, tourism

43 UNWTO (2011) Fact and Figures. Tourism and Sustainability, p. 1

44http://www2.unwto.org/en/content/history-0 (retrieved on 10 September 2012)

45 http://sdt.unwto.org/en/content/about-us-5 (retrieved on 10 September 2012)

46UNWTO (2011) Facts and Figures. Tourism in the Green Economy, pp. 1-2



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represents one of the major drivers in international commerce and one of the most important income sources for a

number of states. The following figures47 reflect the vital position of tourism in the world economy:

Figure 1: Key numbers

Tourism directly accounts approximately 5% of worldwide gross domestic product (GDP)48. Depending on the

national extension, the percentage of tourism to GDP ranges from some 2% in countries where tourism is rather

small to more than 10% in countries where tourism is of overriding importance. For islands and developing

countries, the size of tourism can be even larger reaching up to 25%.

2.1. The Importance of the Tourism Sector in the World Economy

When measuring the impact of tourism to the global economy, the UNWTO makes use of two indicators: tourism

arrivals and receipts. From 1950 to 2011, international tourism arrivals (i.e. overnight visitors) rose from 25

million – over 277 million in 1980 and 528 million in 1995 – to 99049 million travellers worldwide50. In 2011,

international tourism receipts exceeded US$ 1 trillion51 for the first time in history, up from US$ 928 billion in

2010. Destination receipts from international tourism are counted as exports and cover transactions from same-day

and overnight visitors52. Apart from the pure receipts, the tourism sector also generates export earnings through

international passenger transport that reached estimated US$ 196 billion in 2011. Hence, the total amount of

international tourism receipts (exports including passengers’ transport) ran into US$ 1.2 trillion53. It can be

47 http://www2.unwto.org/en/content/why-tourism (retrieved on 10 September 2012)

48 UNWTO (2012) UNWTO Tourism Highlights, p. 3 (retrieved on 10 September 2012)

49 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-09-12/international-tourism-track-hit-one-billion-end-2012 (retrieved on

11 September 2012)


51 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-05-07/international-tourism-receipts-surpass-us-1-trillion-2011 (retrieved on 11 September

2012



2012)



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supposed that this makes US$ 3.4 billion a day on average. Thanks to these figures, it is undeniable that tourism

plays a significant role for the international economy. In terms of world exports, tourism ranks fourth after fuels,

chemicals and food.54 In numerous developing countries tourism ranks even first in this order. This is the reason

why international tourism accounts for 30% of the world’s services exports and 6% of overall exports of goods and

services55.

Between international tourist arrivals and receipts, there is a close interrelation. Remarkable is that the growth of

receipts just tends to lay slightly behind growth of arrivals in times of economic uncertainty. This fact submits

evidence that international tourism receipts are able to make progress in rebounding from the losses of the crisis. In

the years 2008 and 2009, international arrivals and receipts decreased dramatically because of the economic

downturn triggered by the international financial crisis. In addition, the wave of protests in connection with the

Arabian Spring from December 2010 onwards had devastating effects on the tourism in the Middle East. Bearing

these setbacks in mind, it is considerable how fast tourism has rebounded and how resilient this economic sector is.

Neither the increase in tourist flows nor an economic recovery process have ever been so quick and led in 2011 to a

record in tourist arrivals and receipts. Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General, welcomed this encouraging

development and underscored “The past two years have shown healthy demand for international tourism out of

many markets, even though economic recovery has been uneven. This is particularly important news for countries

facing fiscal pressure and weak domestic consumption, where international tourism, a key export and a labour

intensive activity, is increasingly strategic to balancing external deficits and stimulating employment.”

However, growth in the tourism sector is not equally balanced in the world. In the following, there is a short

analysis on growth of international tourist arrivals in 2011 by region:

Europe

Above of the expectations of the UNWTO, Europe maintained sound growth despite persistent economic

constraints and received a total of 504 million tourists56. Accounting for over half of all international tourist

arrivals, Europe is the fastest growing region in relative terms (+6% along with Asia and the Pacific) and in

absolute terms (29 million more tourists out of the 43 million additional international arrivals worldwide). The

rising number of tourists concentrated above all on Central and Eastern Europe as well as on Southern and

Mediterranean Europe. The latter subregion even achieved a share of 19% of world tourism. Not only the

traditional destinations, like Croatia, Greece and Portugal, benefited from increasing tourists, but also the smaller

54 UNWTO (2012) UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2012, p. 3 (retrieved on 11 September 2012)


2012)

56 UNWTO (2012) UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2012, p. 6 (retrieved on 12 September 2012)



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Mediterranean states recording double-digit growth, such as Montenegro, San Marino and Serbia. This enormous

growth can possibly be ascribed to two recent trends. First, the situation of political transition in the framework of

the Arabian Spring in the Middle East and North Africa caused a shift in traffic towards the European

Mediterranean area. Second, the region benefited from strengthened outbound flows coming from Northern

European markets, particularly Germany, Russia and Scandinavia57. Referring to Central and Eastern Europe,

Georgia (+39%), Azerbaijan (+22%) and Kazakhstan (+21%) recorded the highest increase. (The UNWTO regards

the Middle Asian states as belonging to Europe). The subregion of Northern Europe also listed double-digit growth,

notably Iceland (+16%), Finland (+14%) and Norway (9%). In comparison, Western Europe only experienced a

more modest growth with Germany (+6 %), Austria (+5%), Belgium (+4%), the Netherlands (+4%) and France

(+3%).

In addition, eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, stated on 24 January 2012 that the number of

nights spent in hotels and similar establishments in the EU reached a peak of 1.6 billion nights in 201158.

Surprisingly, the largest increases were recorded in the Baltic Member States as well as in Bulgaria and Romania,

namely in Lithuania (+19.8 %), Bulgaria (+18.3%), Estonia (+14.6%), Latvia (+14.1%) and Romania (+12.9%).

Bulgaria ranked first and Lithuania second in the number of hotel nights spent by non-residents. Moreover,

Lithuania ranked first Bulgaria second in the number of hotel nights spent by residents. Especially for these

relatively small states, tourism serves as an essential source for high revenues.

Asia and the Pacific

Arrivals in Asia and the Pacific also gathered momentum reaching a total of 13 million tourists59 but on a much

slower level than Europe. The slight slowdown can largely be attributed to the impact of the Tohoku earthquake

and the tsunami in Japan that lead to a decline of the country’s inbound and outbound market. In terms of

subregions, South-East Asia registered the highest growth (+10%) benefiting from strong intraregional demand.

Many states reported double-digit figures including Myanmar (+26%), Cambodia (+20%) and Thailand (+20%). In

absolute terms, Thailand experienced the largest increase with over 3 million more tourist arrivals followed by

Singapore that received1 million more tourists. While the tourism sector has progressed a lot in South East Asia,

notably in Bhutan (+39%), Sri Lanka (+31%) and Nepal (+22 %), growth was much lower in North-East Asia with

South Korea (+11%), Hong Kong (China) (+11%) and more modest China (+3%). Oceania only saw a growth by

57 UNWTO (2012) UNWTO Tourism Highlights, p. 9

58 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=STAT/12/13&format=HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLang uage=en

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1% of which the highest results were achieved by New Zealand (+3%). This development can also be caused by the

decline of the Japanese outbound market60.

The Americas

Further growth in tourism arrivals could be listed on the American Continent (+4%) with 157 million tourists. This

growth mainly benefited South American states (+9%) for the second consecutive year which is notably sustained

by strong intraregional demand. Uruguay (+22 %), Paraguay (+13%) and Peru (+13%) experienced the strongest

results. With regard to Central America, all states registered positive growth with an above-average increase of 5%,

the most Panama (+11%). In the Caribbean area, growth was especially intensive in Cuba (+7%), Barbados (+7%)

and Aruba (+6%). However, North America only showed below-average growth (+3%) albeit this represents an

increase of a total of 3 million tourist arrivals. The United States recorded robust growth (+4%) whereas Mexico

(+0,5%) and Canada (-1%) experienced low results61.

Africa

Revolutionary uprisings in the context of the Arabian Spring had a huge negative impact on tourism in the Oriental

part of Africa (-9%). So that Africa only recorded very slight growth (+1%). Tunisia, the starting point of the

political transitions, was primarily affected suffering a fall by 31% in arrivals62. Yet, this event promoted a shift of

tourism flows from North Africa to Subsaharan destinations by 7%. Arrivals in this region grew by half a million

tourists maintaining the total at 50 million. The fastest growth saw Cap Verde (+27%), Algeria (+16%) and

Madagascar (+15%).

The swift growth in Algeria can be ascribed to the strong political commitment of the national government having

set up a leading plan63 for sustainable tourism development from 2008 until 2030. The Algerian tourism policy plan

is pursuing the promotion of Algeria as tourist destination (from the high plateaus to the Sahara), foreign

investment, the cooperation between public and private businesses and the support of local people. The Algerian

authorities expressed in the leading plan for tourism development that it would be fundamental to change radically

behaviour and attitudes. Tourism can make a great difference in realizing the wishes claimed during the public

uprisings in Algeria, mainly the increase of salaries, creation of jobs and tax relief. The Algerian government

support investors by means of banking credit and housing supply for tourism projects, especially in the

economically underdeveloped areas. These include a cut in VAT of 17 % for received tourism benefits, a bonus

from 3 to 4.5 % for investors and a reduction in land concessions from 50% to 80% of land to set up tourism

60 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-01-16/international-tourism-reach-one-billion-2012 (retrieved on 12 September 2012)



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projects. In the meantime, there are 763 hotel projects64 steered by the Algerian government. Algerian Tourism

Ministers announced that these projects will create 36,000 more new jobs.

The Middle East

Also the Middle East suffered recoil in the tourism sector by virtue of the social and political upheavals of the

Arabian Spring. Although the Middle East had been the world’s fastest growing tourism region in the course of the

past decade, this region lost estimated 5 million arrivals (-8%), totalling 55 million, in 2011. In particular, Syria (-

41%), Egypt (-32%), Lebanon (-24%), Palestine (-15%) and Jordan (-13%) suffered great declines in tourist

arrivals. Nonetheless, a few destinations, mainly located on the Arabian Peninsular, sustained steady growth. The

most remarkable is Saudi Arabia that recorded an impressive growth of 60% in international tourism arrivals (6

million extra visitors since 2010 reaching a total of 17 million) thanks to efforts and strategies by the national

government to increase the significance of tourism in the country’s economy65. Saudi Arabia represents an

important place for Islamic pilgrimage, especially the Kaaba in Mecca and the holy mosques of Mecca and Medina.

The first is of utmost importance. All Muslims face the Kaaba when they are praying. Besides, the Five Pillars of

Islam obliges every Muslim to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in the lifetime. The Saudi Commission for

Tourism and Antiquities, a state-ruled board of tourism development with partners from the public and private

sector, has set up ambitious plans and programmes to stimulate investment in tourism and to improve the tourism

activity66. The Saudi authorities found out lower prices for outbound tourist packages were one of the main reasons

why their citizens preferred tourist destinations abroad67.Its ongoing projects establishing tourist facilities through

investment enhanced its competitiveness to a large extend and provided great benefits accrued to the national

economy and citizens. Aside Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates along with Oman sustained steady growth as

well.

2.2. Considerable Growth in International Tourism Receipts and Expenditures

From the perspective of tourism receipts generated by tourism arrivals, the Americas (+5.7%) achieved the highest

growth in 2011. Followed by Europe (+5.2%), Asia and the Pacific (+4.3%) and Africa (+2.2%). Nevertheless,

Europe holds the largest share of international tourism receipts. Among the top ten tourist destinations, receipts

rose significantly in Hong Kong (China) (+25%), the USA (+12%), Spain (+9%), and the United Kingdom

64 http://www.aps.dz/Over-700-tourism-projects-in.html (retrieved on 12 September 2012)


66 http://www.scta.gov.sa/en/TourismInvestment/SupportTourismInvestment/Documents/Touristic_investment_eng.pdf, (retrieved on 12

September 2012)

67 http://www.scta.gov.sa/en/mediaCenter/SCTAPublications/Documents/MainTourismIndicators2004-2010.PDF (retrieved on 12 September

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(+7%)68. The Middle East was the only region recording negative growth in receipts (-14%) to the above mentioned

consequences of the Arab Spring movement. The following table shows the relative sums of income in the

respective regions gained through tourism confirming the importance of tourism for welfare:

Regions Share Receipts in US$ Receipts in €

Europe 45% 463 billion 333 billion

Asia and the Pacific 28% 289 billion 208 billion

the Americas 19% 199 billion 143 billion

the Middle East 4% 46 billion 33 billion

Africa 3% 33 billion 23 billion

Table 1: Total tourism revenues by region

Annex 2 and Annex 3 show the World’s Top Destinations in arrivals and receipts. The UNWTO found out that

France is the state with most of international tourist arrivals (79 million) and ranks third in receipts (US$ 54

billion). The United States is the world’s largest earner (US$ 116 billion) attracting 62 million tourists. Spain is the

second largest earner worldwide and the first in Europe (US$ 60 billion) being the destination for 57 million

tourists69. Against the background of Spain’s current national budget deficits70, tourism makes a tremendous

contribution to the country’s income. In comparison to 2010, Turkey moved up one place to sixth in arrivals and is

twelfth in receipts.

2.3. The BRIC States as the world’s top spenders

According to the UNWTO, tourism expenditures include all consumption expenditures of tourists for goods,

services or activities during their visit71. Just like in the years before, Germany has continued to be the world’s

biggest source market spending US$ 84 billion in 2011, followed by the United States (US$ 79 billion) and China

(US$ 73 billion). On the whole, the top spenders are the rising middle classes from emerging source markets in

Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa and South America whose disposable income

has progressively increased showed very swift growth in tourism expenditures. The BRIC states fulfilled a leading

role in 2011: China (US$ 73 billion), Russia (US$ 32 billion), Brazil (US$ 21 billion) and India (US$ 14 billion).

68 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-01-16/international-tourism-reach-one-billion-2012 (retrieved on

12 September 2012)


70 http://www.tradingeconomics.com/spain/government-budget (retrieved on 13 September 2012)

71 UNWTO (2010). Recommendations on Tourism Statistics, p. 23



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In contrast to this long-term trend, advanced economies (+4.9%) from Europe, the Americas and Asia and the

Pacific posted higher growth than emerging ones (+4.3%) in 201172 which can be explained with the strong results

in Europe and the decline in the Middle East and North Africa. Even if destinations in advanced and emerging

states benefited both from the 2011 growth in arrivals and receipts, tourism in emerging economy destinations has

increased faster than in advanced ones. In this respect, the market share of the tourism sector in emerging

economies has grown from 30% in 1980 to 47% in 201173. Besides Japan, the United Kingdom was the only

market in the top ten to record a decline in expenditure (-2%) from 2010 probably by virtue of the weakened

economy and pound sterling. But also the British aviation, taxation and visa policy74 may play a role as the United

Kingdom requires the highest air tax in the world as well as a lavish, expensive and time-consuming visa process,

even for its key growth markets from Asia.

2.4. First outcomes of 2012

The steady rise of tourism since 2010 has remained constant in 2012 and marked a record of 467 million tourist

arrivals from January to June 2012. This means that there have been 22 million more tourists (+5%) during the first

half of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.

Every region benefited from growth. Asia and the Pacific showed the best results. South Asia and South East Asia

saw a clear rebound in some of the destinations that recorded declines in 201175. Especially Japan’s inbound and

outbound travel seems to be clearly on convalescence. Taleb Rifai stated “Although Asia was affected by the

economic crisis of 2008-2009 due to its strong linkages with other economies; the region has bounced back quickly

and is today a leader in the global economy. This is clearly reflected in its tourism figures”.

Europe consolidated its record growth of 2011 in spite of the persisting economic instability in the Eurozone. In

particular, Central and Eastern Europe (+8%) have been particularly buoyant and spurred the tourism performance

due to double-digit increases76. Likewise, Northern and Western Europe (both +5%) have posted sound results –

the best Germany with +10%. Only the increase in Southern Europe slowed slightly down in 2011. This could be a

sign of a return of tourist flows to the destinations across the Mediterranean Sea in North Africa and the Middle

East. The Americas have registered growth of tourism as well. Notably, Central and South America had the lion’s


12 September 2012)


74 http://www.wttc.org/news-media/news-archive/2012/marketing-not-only-answer-uk-tourism-says-wttc/ (retrieved on

12 September 2012)

75 http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_barom12_04_july_excerpt_0.pdf, retrieved on 13 September 2012)


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share in arrivals (both +7%) whilst North America’s growth (+4%) was particularly marked by the United States

and Canada.

Tourism in North Africa also boosted, especially in Tunisia with an impressive increase of 48% in the first quarter

of 2012. Destinations in the Sub-Saharan part of Africa keep on attracting more and more tourists. Furthermore, the

Middle East also showed small signs of recovery with arrivals up by 1%. The best results gained Egypt (+29% in

the first quarter of 2012).

The first UNWTO statistics of 2012 indicate that international tourism continues to show sustained growth despite

challenging economic conditions in many of the source markets in Europe and North America. Among the top ten

countries by expenditure on travel abroad, growth was significant in China (+30%), Russia (+15%), USA (+9%),

Germany (+6%) and Canada (+6%).

It can be assumed that tourism arrivals will hit the one billion by the end of 201277. Furthermore, the organization

upholds its vision that emerging economies will regain the lead with stronger growth in Asia and the Pacific (4% to

6%) as well as in the Americas and Europe (2% to 4%). Taleb Rifai said in his keynote speech at the opening of the

ITB Travel Trade Show on 6 March 2012 in Berlin (Germany) that by the end of 2012, one seventh of the world’s

population will have crossed international borders as tourists in a single year. He is certain that this extraordinary

number will contribute to more jobs, higher income possibilities and countless opportunities for development.

Furthermore, the UNWTO Secretary-General also believes that sustainability comes with this growth. He argues,

properly planned and managed, tourism is able to be one of the most promising sectors for achieving a more

economically, environmentally and socially sustainable future. In this context, he highlighted “Imagine how

business models would be transformed if one billion people demanded sustainable practises from hotels and tour

operators. Imagine how many would benefit if one billion people bought local produce or hired a local guide. These

are small actions, but given the size of our sector, their impact would be huge78. We need to work together with

tourism administrations to ensure that governments give priority to tourism as part of national policies to stimulate

growth and employment.”


13 September 2012)

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3. Tourism as an Instrument for Poverty Alleviation

3.1. Tourism’s increasing Economic Significance for Developing Countries

Aside from gradual economic growth, international tourism has been characterized by geographical expansion and

steady demand for global diversification in destinations. Therefore, many developing countries have attracted a

rising number of tourists since the end of the 20th century so that multiple new tourism destinations have emerged

challenging the traditional ones of Europe and North America79. While the top 15 destinations (mostly advanced

countries) absorbed 88% of international arrivals in 1950, the proportion turned to 75% in 1970 and ended up to

55% in 2010. This reflects the emergence of new destinations very well. Many of them are developing countries. In

fact, the share of international tourist arrivals received by emerging and developing countries has steadily risen,

from 32% in 1990 to 46% in 2011. As a result, the new destinations recorded around 500 million out of the total

990 million international tourism arrivals in 2011. This demonstrates that tourism has become a crucial player in

the economy for developing countries. Nowadays, the tourism sector represents the main source of foreign

exchange revenues for a third of developing states80 as well as the main and sometimes the only means of economic

and social development for less rich states. The positive economic effects including solid earnings, welfare and job

creation largely contributes to integrate developing states closer into the global economy, to eradicate poverty in

this way and to promote sustainable development. Especially for 20 of the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries

(ranked by the UN Index), the tourism sector represents the first or second source of export income81. Particularly

in small island states, tourism can even account for over 25% of GDP.

3.2. Tourism’s potential to eradicate poverty

The above mentioned explications of the UNWTO findings submit evidence that the tourism sector has proven to

be an essential instrument to increase economic stability and hence to improve the balance of payments. Especially

for low income countries, tourism is a substantial national activity in the economic sector and the basis for welfare.

In 2011, the travel and tourism industry accounted for 255 million jobs globally82. For a number of developing

countries, tourism is a leading promoter of job creation accounting for 8% of global employment.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism generates significantly more jobs than other

industries, employs six times more people than the global automotive manufacturing sector, four times more than

79 http://step.unwto.org/en/content/background-and-objectives (retrieved on 14 September 2012)

80 UNWTO (2012) Annual Report 2011, p. 14

81 UNWTO (2011) Facts and Figures. Tourism and Poverty Reduction (retrieved on 14 September 2012)

82 The World Travel & Tourism Council (2012) Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2012, p. 4



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the mining sector and a third more than the financial sector83. Each job in the tourism sector creates allegedly up to

two jobs in other sectors. In this regard, an outstanding and significant feature of tourism is its multiplier effect

providing much needed employment opportunities not only in the tourism sector but also in others through linkages

to the local economy. Tourism has a direct, indirect and induced impact on job creation84. Direct jobs are generated

for tourism reasons, like the hospitality industry (hotels, restaurants, etc.), travel agencies, transport companies etc.

The indirect contribution encompasses three main groups whose activity is for tourism purposes. Firstly, capital

investment from the directly involved tourism industry, like the construction of accommodation, restaurants, leisure

facilities, transports equipment. Secondly, government expenditures support tourism activity, such as tourism

promotion, visitor information and administrative services etc. Thirdly, supply-chain effects of the three economic

sectors that result in a tourism product, including purchases of domestic products and services from tourism

businesses, such as food from local agriculture or arts and crafts. Moreover, the induced impact refers to the

spending by those who are directly or indirectly employed by travel and tourism. Visitors’ expenditures on

accommodation, food and drink, manufactured goods, local transport, entertainment etc. produce economic and

employment benefits in many related sectors in industrialised and developed states setting up opportunities for

development and poverty alleviation85. Of the overall number of jobs worldwide (direct and indirect)86, tourism’s

contribution to employment is estimated in the order of 6%-7%. Against this background, tourism is one of the

largest employment sectors in many countries and swift entry vehicle into the workforce for women, young people

and disadvantaged groups, like ethnic minorities.

The economic side is not the only to favour tourism in low income countries. A lot of characteristics that are

essential for a well-operating tourism industry are given by nature. These mainly constitute subjective impression

from the environment87 that tourists perceive as pleasure or well-being. They include temperate or warm climate,

the aesthetics of landscapes, a well-rounded biodiversity and rich cultural heritage. Nature can particularly be a

trump for rural areas. Against the background that nature can be an obstacle for the economic performance, e.g.

through warm and dry climate in the summer, the tourism branch can profit from these natural features.

Furthermore, tourism is also accessible to the poor because the sector is mostly run by small and medium sized

companies and demand comparatively small investment. Besides, via the tourism sector, consumers get into closer

contact with the local population. This interaction can result in numerous intangible and practical benefits

83 http://www.wttc.org/news-media/news-archive/2012/travel-tourism-larger-industry-automotive-manufacturing/ (retrieved on 14 September

2012)

84 The World Travel & Tourism Council (2012) Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2012, p. 11

85 UNWTO (2012) UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2012 Edition, p. 5

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guaranteeing rising of awareness of cultural, economic and environmental situations and support the local

investment in infrastructure. As a result of these extremely socio-economic positive effects, tourism can play a

crucial role in alleviating poverty and to mitigate the dreadful economic situation of countries. In order to assure

that the poor are able to gain economic benefits on a long-term, the UNWTO recommends arranging strategies in a

twofold way (see following pie charts)

Figure 2: UNWTO’s recommended twofold strategies

First, the left small pie chart symbolises the aim to raise the size and the performance of the tourism sector as a

whole. This can be achieved e.g. by increasing the number of tourists, their duration of stay or the amount of their

expenditures.

Second, the right big pie chart stands for the goal to increase the proportion of expenditures that reaches the poor.

Specific actions that permit and assist the poor in participating in tourism or profit from the sector indirectly can

make a great step forward to realize this aim.

As a matter of fact, the UNWTO has carried out 10 principles for pursuing poverty elimination by means of

tourism in a sustainable way88:

1. All aspects and types of tourism can and should be concerned about poverty alleviation.

2. All governments should include poverty alleviation as a key aim of tourism development and consider

tourism as a possible tool for reducing poverty.

3. The competitiveness and economic success of tourism businesses and destinations is critical to poverty

alleviation – without this the poor cannot benefit.

4. All tourism businesses should be concerned about the impact of their activities on local communities

and seek to benefit the poor through their actions.

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5. Tourism destinations should be managed with poverty alleviation as a central aim that is built into

strategies and action plans.

6. A sound understanding of how tourism functions in destinations is required, including how tourism

income is distributed and who benefits from this.

7. Planning and development of tourism in destinations should involve a wide range of interests,

including participation and representation from poor communities.

8. All potential impacts of tourism on the livelihood of local communities should be considered, including

current and future local and global impacts on natural and cultural resources.

9. Attention must be paid to the viability of all projects involving the poor, ensuring access to markets

and maximising opportunities for beneficial links with established enterprises.

10. Impacts of tourism on poverty alleviation should be effectively monitored.

3.3. The power of the ST-EP Initiative

Even if the above mentioned theory outlines effective and sustainable roadmaps how to fight against world poverty;

it has became apparent that the poor population in developing countries often do not benefit from the economic

impact of tourism89. Therefore, the UNWTO, in cooperation with the United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD), launched the Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty Initiative (ST-EP Initiative) at

the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (South Africa), hold from 26 August to 4

September 2002. This initiative was a response to the previous United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 at

which poverty was identified as one of the biggest global challenges and declared as one of the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) by the world leaders. The MDGs are a set of comprehensive objectives aiming a

reduction of income poverty, hunger, maternal and child morality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality,

environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development90. These goals were officially adopted by

most world leaders to achieve development measured to the respective countries on global and local level. The

existence of the Global Partnership for Development assures the collaboration among the entire international

community in order to make human development accessible for everyone and in every country. If the MDG’s were

achieved in 2015, world poverty would be likely cut by half and tens of millions of lives can be saved.

In this context, the UNWTO launched the ST-EP Initiative as an effective instrument to make a perceptible

contribution to the eight international development goals. In particular, tourism can play an important role for the

MDG 1 (extreme poverty and hunger), MDG 3 (gender equality), MDG 7 (environmental sustainability) and MDG

8 (global partnerships for development).

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On the whole, the ST-EP Initiative concentrates on projects seeking to spur poverty eradication by providing

assistance to sustainable development opportunities and employment91. The special focus lies on people living on

less than US$ 1 a day in the world's least developed countries (notably in Africa) along with developing states in

general92. The primary assessment criterion for any ST-EP project is to fulfil the three pillars of sustainable

development (see Chapter 1). In addition, the UNWTO takes great efforts to intertwine other important and urgent

aspects such as gender equality, social empowerment, protection of biodiversity and conservation of heritage.

Furthermore, the ST-EP initiative is fully committed to protect traditions and culture of native people from

commercial interests. Poor people should not have to impair their own culture to earn their livelihood. There should

be a strong balance between business liberalization and ethical philosophy. Kofi Annan, former UN Secreatry-

General, is firmly convinced that poverty reduction can be reached in a certain period. He said “We will have time

to reach the Millennium Development Goals, but only if we break with business as usual. We cannot win

overnight93." It can be very helpful to sensitize general attitude in regard to sustained actions as a sign of reputation

towards non-sustainable projects.

During the UNWTO’s General Assembly session in Beijing (China) in October 2003, a resolution on the

implementation of the ST-EP programme was unanimously voted by all UNWTO members. On 24 September

2004, the UNWTO set up the international headquarters of the ST-EP Foundation in Seoul (South Korea)

responsible for organizing and administering several ST-EP projects and events. In the aftermath of the

inauguration of the UNWTO ST-EP Foundation, implementation of projects started in 2005 with a training

programme for local guides in the village of Ebogo (Cameroon)94. Since then, projects have swiftly expanded and

are executed in close cooperation between national tourism authorities, local governments, NGOs, development

organizations and tourism companies in the beneficiary countries according to the above mentioned principles.

Meanwhile, the portfolio of projects contains more than 100 projects in a total of 34 developing countries. Already

70 of these projects have been completed and the remaining are being implemented. Projects rank from

development of ecotourism products with local communities in Guatemala to development and promotion of the

Great Himalaya Trail in Nepal with a view to enhance the local economic impact of tourism in the country. In fact,

the projects95 mainly focus the following activities:

1. Easing the engagement of local people in tourism development around cultural and natural heritage sites.

2. Creating business linkages between poor manufacturers and tourism companies

91 UNWTO (2012) Tourism Report 2011, pp. 36-37

92 http://www.unwtostep.org/ (retrieved on 15 September 2012)

93 http://www.iffoundation.org/index.php?fuseaction=section.main&id=3 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)

94 UNWTO (2012) Annual Report 2011, p 42

95 http://www.unwto.org/tourism&mdgsezine/ p. 15 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)



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3. Supplying professional and financial services to small, medium and community-based tourism companies

4. Training local guides and hotel staff

A list of all current projects is included in Annex 4. Half of the ST-EP projects beneficiaries are from Least

Developed Countries (LDCs). All these projects follow a structured concept in the form of seven mechanisms in

order to achieve the aim that the poor are able to make good and sustainable use of tourism96. These seven strategic

lines of action are an important philosophy of the ST-EP initiative and have been widely disseminated and

incorporated in ST-EP projects. In the following, there is an overview on how the poor can benefit from each

mechanism97:

The seven ST-EP mechanisms98:

1. Employment of the poor in tourism enterprises

This mechanism targets to increase the level of the local poor employed in tourism companies. In practice,

the ST-EP initiative supports the poor to develop their own skills and to benefit directly from them. The

UNWTO beliefs that education and job-oriented training are the first step of breaking the vicious cycle of

absolute poverty and reinforces the removal of cultural and social barriers99.

2. Supply of goods and services to tourism enterprises by the poor or by enterprises employing the poor

The poor can also be involved in the supply process. When goods and services from local production are

provided in the tourism supply chain, it can assist in maximising the proportion of tourism expenditures being

retained to local communities. When doing so, traditional rural skills and jobs can better be maintained. These

special identities of local tourism products can help to establish stable sources of business.

3. Direct sales of goods and services to visitors by the poor (informal economy)

This mechanism refers to the direct selling of products and services made by poor people and deliver a

suitable way to earn income. The traditional goods include fruits, handicrafts and guided tours. The ST-EP

initiative places great value on the provision of information to tourists about the concerning local products

and supports likewise the training to local people how their goods meet the quality requirements of their

customers.

96 http://step.unwto.org/en/content/overview-st-ep-activities-0(retrieved on 16 September 2012)

97 http://step.unwto.org/en/content/seven-st-ep-mechanisms (retrieved on 16 September 2012)

98 http://step.unwto.org/en/content/overview-st-ep-activities-0 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)

99 http://www.unwto.org/step/mechanisms/en/ms.php?op=2 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)



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4. Establishment and running of small, micro or community-based tourism enterprises or joint ventures

by the poor (formal economy)

This strand highlights that the poor can set up their own businesses in the tourism area, including

accommodation facilities, catering, guiding and entertainment programmes, retail outlets and transport. The

local people can take their own responsibility offering them opportunities to self-organization.

5. Tax or levy on tourism income or profits with proceeds benefiting the poor

Aside direct work of the poorer classes, revenues earned by national or local governments from tourism can

be used to alleviate poverty. These funds are directed to all poor in general, not only to those who are

specifically engaged in the tourism sector. From another perspective, governments can easily generate money

from the tourism sector by imposing taxes, such as bednight levies and entrance fees for protected areas. The

raised funds can fully or partly be inserted to benefit the local community. However, the ST-EP initiative

emphasises that transparency of the local taxes and consultations with the private sector must be assured in

order to avoid exorbitant taxation levels.

6. Voluntary giving and support by tourists or tourism enterprises

This mechanism refers to tourism companies or tourists themselves that are willing to give voluntary

support in the form of funds. According to a variety of destinations, tourists often feel the pleasure to give a

financial contribution to the destinations they visited. So do companies offering sponsorship for

development initiatives in their professional sectors. In particular, beneficiary projects clearly outlining

efficient and perceptible local influence and community involvement promote the awareness and hence the

willingness to attract sponsorship and visitor support.

7. Investment in infrastructure stimulated by tourism also benefiting the poor in the locality, directly or

through support to other sectors

This mechanism supports the expansion of investment in infrastructure to achieve tourism development.

Examples include communications, roads, sanitation as well as energy and water supply. These

investments require a careful and sustainable planning so that the poor can be supplied with basic services.

Moreover, infrastructure opens up new and swifter routes to access markets, especially for remote or rural

areas. The principal challenge is to guarantee that innovative projects in tourism development do not

consume resources at the expense of resident communities and that the poor have the chance to be

integrated in these projects100.

100 http://www.unwto.org/step/mechanisms/en/ms.php?op=2 (retrieved on 15 September 2012)



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Meanwhile, the ST-EP Initiative has proven to be as a suitable way to eliminate poverty through tourism projects.

Making use of the gained experience, the UNWTO intends to expand the most successful ST-EP projects and apply

the best practises in destinations where the tourism sector can contribute considerably to poverty reduction. For

instance, the UNWTO ST-EP Foundation finished a ST-EP project with the SNV Netherlands Development

Organization in Copán (Honduras) in 2011. This town attracts more than 150,000 tourists per year to visit the

Mayan ruins per year. However, the UNWTO discovered in 2006, that the tourism sector employed only 5% of the

working population101. In order to counterbalance this situation, the two above mentioned organizations did a great

effort, in the framework of a ST-EP project, to create business linkages between 15 local micro-companies and

hotels, such as the Hotel Marina Copán. By providing training courses for the entrepreneurs of the local businesses

and seed funding for the improvement of the product quality, they supported the small local companies to sell their

products to the hotels. As a result, more than 300 people gained a job in the framework of this partnership and the

turnover of the involved businesses has doubled since then.

Another ST-EP initiative was crowned with success in Konso102 (Ethiopia). This small town is full of unique

cultural artefacts. The ST-EP project has established various training courses on tourism awareness, hospitality

management and tour guiding for the local people. A second integrative component of this project has imposed

reasonable marketing strategies and established tourism facilities. All these activities have created numerous jobs,

such as free lancers (local guides), tourism employees (hotels and lodges), and merchants of local products and

services to tourists. Therefore, they receive a higher share from the tourism revenues now.

3.4. Harnessing Tourism for the Millennium Development Goals

At the UN World Summit in New York (USA) taking place on 13 September 2005, the UNWTO convened

different meetings with governments, the private sector, UN agencies and civil society leaders on how to use

tourism most effectively to achieve the MDGs. These discussions culminated in the adoption of the Declaration on

“Harnessing Tourism for the Millennium Development Goals”. The participants noted in the declaration that the

ecologic, economic and social benefits generated by tourism have not yet been enough recognized by numerous

governments and international development assistance agencies103. Therefore, the declaration calls on them to

extend their efforts supporting the tourism sector to introduce greater priority of tourism in development assistance

programmes and poverty alleviation strategies and to promote public-private partnerships and good governance.

101 UNWTO (2012) Annual Report 2011, p. 43

102 http://www.unwto.org/tourism&mdgsezine/ p. 16 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)

103 http://step.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/declaration.pdf, p. 1 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)



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At the heart of the declaration stands mobility defined as the essential factor to achieve the goal of creating

employment and alleviate poverty. However, mobility has been curbed by security deficiency and increasing fuel

prices affecting air transport. Therefore, the declaration calls on the United Nations General Assembly and urges

governments, international and bilateral development assistance agencies, financial institutions, private

corporations, NGOs and other interested parties to fully recognize sustainable tourism as an effective means to

realize the MDGs and to integrate tourism in their national development programmes and poverty reduction

strategies104. In this context, the declaration also calls on large national and multinational companies to adopt strong

social responsibility measures towards local communities and take specific measures to increase the level of

employment of poor people as well as the supply of goods and services by the poor.

In order to make more progress towards the achievement of the MDGs, the UNWTO and other UN agencies

launched in December 2006 the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F)105. In concrete

terms, the MDG-F assists national governments, local authorities and citizen organizations in their striving to

eliminate poverty. In 2011, the UNWTO pursued a total of 11 MDG-F tourism development projects in Ecuador,

Egypt, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Senegal, Serbia and Turkey. For instance, a MDG-F project in

Nicaragua is attempting to reduce inequality through culture. The Caribbean coast of this country is one of the

poorest regions and home of six different ethnic groups speaking four different languages. The project aims to

reduce the gaps between the indigenous people and the afro-descendants by making them aware of their diverse

cultural heritage and to use it as a tourism resource to receive income and jobs.

As a result, these projects submit evidence that tourism is applicable as an essential means to alleviate poverty.

Firstly, its relative job-intensive nature creates a lot of employment and generates linkages of collaboration with

other economic sectors. Secondly, as travel is the base for tourism, the sector supports the establishment and

extension of infrastructure.

4. Peacekeeping and Cooperation in a multilateral world order

4.1. Tourism Policy in the relation to the Constructivist Theory

With regard to the disciplines of international relations, tourism policy can substantiate the constructivism theory.

Generally, constructivists presume that significant aspects of international relations are historically and socially

contingent rather than having inevitably resulted of human nature or other essential characteristics of world

104 http://step.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/declaration.pdf, p. 1-2 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)105 UNWTO (2012) Annual Report 2011, p 40



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politics106. Contrary to realism and liberalism that focus on material factors like power or trade, constructivist

theories stress the influence of ideas and how different groups conceive their identities and interests107. In this

respect, constructivists regard the interests and identities of states as highly malleable processes rejecting the idea

that states are entities seeking to survive. They place great value on how ideas and identities are created, how they

evolve and how they shape the way states understand and respond to their situation. In this framework, the scholar

Stephen Walt points out that it matters whether Europeans define themselves primarily in national or continental

terms (…)”108. Furthermore, the constructivist theory presumes that cross-border communication and shared civic

values undermine traditional national loyalties and establish radically new forms of political association. Values

and norms can play a key role in this framework. As a matter of fact, some constructivists argue that international

law and other normative principles have eroded earlier ideas of sovereignty and changed the legitimate purposes for

which state power may be employed.

The defining element of constructivism theory is a focus on discourse. From one perspective, discourses in society

mirror and shape beliefs, interests etc. and establish accepted norms of behaviour. From another perspective,

discourses are capable of shaping how political actors define themselves and their interests, and thus modify

behaviour. Against this backdrop, travel and tourism bring people and decision-makers into closer contact with

different cultures and religions and can promote a better understanding among people. Already Mahatma Gandhi

recognized the mutual understanding that travelling can induce and noted “I have watched the cultures of all lands

around my house and other winds have blown the seeds of peace, for travel is the language of peace”. In a speech

on the subject of “linking cultures” at the World Tourism Day on 27 September 2011, Ban Ki-moon, United

Nations Secretary-General, confirmed tourism’s potential as a tool for peace in connecting communities around the

world, emphasizing the proven interaction between tourism and peace, human rights and understanding”109.

4.2. The Seoul Declaration on Peace and Tourism

Apart from the fact that international peace is at the heart of the United Nations’ mission, the UNWTO stated peace

as a priority in Article 3 of its Statutes: “The fundamental aim of the Organization shall be the promotion and

106Patrick Thaddeus Jackson and Daniel Nexon (2002).Whence Causal Mechanisms? A Comment on Legro Dialogue IO,1,

p. 81-102

107 International Relations: One World, Many Theories, (1998), Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy, No. 110, Special Edition: Frontiers of

Knowledge pp. 29-32+34-46

108 Quotation: International Relations: One World, Many Theories, Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy, No. 110, Special Edition: Frontiers of

Knowledge (1998), p. 41

109http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/frieden/downloads/Leaflet_Project_Tourism_and_Peace.pdf, p. 1 (retrieved on 18 September 2012)



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development of tourism with a view to contributing to economic development, international understanding, peace,

prosperity (…)110.”

The tourism sector is not only an economic sector but also a kind of human interaction. Since 1980, the UNWTO

has placed the issues “peace” and “mutual understanding” several times on its agendas, highlighting the importance

of tourism as a tool for building peace. The debates resulted in the 2011 Seoul Declaration on Peace and Tourism.

The declaration111 outlines practical principles leading to the promotion of world peace through tourism. It

underlines the need for respecting the unique diversity of cultures, ethical beliefs, histories, ideologies, religions

and the willingness to comply with their respective manners and customs. As tourism advances the intercultural

dialogue and consequently the interest in different points of view, tourism can be used as a means to alleviate

discrimination and to deepen mutual understanding and solidarity across borders. Also, within borders mutual

understanding helps promote acceptance, protection and recognition of the rights of social minorities. Moreover,

the Seoul Declaration on Peace and Tourism emphasises that mutual cooperation drives forward sustainable

development of different cultural, natural and social environments. Especially by exchanging knowledge and

information, the gap between advanced and developing countries in cultural, economic, social and technological

aspects can be bridged.

Numerous regions have shown in the course of time that people from different cultures and religions can live in

harmony together respecting their different attitudes. The town of Kazan112 in Russia sets an appropriate example.

By virtue of its rich history, it is home to religious communities of Sunni Muslims, Christians (Eastern Orthodox,

Catholics, Protestants), Jews and supporters of Bahá'í Faith and Krishnaism (a Hindu sect focussed on the god

Krishna). For hundreds of years, this mosaic of religions has been characterized by peaceful coexistence. The

multi-confessional society is epitomized in the Temple of All Religions113, a master-piece of the architect Ildar

Khanov. Grown up in the atheist Soviet Union, he envisaged the newly declared Russia as a country bringing

together all world religions. The temple serves as a museum and a cultural/spiritual centre in honour of the

religious diversity. Therefore, it is structured in halls representing the 16 major world religions. The construction of

the temple began in 1993 and will never finish – as a sign that religious variety is external. A great majority of

visitors from all over the world are enchanted by the temple’s architecture and welcome its pioneering value.

110 http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/docpdf/unwtostatuteseng.pdf, p. 4 (retrieved on 18 September 2012)

111 Quotation: http://www.traveltimes.co.kr/news/news_tview.asp?idx=23690#.UCtu-6Nft9M

112 http://www.goethe.de/ins/ru/lp/prj/drj/top/wtt/009/kas/deindex.htm (retrieved on 18 September 2012)

113 http://kazanherald.com/2012/03/02/daytrip-temple-of-all-religions/ (retrieved on 18 September 2012)



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During its session on 26 May 2010, the UN Security Council underscored the importance of intercultural

dialogue114 and shared values in terms of global peace and security. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon argued that

even if it seems that globalization is bringing the world closer together, it would also divide it. He particularly

stressed that extremists make use of incitement and identity-based appeals to recruit followers and that some

politicians had included divisiveness in their election strategy. Ban Ki-moon claimed that many recent problems

were the result of a lack of dialogue. Multicultural enrichment could sometimes appear confusing to people, thus

causing cross-cultural tensions or the impression of injustice. Therefore, the Secretary-General recommended

expanding dialogue as a suitable means to defusing tensions, strengthening moderate voices in controversial

debates, preventing conflicts from escalating and bringing about reconciliation in a case of conflict. He also

emphasised that dialogue is vital for achieving peace in the broadest sense. Ban Ki-moon urged the UN Security

Council to make greater use of intercultural dialogue as an important diplomatic instrument to keep peace. Besides,

the UNESCO has recognized the strong capability of intercultural dialogue in building peace as well and considers

the post-Cold war period as the transition from a war culture to a peace culture115. Tourism can hence work as a

vehicle to stimulate intercultural dialogue and make a great contribution in promoting peace.

4.3. The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism

Tourism as a powerful driving force for peace, human rights and mutual understanding is not only enshrined in the

Seoul Declaration on Peace on Tourism, but is also a fundamental axis in the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism116

(Global Code of Ethics). This is a conceptual roadmap for tourism development containing a comprehensive set of

ten principles whose purpose is to help maximize the sector’s benefits while minimizing its potentially negative

impact on the environment, cultural heritage and societies across the globe. Its function makes clear that the code is

in conjunction with the principles of sustainability. It is based on the fact that tourism is not feasible without

travelling and therefore supports closer contacts between people from different cultures. However, these meetings

raise many ethical queries117. Against this background, the Global Code of Ethics deals with these questions and

recommends how to reconcile tensions between travellers and their host communities. Even if the Global Code of

Ethics is voluntary and not legally binding, it has been widely recognized and implemented by a large number of

governments, stakeholders of the tourism industry, local communities and tourists alike. In fact, all 10 principles

were compiled in collaboration between these parties, approved by the UNWTO General Assembly on 1 October

1999 and endorsed two years later by the UN General Assembly.

114http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34817&Cr=alliance+of+civilizations&Cr1= (retrieved on 18 September 2012)115 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001018/101803e.pdf, p. 59-61 (retrieved on 18 September 2012)116 http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/global-code-ethics-tourism (retrieved on 20 September 2012)

117 UNWTO (2011) Facts and Figures. Tourism and Ethics



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The first priority of the Global Code of Ethics refers to the mutual understanding of people being the foundation for

peace. Already the preamble indicates that direct, spontaneous and non-mediatised contacts between people and

societies of different cultures and lifestyles engender friendship and understanding among the people of the

world118 contributing to peace. Article 1 adds that responsible tourism is at the core of understanding and

promoting ethical values in religious, philosophical and moral respects. It describes tourism as an indispensable

factor of self-education, mutual tolerance and acceptance between cultures119.

In this context, the Global Code of Ethics recommends that both stakeholders and tourists should observe the

cultural and social traditions and practices of all peoples, including those of minorities and indigenous peoples and

to appreciate their value120. Tourism activities should be carried out in accordance with the features and traditions

of the host communities respecting their laws, manners and customs. In this framework, host areas and local

professionals should esteem and familiarize themselves with the tourists visiting them, e.g. their lifestyles, tastes

and expectations. The Global Code of Ethics also stresses that a line of other factors can make a large contribution

to a hospitable stay121, including tailor-made education and training for professionals, the respect of gender equality

and human rights as well as the fight against sexual exploitation (especially when applied to children) in

accordance with international law.

Simultaneously, article 1 charges tourists and visitors to acquaint themselves with the characteristics of the

countries even before their departure. They must be aware of the health and security risks within the host areas and

aim to minimize these risks. Furthermore, the Code warns visitors not to commit any act considered criminal

according to the respective laws and avoid any action that is offensive or injurious to the local populations

(including damage to the local environment, trafficking in illicit drugs, arms, antiques, protected species and

products as well as substances that are dangerous or prohibited122). On the level of the host communities, the

Global Code of Ethics declares the protection of tourists and visitors and their belongings as the task of the public

authorities keeping in mind their vulnerability and ensuring their safety. This goal can be achieved by facilitating

the accessibility of specific means of information, prevention, security, insurance and assistance. In conclusion, the

Global Code of Ethics requires authorities to severely condemn and punish attacks, assaults, kidnappings or threats

against tourists or workers in the tourism industry as well as the wilful destruction of tourism facilities or of

elements of cultural or natural heritage. If the work and the endeavours of governments, stakeholders and tourists

118 http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/docpdf/gcetpassportglobalcodeen.pdf, p 2 (retrieved on 20 September 2012)

119 http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/global-code-ethics-tourism-article-2 (retrieved on 20 September 2012)






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are in compliance with the content of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, a big step will be made towards a

sustainable, peaceful and respectful multicultural society.

Nevertheless, policy-makers and tourism stakeholders have not been using the force of tourism as an instrument for

peace to its full potential. This can be ascribed to the lack of a solid knowledge-base in this area. Therefore, the

UNWTO has recently launched a mutual research project with the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education

of the University of Klagenfurt (Austria) by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on 24 April 2012123. A

Project Team made up of experts and support staff will carry out concrete case studies showing how and under

which conditions tourism can contribute to peacebuilding and conflict prevention as well as resolution and

reconciliation efforts. The project is running until the end of 2013124. The results will lead to concrete

recommendations for all tourism stakeholders outlining their special roles in peacebuilding activities. Moreover,

the findings will also serve their interest in the wider international community including local and national policy-

makers125.” The UNWTO seeks to play an active role in progressing in this area. Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-

General, emphasized in this context that tourism can be an efficient tool for peace consolidation. It brings people

from all over the world together and allows an exchange of ideas, attitudes and different points of view. According

to him, these discussions are the basis for mutual understanding and tolerance. Cordula Wohlmuther, manager of

this project at the University of Klagenfurt, underlined that, so far, there had not been any empirical studies on that

topic126. She submitted evidence that tourism is particularly suitable as an instrument for peace and regarded

tourists attracted by cultures or ethics as trendsetters that are going to become more and more relevant.

4.4. The Silk Road – a pioneering paradigm for International Tourism Cooperation

Against the background that tourism integrates so many parties, cooperation can play a vital role in peacebuilding

measures bringing together governments, stakeholders etc. from different countries. Mutual multilateral tourism

projects bring benefits to all participants by synergy effects and cross-border business networking.

In terms of Tourism Cooperation, the UNWTO Silk Road Programme represents a milestone in international

cooperation encompassing 25 states extending from Genova (Italy) to Nara (Japan). This initiative is designed to

improve sustainable tourism development along the 12,000 kilometre historic Silk Road route - the greatest

overland route in history and the first “bridge” between Europe and Asia. In the course of many centuries, the Silk

Road was above all traversed by traders (e.g. Marco Polo), nomadic warriors (e.g. Genghis Khan), adventurers and

religiously motivated people (itinerant priests, prophets, pilgrims etc.) that left a large religious pluralism along the

route, namely Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Islam, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism127. In this manner, the

123 http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/main/inhalt/uninews_41554.htm (retrieved on 20 September 2012)124 http://derstandard.at/1336435314848/Tourismus-und-Frieden-Deeskalation-im-Handgepaeck (retrieved on 19 September 2012)125 http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/frieden/downloads/Leaflet_Project_Tourism_and_Peace.pdf (retrieved on 19 September 2012)126

http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/frieden/downloads/Deeskalation_im_Handgepaeck_-_Forschung_Spezial_-_derStandard.pdf (retrieved on 20September 2012)127 http://silkroad.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/bannerhistorywebsite.pdf (retrieved on 20 September 2012)



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Silk Road constitutes a channel of contact between different peoples and cultures. Although most of the travellers

with different backgrounds travelled for commercial reasons (as the name Silk reveals), they swapped ideas on art,

science and philosophy in cities, towns and oases like Bukhara (Uzbekistan), Nara (Pakistan), Samarqand

(Uzbekistan) and Xi’an (China). These ideas from all the great civilizations bordering the Silk Road (Chinese,

Indian, Persian, Roman, Greek, Byzantine, Egyptian and Mesopotamian128) were then passed on again and again.

This can be considered as the greatest cultural exchange in the history of mankind.

The advent of the faster and safer sea trade between Europe and Asia in the late 15th century allowed merchants to

trade their goods directly and without middlemen grabbing a share of the profits along the old land route129. From

this time on, the Silk Road started to fade in importance. In 1993, the UNWTO’s General Assembly raised for the

first time the idea to revive the former Silk Road as a tourism concept, including cultural exchange, trade and

tourism, to achieve a seamless sustainable development from Europe to Asia. The 28 member states are: Albania,

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan,

Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey,

Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. In Annex 5, there is a map of the Silk Road. Its richly diverse cultural

heritage and its wealth of natural tourist attractions are the foundation for tourism in this large area. This is notably

important in view of some economically underdeveloped regions characterized by harsh geographical features such

as desserts (e.g. the Gobi dessert), steppes and high mountains. A final adoption of the UNWTO Silk Road

Programme on tourism ensued in the framework of the Declaration on Silk Road Tourism in Samarqand

(Uzbekistan) in 1994. The participating states pursue the goal of maximizing the benefits of tourism development

offering diverse enriching tourism possibilities while stimulating investment and promoting the safeguarding of the

route's natural and cultural heritage130. The areas of cooperation include marketing, product development, tourism

route development, travel facilitation and cross-border initiatives. Concerning the latter, the Silk Road Member

States are currently working towards the introduction of a Silk Road Tourist visa in order to ease travelling within

the member states.

The added value of the Silk Road Tourism Programme is that the numerous countries of the Silk Road can promote

and conserve their immense shared natural and cultural heritage while driving forward sustainability, heritage

preservation in conjunction with the interests of the local communities. Moreover, the Silk Road Programme is one

of the world’s best known multilateral cooperation projects creating collaborative linkages between political

decision-makers and business stakeholders on regional and national levels from a large variety of sectors, such as

128 http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/introduction_to_the_silk_road_programme.pdf (retrieved on

20 September 2012)

129 http://silkroad.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/bannerhistorywebsite.pdf (retrieved on 20 September 2012)

130 http://silkroad.unwto.org/en (retrieved on 20. September 2012)



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tourism, education, environment, finance and transport131. All institutions involved collaborate closely with the UN

sister agencies, especially with the UNESCO (culture), the UNWTO (tourism), the UNEP (environment) and the

UNCTAD (investment). Despite this multitude of acting bodies, the cooperation among them is efficiently defined

and organized by means of four key groups being in charge of managing and implementing most of the activities.

The key groups and their tasks are as follows132:

1. World Tourism Organization

•Lead and drive the Silk Road Programme

•Provide a collaborative platform for building alliances

•Coordinate logistics of major events

•Communicate on progress

•Seek and manage donor funding/sponsorship

2. UN Agencies

•Provide expertise and endorsement of Silk Road initiatives

•Galvanise support through networks

•Example institutions: UNESCO, UNDP, UNCTAD, UNEP

•Promote the activities in the context of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

3. Silk Road Task Force

•Consists of nominated representatives from National Tourism Organizations, UN agencies and the private sector

•Determine key strategies and actions

•Endorse and drive implementation

•Encourage sharing and exchange of best practices

•Example bodies include: NTOs, private sector stakeholders, finance/investment

4. Silk Road Member States

•Ensure representation and involvement in Silk Road Task Force

•Actively participate in Silk Road Ministers' Summit

•Promote collaboration and cooperation amongst Silk Road Member States in accordance with

Silk Road Programme Objectives

This very clearly structured allocation of responsibilities has allowed to successfully market a great number of

tourism destinations and products referring to the rich heritage. These include a modern silk worm farm in the

131 (UNWTO) SILK ROAD ACTION PLAN 2012/2013 Enhancing collaboration for sustainable tourism development, p. 7-8

132 Qutation: http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/content/who (retrieved on 21 September 2012)



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small Greek town of Soufli133; Egypt’s Red Sea coast offering one of the best scuba diving possibilities world-

wide; the mosques in the caravan city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan, the traditional bazaar in Dushanbe in Tajikistan in

which Silk Road merchants have haggled for centuries and the famous Terracotta Army in the western Chinese city

of Xi’an134. The latest Silk Road Action Plan 2012/2013 contains key strategies and initiatives aiming to improve

the collaboration in order to achieve a more resilient, competitive and sustainable tourism; in particular to make

visitors stay longer and to expand tourism revenues along the Silk Road135. The UNWTO Silk Road Programme is

pursuing the following aims136:

Figure 3: Objectives of the UNWTO Silk Road Programme

Culture holds an elevated position within the Silk Road projects. The Member States have agreed that culture

greatly contributes to keep peace between countries, with the Khiva Declaration on Tourism and the Preservation

of the Cultural Heritage from 21 April 1999 providing a legal basis. In this document, the participants recognize the

close links between culture and tourism and their positive impact on building a Culture of Peace137. The dialogue

between cultures and civilizations plays an important part in reinforcing world peace. International tourism can

bring about a dialogue between civilizations and also an understanding of different cultural, historical and spiritual

values. In the declaration, the participants expressed that demand for cultural tourism is constantly increasing,

133http://www.thatsgreece.com/info/mainland-Evros-Editors-choice-soufli (retrieved on 21 September 2012)

134 UNWTO (2005) Tourism Pearls of the Silk Road, p. 24 / 70

135 http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/docpdf/silkroadactionplanenglishw.pdf, p. 4 (retrieved on 21 September 2012)

136 http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/content/objectives (retrieved on 22 September 2012)

137 http://silkroad.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/khivadeclaration1999.pdf (retrieved on 22 September 2012)



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exceeding the world average growth of tourist flows. Cultural visits can make a great contribution to the

conservation of cultural sites. As a result, the Silk Road Member States are focussing on the dissemination of

cultural tourism, at the same time striving against the devaluation of culture, and condemning excessive

standardization of folklore and handicraft products as well as insufficient respect for local communities.

The world’s largest tourism trade faire, Internationale Tourismus-Börse (ITB) Berlin, taking place in March 2011

organized the first UNWTO Silk Road Ministers’ Summit to make the Silk Road present at the world’s major

tourism fairs, such as WTM London, ITB Berlin and JATA Tokyo, through the implementation of a comprehensive

programme on trade and consumer seminars. All participating Ministers of Tourism along the Silk Road voiced

their support for enhanced online technologies138 and promotion of the Silk Road through the establishment of a

dedicated website (silkroad.unwto.org), a Silk Road Cities Website, social media presence139 (LinkedIn, Twitter,

Flickr and Vimeo) and the creation of a Silk Road promotional clip so that the Silk Road can be better marketed.

The Silk Road Members are also planning to improve their infrastructure, which has been relatively modest up to

now. Furthermore, there are projects on establishing the Maritime Silk Road to accomplish the symbiosis of the

terrestrial, air and maritime Silk Road. New tourism products will be designed in the coming years140. As Japan is

the most important source market for Silk Road tours, they are to be firstly introduced in the Japanese travel

industry. The Silk Road Project demonstrates that states and business stakeholders from 25 countries are able to

cooperate on a foundation of values that promote peace. If states collaborate in this way on a global scale, peace-

keeping efforts will be boosted. Against the background of an increased amount of travel world-wide, an extension

of the economic significance of tourism could not only result in economic growth and poverty alleviation but also

play a major role in international peace consolidation.

5. Tourism in the Global Political Mainstreaming

5.1. The Reform Process within the UNWTO

According to the UNWTO long-term forecast “Tourism Towards 2030”, international tourism has a great growth

potential and could reach 1.8 billion tourists by 2030. This puts pressure on the UNWTO to intensify its activities

in the areas of tourism governance, domestic tourism and employment in this economic sector. Therefore, the

138 http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/news/2011-03-22/unwto-silk-road-ministers-summit-commitment-and-cooperation-establish-powerful-brand


139 UNWTO (2005) Tourism Pearls of the Silk Road, p. 9

140 http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/event/unwto-silk-road-ministers-meeting-itb-berlin-2012-0 (retrieved on 22 September 2012)



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UNWTO General Assembly adopted during its session in Gyeongju (South Korea) from 10-13 October 2011 the

White Paper141“A Reform Process for a More Relevant UNWTO” on proposed reforms within the organization.

This White Paper permits the UNWTO to efficiently respond to the current and approaching challenges. The

reform suggestions concern matters of organization, such as a more regular communication142 between the

UNWTO Secretariat and its members, so that the organization is better prepared to fulfil its responsibilities towards

the MDGs143 and the three main global challenges: poverty alleviation, employment and climate change.

The tourism sector plays a crucial role in meeting these challenges. Even if the UNWTO has recorded great success

in reducing poverty by the clearly structured and efficient ST-EP Initiative with almost 100 finished projects in the

course of the last five years, it still needs an exact evaluation system as well as a driving force to encourage its

expansion and attract more fund sources. Against this background, the UNWTO is planning to tackle this issue in

the near future. With regard to employment, the UNWTO only began in 2009 to work systematically on job

creation in the tourism sector in order to gain economic and social benefits. Meanwhile, the UNWTO has set itself

the target to raise governments’ awareness for the importance of tourism and to reinforce their support of this

sector. Moreover, the sustainable character and principles of the UNWTO have been further developed in the

Climate Change challenge. The organization advocates the stronger implementation of the techniques and

guidelines by private and public tourism stakeholders. For instance, it will take measures to promote its project on

Intelligent Energy Solutions throughout the European Hotel Industry. Mr. Najib Balala, chairman of the UNWTO

Executive Council, has underscored his commitment to work with all member states in order to promote the

tourism agenda globally.

4.2. Tourism high on the international agendas – from T20 to G20

Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship,

believes in the power of tourism to overcome the economic crisis by creating employment, minimizing trade

unbalances and promoting regional development. He considers the current problems as an opportunity for the

European Union to implement necessary reforms and notes “As we face an economic and confidence crisis, all

sectors should contribute to overcome difficulties and tourism can make a significant contribution to this effort144”.

141 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-10-14/19th-general-assembly-closes-pledge-strengthen-unwto (retrieved on 24 September

2012)

142 UNWTO (2011) Report on the progress of the reform of the Organization (White Paper), p. 7

143 UNWTO (2011) Report on the progress of the reform of the Organization (White Paper), p. 31

144 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-10-27/ministers-tourism-major-world-economies-call-decision-makers-use-tourism-st




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On the international level, the tourism ministers of the major world economies, the so-called T20, have recognised

tourism’s socio-economic key role for the global economy in the context of the current economic constraints and

are emphasising the need for an increased political commitment and support of this sector. At the 3rd T20 Ministers’

Meeting in Paris on 25 October 2011, they passed a declaration calling on G20 decision-makers to recall the

importance and impact of tourism and to keep it high on their agendas. They pointed out that tourism could be an

essential resource in strategy-making processes when debating issues, such as fostering the economy, mounting

challenges and creating jobs145. In this framework, Taleb Rifai emphasised, “Tourism can be part of the solution to

the economic difficulties facing the world. Amid increased economic uncertainty, unacceptably high

unemployment rates and the challenges of fiscal consolidation and increased taxation in many economies, it is time

for us to recall the role tourism can have in increasing exports, driving economic growth and creating jobs“. On the

subsequent T20 Meeting on “Tourism as a means for job creation” in Yucatán and Merida on 15-16 May 2012, the

UNWTO and the WTTC presented their preliminary research stating that a total of 656 million international

tourists visited G20 countries in 2011. Among the world’s fastest growing source markets are the BRIC-States of

which ca. 109 million tourists (17%) required a visa and millions more were limited in travelling because of high

costs or long waiting time for visas. This is the reason why the T20 ministers are convinced that visa facilitation

can substantially increase tourism revenues and create millions of new jobs in the G20 economies. They estimate

that visa facilitation could generate up to 112 million additional international tourists by 2015, increase tourism

revenues by US$ 206 billion and create approximately 5.1 million additional jobs during the next three years within

the G20 countries146. In this context, the Merida Declaration notes that in the era of globalisation states are able to

drive travel and tourism as an economic activity forward while maintaining national security.

Furthermore, the declaration contains proposals for the world's largest economies to promote the elimination of

visas, the creation of regional visas and eased immigration procedures. In this way, states are encouraged to make

use of new technologies, such as electronic visa processing and delivery, to make travelling more accessible and

comfortable without jeopardizing national security. Moreover, cross-border travel facilitation arrangements

guarantee benefits for the travellers who are able to move more freely and for the host regions because of tourism

revenues. Due to these facts, not only G20 Member States but other countries as well are encouraged to improve

visa programmes and issuance processes without compromising security, to facilitate travel and to increase tourism

and job creation. David Scowsill, WTTC President & CEO, stressed “By facilitating visas, the G20 countries stand

to gain five million jobs at a time of rampant unemployment across the world. These are in addition to the hundreds

of millions of direct and indirect jobs already being supported every day by the sector147.”

145 http://www2.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/111025-t20-declaration-en.pdf, p. 2 (retrieved on 24 September 2012)

146 http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/final_declaration_t20_merida.pdf, p.2 (retrieved on 25 September 2012)

147 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-06-20/g20-recognizes-travel-tourism-driver-economic-growth-first-time-and-commits




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Besides, the T20 strongly recommends the G20 to fully recognize the role of tourism as a vehicle for employment,

global economic growth and poverty elimination148. The G20 reacted to the declaration of its tourism ministers and

set the issue on the agenda of its summit in Los Cabos (Mexico) on 18-19 June 2012. The declaration had a huge

success. For the first time, the G20 leaders recognized the importance of travel and tourism as a driver of jobs,

growth and global economic recovery149. In Article 25 of the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, the G20 acknowledged the

potential of tourism and expressed its commitment to work towards travel facilitation initiatives including visa

processes and entry formalities150.

As destinations worldwide are seeking to stimulate travel demand under pressing economic conditions, the

UNWTO and the WTTC have identified travel facilitation as a main priority in 2012. In this respect, the UNWTO

is urging governments around the world to make efforts in advancing travel facilitation as well as in enhancing visa

application and processing formalities, e.g. the duration of visa issuance151. It also recommends analysing the

possible influence of travel facilitation in increasing their tourism economies. Taleb Rifai explained, “Travel

facilitation is closely interlinked with tourism development and can be a key in boosting demand. This area is of

particular relevance in a moment in which governments are looking to stimulate economic growth but cannot make

major use of fiscal incentives or public investment152”.

4.3. Obama’s commitment to Travel Facilitation

Although the USA is not a member of the UNWTO, US President Barack Obama appreciates the positive effects of

tourism and wants to promote travel facilitation in order to create employment and boost economic growth in the

USA. He intends to achieve this aim by implementing the necessary measures to improve and speed up visa and

foreign visitor processing153. Although the USA ranks first in the world in terms of international tourism receipts

(US$ 104 billion in 2010 including foreign exchange from tourism), its share of global international tourism

earnings has nevertheless decreased from 17% in 2000 to 11% in 2010. This decline is widely ascribed to the travel

restrictions following the 11 September 2001.

148 http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/final_declaration_t20_merida.pdf, p.3 (retrieved on 25 September 2012)





151 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-01-16/international-tourism-reach-one-billion-2012 (retrieved on 26 September 2012)

152 Quotation: http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-01-16/international-tourism-reach-one-billion-2012 (retrieved on 26 September

2012)

153 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-01-20/unwto-joins-industry-voices-support-obama-s-move-facilitate-travel (retrieved on 26September 2012)



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By and large, the tourism sector plays a substantial role for US GDP and employment representing 2.7% of GDP

and 7.5 million jobs in 2010. International tourist arrivals support about 1.2 million jobs. If the USA increased its

share of the international travel market, over 1 million jobs could be created during the following decade.

Therefore, the USA is now about to elaborate new strategies to better promote it as an attractive tourism destination

and improve simultaneously secure visa processing. President Obama lays great importance on tourism and said,

“Every year, tens of millions of tourists from all over the world come and visit America. And the more folks who

visit America, the more Americans we get back to work. We need to help businesses all across the country grow

and create jobs; compete and win. That’s how we’re going to rebuild an economy where hard work pays off, where

responsibility is rewarded, and where anyone can make it if they try”154.

The number of tourists from emerging economies with growing middle classes – such as Brazil, China and India –

is estimated to grow. According to the US Department of Commerce, tourists from these three countries

contributed about $15 billion and thousands of jobs to the US economy in 2010. Chinese and Brazilian tourists

spend on average more than $ 6,000 and $ 5,000 respectively each per journey. Therefore, the State Department has

made great steps in processing non-immigrant visas from these states allowing them to issue over 7.5 million visas

in the past fiscal year, a growth of 17% from the previous fiscal year. In 2011, consular officers authorised over one

million visa applications in China and over 800,000 in Brazil due to the significant economic growth in these

countries.

The Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior are charged with co-leading an interagency task force to elaborate

recommendations for strategies to favour travel opportunities throughout the USA. As Eco-tourism and outdoor

recreation are extremely important for rural economies in the USA, the Department of the Interior manages

destinations in national parks, wildlife refuges, cultural and historic sites that attract national and international

travellers. Moreover, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security are responsible for

increasing non-immigrant visa processing capacity in Brazil and China by 40% in 2012. They have established a

pilot programme to simplify and optimize the non-immigrant visa process for very low-risk applicants, e.g.

individuals from any country renewing non-immigrant visas. In 2008, the Department for Homeland Security also

created the programme “Global Entry” in order to ease expedited clearance for pre-approved and low-risk tourists

upon arrival in the USA. This programme is now to be permanent. Meanwhile, more than 246,000 travellers have

participated in the Global Entry programme. Expanding enrolment will make the programme available for roughly

97% of international travellers at airports.

154http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/19/we-can-t-wait-president-obama-takes-actions-increase-travel-and-tourism-




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At present, over 60% of international tourists does not need a US visa because they have the opportunity to travel

with a Visa Waiver Program that enables them to travel to the USA for tourism or business purposes at a duration

of 90 days without having obtained a visa. This programme encourages travel and tourism in the USA and

stimulates the tourism industry. For instance, Taiwan has made considerable efforts to meet the requirements of the

Department for Homeland Security e.g. by enhancing its law enforcement and its document security standards. In

the meantime, 36 countries are part of the Visa Waiver Program155.

Taleb Rifai supports this commitment: “Complicated, lengthy and overpriced entry formalities are making it

extremely difficult for tourists, especially from emerging economies which are leading growth in terms of outbound

markets, to travel156.” He adds “obstacles such as burdensome visa processes are not just a barrier to travellers but

to growth, job creation and free trade.” Therefore, Rifai called at the ITB Travel Trade Show on 6 March 2012 in

Berlin on the tourism sector to unite around the issue of travel facilitation as a means to stimulate demand and

create jobs. “Travel facilitation must top our agenda and we must speak together on this if we are to be heard at the

highest level of decision-making. It is in the belief that UNWTO has joined the voices of the sector such as the

WTTC, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

and the World Economic Forum (WEF), to advance this important issue.”

5.4. The Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign

Despite its growing relevance for the global economy, peace and development, tourism has been given short shrift

on the economic and political level. In order to mainstream the items of travel and tourism to the global political

debates, the UNWTO and the WTTC have joined forces and established the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign

in 2011157. They are pursuing the common goal to position tourism as a priority in the global agenda by enhancing

the general understanding of the importance of tourism to the socio-economic development of the world

community. Both organizations have jointly drawn up an Open Letter to Heads of State and Government

worldwide. With their signature, the heads of state confirm their recognition of the significance of the tourism

sector in responding to the current global challenges.

The first country to sign was Mexico on 17 May 2011. President Felipe Calderón encouraged an intensive

collaboration across the Mexican ministries and departments to support the tourism sector. He declared, “For

155 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/19/we-can-t-wait-president-obama-takes-actions-increase-travel-and-tourism-,


156 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-03-05/one-billion-tourists-key-creating-jobs-and-stimulating-economy-unwto-secret


157 http://leadersfortourism.unwto.org/ (retrieved on 26 September 2012)



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Mexico, tourism is a national priority and a political priority. It is an essential activity for promoting growth and

raising living standards (...)158”. The National Agenda for Tourism has reflected the full support of both the public

and the private sector and contains ways how tourism can achieve its full potential. President Calderón has a very

ambitious vision seeking to make Mexico a privileged destination for international tourism. In this context, the

country hopes to make great steps in regional development in the near future.

On 17 October 2011, Malaysia joined the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign with the wish to transform the

country into a high-income state by 2020. The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak emphasised the crucial role

of tourism on the way to achieve this aim, which plays a vital part in the national Economic Transformation

Programme. In 2011, the tourism sector contributed 5% of the GDP to the Malaysian economy and was responsible

for 1.6 million jobs or 13.8% of total employment159. Therefore, the tourism sector is seen as one of the twelve

National Key Economic Areas to make Malaysia a high-income nation. The Malaysian Government pursues a large

variety of strategies to use tourism as a means to speed up Malaysia’s medium-term growth. The national

marketing slogan “Malaysia Truly Asia” constitutes an allusion to the microcosm of Asia and the capability of this

sector to bring people from different cultures into closer contact. The Prime Minister promised Mr. Rifai to

“become an ambassador for world tourism”.

Another member of the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign is Kenya. Tourism plays an essential role for the

national economic welfare. In 2010, Kenya received 1.5 million tourists generating US$ 700 million. This amount

assured national income, employment (10% of the work force), the expansion of infrastructure (including hospitals,

roads and schools) and benefitted above all the poorer classes of the population160. Aside the socio-economic

welfare and poverty alleviation, Kenya highlights the force of tourism to keep peace. The Kenyan Minister of

Tourism, Najib Balala, articulated, “Tourism can bring tolerance and understanding among different cultures and

can contribute to a better living standard". The President, Mwai Kibaki, added “We see and value tourism as one of

the greatest avenues through which the people of the world are able to sample the varied cultures and natural

attributes that are to be found globally161 (...)”. Against the background that the WTTC expect rising demand from

international tourists for cross-border travel in Africa, David Scowsill proposed President Kibaki to take a

leadership role in the efforts to promote tourism in the East African Region, especially in the areas of favouring

open access for airlines, common visas and joint marketing.

158 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-05-20/president-calderon-mexico-first-join-unwtowttc-global-campaign-value-travel(retrieved on 28 September 2012)159 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-10-19/prime-minister-malaysia-tourism-key-country-s-economic-transformation (retrievedon 28 September 2012)160

http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-06-27/kenyan-president-mwai-kibaki-highlights-tourism-s-cultural-benefits-upon-jo(retrieved on 28 September 2012)161 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-06-27/kenyan-president-mwai-kibaki-highlights-tourism-s-cultural-benefits-upon-jo




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In the aftermath of the election of Mohamed Morsi as new President of Egypt on 24 June 2012, he expressed his

support for the tourism sector as a major pillar in the national economy in his first speech: “We will work together

to encourage investment in all sectors, and restore the role of tourism for the benefit of the Egyptian economy and

every citizen in Egypt162.” Egypt has been a member of the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign since 29 May

2011. The tourism sector represents one of the main sources for foreign exchange and covers one in every seven

jobs so that the government is fully committed to harness tourism in the recovery process after the Arab Spring.

The Egyptian Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf, describes tourism as a lifeline for the Egyptian economy163.

The most recent member of the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign is Argentina. For the past decade,

international tourist arrivals in the country have almost doubled. As a result, Argentina is the most visited

destination in South America. Hence, the tourism sector makes a great contribution to the national economy and

through its socio-economic impact to regional development. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of

Argentina, puts great value on the tourism sector in her political development strategies. In 2010, she established

the first Ministry of Tourism in Argentina. After having signed the Open Letter on 28 August 2012, she denoted

economic development, social inclusion and conservation of heritage as the three cornerstones of the national

tourism policy. She stressed her ambitions: “We are driven by the vision of becoming South America’s tourism

destination of reference for our diversity and quality of supply, based on the balanced development of the habitats

and identities of our people164.”

Mexico, Malaysia, Kenya, Egypt and Argentina are only five examples that demonstrate the importance of tourism

for the above mentioned key challenges: economic growth, poverty alleviation and peacekeeping. Since 2011, the

following states have been members of the Campaign165: Mexico, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Burkina

Faso, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Armenia, Romania, China, Croatia, Ireland, South Korea, Malaysia,

Colombia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Gambia, Serbia, Philippines, Seychelles, Tunisia, Greece, Vietnam, Thailand,

Myanmar, Zambia, Jamaica, Peru, Bahrain, Moldova, Mongolia and Argentina.

162 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-07-04/unwto-welcomes-new-egyptian-president-s-support-tourism (retrieved on 28

September 2012)

163 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-05-31/tourism-key-economic-recovery-egypt (retrieved on 28 September 2012)

164 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-08-30/tourism-makes-vital-contribution-economy-argentina-says-president (retrieved on 28September 2012)165 http://www.wttc.org/activities/leaders-for-tourism/ (retrieved on 26 September 2012)



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6. Outlook and Conclusions

6.1. Forecasts of the UNWTO

According to the UNWTO long-term forecast “Tourism Towards 2030”, the organisation assumes that the great

global tourism boom will remain in full swing in the approaching years. The UNWTO predictions expect the

tourism sector to continue to grow but at a more moderate speed in comparison with the previous years166: from

4.2% per year (1980-2020) to 3.3% (2010-2030). The slower pace can be ascribed to four main reasons167:

1. the base volumes are higher, so that increases are proportionally smaller

2. lower GDP (as economies mature)

3. lower elasticity of travel to GDP

4. a shift from falling transport costs to increasing ones due to higher prices for energy

However, the growth will be on a sustainable and inclusive base. Furthermore, the UNWTO presumes an average

increase of 43 million additional tourists every year going up from one billion168 at the end of 2012 to 1.8 billion

international tourist arrivals by 2030. This would mean that 5 million tourists per day cross borders for business,

leisure or different purposes. Emerging economies in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East

and Latin America will probably record a growth of 50% more international arrivals (+4.4% a year) than advanced

ones. This would result in ca. 30 million more arrivals per year in emerging countries. This growth could already

start in 2015 and account for 58% of all international arrivals in 2030. Even if all regions are expected to benefit,

Africa, Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East are supposed to grow more strongly than Europe and the

Americas. The UNWTO assumes North East Asia (16% of total arrivals) and Southern and Mediterranean Europe

(15% of total arrivals) the most visited subregions in the world.

Almost similar to those assumptions, the strongest source markets in 2030 could be Asia and the Pacific (+17

million tourists a year) and Europe (+16 million tourists a year). The remaining tourism flows would originate from

the Americas (+ 5 million), Africa (+ 3 million) and the Middle East (+ 2 million).

166 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-10-11/international-tourists-hit-18-billion-2030 (retrieved on 27 September 2012)

167 Quotation: http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_2030_ga_2011_korea_1.pdf, p. 18 (retrieved on

27 September 2012)


27 September 2012)



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Taleb Rifai holds the opinion that the next 20 years will be characterized by continued economic growth, social

progress and environmental sustainability169. This tremendous growth will be interlinked with challenges regarding

maximizing socio-economic benefits while minimizing the negative impact of tourism for the society and the

environment. This requires national tourism policies interlinked with the business environment, infrastructure,

travel facilitation, marketing and human resources, which should take into account the principles of sustainable

development.

6.2. Conclusions

Economically speaking, the beginning of the 21st century has been marked by economic constraints triggered by the

Financial Crisis. In contrast to the global economic downturn, tourism has continued to grow at a remarkable rate

throughout the world. This demonstrates the high value of travelling for leisure, business and other purposes in our

globalized society. In fact, the large volume of investment for goods and services spent by tourists has allowed the

tourism sector to emerge as a key economic activity. It can be assumed that tourism is as old as civilisation.

However, steadily increasing income, the right to paid holidays and the improvements of transportation technology

have favoured continuous growth in the tourism sector. However, the upswing in tourism also means a rise in

challenges and potential threats to the environment and local communities. Therefore, tourism must be geared to

sustainability so that each tourism activity targets economic prosperity, social equity and environmental protection.

Never before has the tourism sector played such an outstanding role. In 2011, a total of 990 million tourists spent

US$ 1.2 trillion. This accounts for roughly 5% of worldwide GDP and 30% of the world’s exports of services. In

terms of international exports, tourism ranks fourth after fuels, chemicals and food. These figures submit evidence

that the tourism sector constitutes a driving force for the international economic well-being not only in advanced

but also in emerging and developing countries. In comparison to other economic branches, tourism requires less

capital and know-how to work successfully. Natural features, such as a mild climate, scenic beauty and cultural

values, evoke subjective impressions and desires that incite people to travel. Furthermore, the tourism sector is

relatively job-intensive and employed 255 million of the global work force. Thanks to its service-based character,

tourism generates strong collaboration linkages to the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Therefore, tourism

stimulates simultaneously the job-creating process in different sectors (e.g. agriculture, textiles production and

infrastructure) of the global economy. These so-called multiplier effects together with the contribution to the global

GDP have become an important factor for economic growth and general prosperity.

169 http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-10-11/international-tourists-hit-18-billion-2030 (retrieved on 25 September 2012)



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Developing countries can benefit from the positive socio-economic effects of tourism using them to alleviate

poverty. The UNWTO plays a vital role in this respect as it has elaborated ten principles recommending how to

eliminate poverty in a sustainable manner. UNWTO’s ST-EP Initiative supports tourism projects which include job

creation for the poor and their integration into the tourism economy. The initiative also foresees tax breaks for

tourism income, profits that favour the poor, donations as well as investment in infrastructure. With its

commitment, the UNWTO makes great steps towards the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals

that are to be achieved by 2015. In order to provide a coherent framework for its objectives, the UNWTO adopted

in 2005 the declaration on “Harnessing Tourism for the Millennium Development Goals” calling on governments

around the world to take advantage of tourism as a suitable instrument to eradicate poverty. In addition, the

UNWTO has also set up the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund to assist governments and citizen

organisations in fighting poverty. As a result, UNWTO’s engagement in the global poverty alleviation process

through the tourism industry has made a significant contribution to mitigate income disparities in poor countries.

As tourism brings people from different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds into closer contact, it promotes

intercultural dialogue and respect for different attitudes and mentalities. Therefore, tourism can help in keeping

global peace. According to the constructivism theory, cross-border communication and shared civic values can

contribute to replace traditional narrow-mindedness. Values, norms and discourses shape beliefs and can thus alter

behaviour. The UNWTO acknowledges this theory which is notably reflected in the Seoul Declaration on Peace

and Tourism as well as in the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism recommending how tourists and hosts should

behave to ensure peaceful interaction. In this context, trans-border cooperation in the tourism area can be an

excellent means to promote international understanding. One of the most striking examples is the UNWTO Silk

Road Programme that enables 25 countries from Italy to Japan to cooperate peacefully and generate economic

benefits for all participants. The Programme comprises a vast cooperation network between the UNWTO, many

UN agencies and multiple stakeholders from the private and the public sectors in its member states. Because of the

large number of participants, the Silk Road project has a clearly structured task segregation which enables an

efficient and sustainable work. This kind of cross-border cooperation on various levels can build closer ties

between institutions, policy-makers and individuals from different countries, increasing mutual understanding and

helping to keep peace in the 21st century.

Being aware of the great significance of the tourism sector at present, the UNWTO intends to put greater emphasis

on poverty alleviation, job creation and reducing the effects of climate change. In 2011, it adopted a White Paper

on an institutional reform within the organization as well as between the UNWTO and its members. The UNWTO

is also trying to place tourism issues high on the political agendas because of its potential for economic growth,

poverty eradication and peacekeeping. In this framework, the tourism ministers of the major world economies

(T20) have called on the G20 decision-makers to take the socio-economic importance of tourism into consideration,



50

especially against the background of the current financial and economic crisis. On the G20 summit on

18-19 June 2012, the G20 leaders recognized for the first time the importance of tourism as a driver for

employment, growth and global economic recovery. Likewise, US President Obama has underlined the importance

of tourism by making it a priority for all departments of the US government and by easing travel through visa

facilitation.

In spite of these developments, tourism still lacks political recognition on an international scale. This is why Taleb

Rifai, Secretary-General of the UNWTO, and David Scowsill, President and CEO of the WTTC, have established

in 2011 the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign that provides a platform for countries wishing to promote

international tourism. The initiative aims at raising awareness of tourism’s potential for economic growth, poverty

alleviation and peacekeeping world-wide. In the framework of the campaign, Egypt has stressed that it counts on

tourism for its economic recovery after the turmoil of the Arab Spring. Kenya has underscored that tourism can

help build peace while Mexico seeks to use tourism to decrease the national poverty rate.

To conclude, tourism definitely has a great potential to contribute to economic stability, peace and development on

a global scale. It is one of the few economic sectors that have continued to grow during the recent financial crisis.

Tourism is labour-intensive and can thus generate a lot of employment. It tends to stimulate economic activities in

other sectors as well. Furthermore, as tourism does not rely so much on industry and infrastructure, it can be made

to work relatively easily in developing countries. Tourism also presents a unique opportunity for people from

different cultures to meet and make friends. Mutual understanding, closer ties and economic interdependence will

have a positive effect on international cooperation and peacekeeping. However, tourism on a global scale is a

relatively recent phenomenon and political leaders have not yet grasped its huge potential for development. That is

why the UNWTO makes great efforts to raise awareness worldwide, e.g. via the Global Leaders for Tourism

Campaign. However, tourism requires a certain openness which is in conflict with the security concerns of many

states. Another danger of tourism is that, if not properly managed, it may spoil the very beauty that attracted the

travellers in the first place. The UNWTO has therefore emphasized the importance of sustainability for tourism at

the dawn of the 21st century.



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Annex 1

List of the 155 Member States of the UNWTO

1. Afghanistan

2 Albania

3 Algeria

4 Andorra

5 Angola

6 Argentina

7 Armenia

8 Australia

9 Austria

10 Azerbaijan

11 Bahamas

12 Bahrain

13 Bangladesh

14 Belarus

15 Benin

16 Bhutan

17 Bolivia

18 Bosnia and Herzegovina

19 Botswana

20 Brazil

21 Brunei Darussalam

22 Bulgaria

23 Burkina Faso

24 Burundi

25 Cambodia

26 Cameroon

27 Cape Verde

28 Central African Republic

29 Chad

30 Chile

31 China

32 Colombia

33 Congo

34 Costa Rica

35 Côte d'Ivoire

36 Croatia

37 Cuba

38 Cyprus

39 Czech Republic

40 Democratic People's Republic of Korea

41 Democratic Republic of the Congo

42 Djibouti

43 Dominican Republic

44 Ecuador

45 Egypt

46 El Salvador

47 Equatorial Guinea

48 Eritrea

49 Ethiopia

50 Fiji

51 France

52 Gabon

53 Gambia

54 Georgia

55 Germany

56 Ghana

57 Greece

58 Guatemala

59 Guinea

60 Guinea-Bissau

61 Haiti

62 Honduras

63 Hungary

64 India

65 Indonesia

66 Iran, Islamic Republic of

67 Iraq

68 Israel

69 Italy

70 Jamaica

71 Japan

72 Jordan

73 Kazakhstan

74 Kenya

75 Kuwait

76 Kyrgyzstan



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77 Lao People's Democratic Republic

78 Latvia

79 Lebanon

80 Lesotho

81 Liberia

82 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

83 Lithuania

84 Madagascar

85 Malawi

86 Malaysia

87 Maldives

88 Mali

89 Malta

90 Mauritania

91 Mauritius

92 Mexico

93 Monaco

94 Mongolia

95 Montenegro

96 Morocco

97 Mozambique

98 Myanmar

99 Namibia

100 Nepal

101 Netherlands

102 Nicaragua

103 Niger

104 Nigeria

105 Norway

106 Oman

107 Pakistan

108 Panama

109 Papua New Guinea

110 Paraguay

111 Peru

112 Philippines

113 Poland

114 Portugal

115 Qatar

116 Republic of Korea

117 Republic of Moldova

118 Romania

119 Russian Federation

120 Rwanda

121 San Marino

122 Sao Tome and Principe

123 Saudi Arabia

124 Senegal

125 Serbia

126 Seychelles

127 Sierra Leone

128 Slovakia

129 Slovenia

130 South Africa

131 Spain

132 Sri Lanka

133 Sudan

134 Swaziland

135 Switzerland

136 Syrian Arab Republic

137 Tajikistan

138 Thailand

139The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia

140 Timor-Leste

141 Togo

142 Tunisia

143 Turkey

144 Turkmenistan

145 Uganda

146 Ukraine

147 United Republic of Tanzania

148 Uruguay

149 Uzbekistan

150 Vanuatu

151 Venezuela

152 Viet Nam

153 Yemen

154 Zambia

155 Zimbabwe

2. Associate Members:

1. Aruba

2. Flemish Community of Belgium



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3. Hong Kong, China

4. Macao, China

5. Madeira, Portugal

6. Puerto Rico

3. Observers170:

1. Palestine

2. Vatican

170http://www2.unwto.org/en/members/states (retrieved

on 28 September 2012)



54

Annex 2

List of the World’s Top Destinations in International Tourism Arrivals171

171 https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/storageapi/sites/all/files/pdf/international_tourism_by_region.pdf (retrieved on 28September 2012)



55

Annex 3

List of the World’s Top Destinations in International Tourism Receipts172

172 http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/worlds_top_destinations_pr_27.pdf (retrieved on28 September 2012)



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Annex 4

Overview of the ST-EP Projects173

Country/Region Project Title

1. Europe

AlbaniaKorca Region Tourism Destination Development and Management Programme

Sustainable Tourism Legislation

2. The Americas

Bolivia

Improving of Local Guiding Services in San Javier and Concepcion

Small and Medium Enterprise Development in Rurrenabaque

Strengthening Community-based Tourism

Strengthening Rural Community-based Tourism and Commercial Management to Consolidate the IncaTrail (Qhapac-Nan Project)

Colombia Sustainable Community-based Tourism Development in Providence Island

Ecuador

Competitiveness and Enterprise Management for the Strengthening of Community-based Tourism(FEPTCE Network)

Fostering Rural Community-based Tourism and Inclusive Business within the Framework of EffectiveDestination Management along the Inca Trail (Qhapac-Nan Project)

Fostering Sustainable Tourism through the Development of Inclusive Business in Galapagos Islands

Local Tourism Planning for the Consortium of Provincial Governments (CONCOPE)

New Technologies for Communication and Competitiveness for Tourism Microenterprises (TICProject)

Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas

Tourism Micro-Enterprises, Micro-Credit and Poverty Reduction (MET Project)

Tourism, Poverty Reduction and the MDGs (PLANDETUR 2020)

Guatemala

The Coffee Route in Quiche and Verapaces (Phase I)

The Coffee Route in Quiche and Verapaces (Phase II)

Development of Community-based Tourism Destinations

Honduras

Connecting Local Tourism Products and Services with the Marina Copan Hotel in Copan Ruinas

Establishing Linkages between Garifunas' Small Businesses and the Bahia de Tela "Los Micos Beach& Golf Resort"

Sales Increase through the Innovation of Culinary Culture

Nicaragua

Commercializing Rural Community-based Tourism

Connecting Local Food Providers with Larger Entrepreneurs in Mainstream Destinations

Strengthening Rural Community-based Tourism (RENITURAL Network)

Volcano and Lake Route in Solentiname

Peru

Knowledge Exchange on Community-based Rural Tourism

Strengthening Rural Community-based Tourism in Aypate within the Framework of EffectiveDestination Management along the Inca Trail (Qhapac-Nan Project)

Strengthening Rural Community-based Tourism in Puno within the Framework of EffectiveDestination Management along the Inca Trail (Qhapac-Nan Project)

173 http://www.unwtostep.org/index.asp (retrieved on 28 September 2012)



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Sustainable Development for the Families of La Encantada

Sustainable Tourism and Birdwatching at Luichupucro

4. Africa

Burkina Faso Development of a Community-based Tourism Complex in Bazoule

Burkina Faso /Benin / Niger

Tourism Development Strategic Plan for Park W

CameroonDevelopment of a Network for Promotion and Capacity Building for Running Bird Watching Tours

Sustainable Community-based Tourism and Private Enterprise Development in Ebogo

Ethiopia

Chencha-Dorze Tourism and Handicrafts Development Project

Ecotourism Development in Bale Mountains National Park

Konso Community Tourism Project

Pro-Poor Tourism Business Linkages with Accommodation Providers

Ghana

Development of Eco-Cultural Tourism in Butre and Dixcove

Development of Local Market Linkages in Tourism Supply Chain and Community-based TourismEnterprises Capacity for Poverty Reduction in the Western Region

Savannaland Destination Tourism Programme

Guinea Ecotourism Development in Sangareah in the Dubreka Region

Kenya

Business Case for Wildlife Conservation in Kasigau Community

Enhanced Market Access for Community-based Tourism Products

The Kitengela Footbridge Project

Enhancement of Local Employment in Amboseli Tourism Destination through the Creation of aPioneer Vocational Tourism Training School

3. Asia and Oceania

Bhutan Sustainable Tourism Law

CambodiaMekong Discovery Trail and Tourism Development Master Plan for Kratie Town

Mekong Discovery Trail

China Tourism and Handicraft Production in Guizhou Province

Lao PDR

Canopy Walkway and Zip-line: A New Tourist Attraction at Phou Khao Khouay in BolikhamsayProvince

Capacity Building in Conservation Planning and Management in Viengxay District

Tourism Planning and Promotion for Viengxay Caves

Tourism Law Implementation

Upgrading Local Facilities to Promote Community-based Elephant Tourism and Nature Conservationin the Hongsa District

Village-based Tourism Development Ban Kandone and Ban Tahin

Voices of Viengxay

Lao PDR/ Vietnam /Nepal

Research on Multi-stakeholder Collaboration in Sustainable Tourism

NepalGreat Himalaya Trail Development in West Nepal : Linking Formal and Informal Enterprises toTourism Markets to Reduce Poverty

Vietnam

Development of Handicraft Villages in Ha Tay Province

Promoting Pro-Poor Sustainable Tourism for Livelihood Improvement and Biodiversity Conservationin Coastal Tam Giang Lagoon, Thua Thien Hue Province

Tourism Law Implementation



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Madagascar Development of Community-based Ecotourism in the Anjozorobe-Angavo Protected Area

Mali

Creation of a Network for Responsible Tourism

Expanding Ecotourism Activities: Agricultural Supply to Hotels in Sangha, Ecotourism Promotion inSiby and Guide Training in Mopti, Djenne, Sangha and Siby

Health Protection for Female Artisans in Djenne

Strengthening the Capacities of Tourism Stakeholders at Douentza and d'Hombori within theFramework of Ecotourism Development and Promotion of the Elephants of Gourma

MozambiqueCommunity-based Lodges Training Programme

Supporting Platform for Inhambane ST-EP Tourism Initiatives

RwandaGuidelines for Community-based Tourism

Congo-Nile Trail

SenegalStrengthening Sustainable and Responsible Tourism in Saint Louis and Louga

Responsible Tourism Promotion in Saint Louis and Louga

South Africa Pro-Poor Tourism Leadership and Empowerment Training to Pondoland Community Trust

Southern Africa Marketing Support for Community-based Tourism (RETOSA Network)

Tanzania

Cultural Tourism Enhancement and Diversification Programme

Pangani-Saadani Coastal Protection

Uluguru Mountains Ecotourism Project

West Africa

Multidestination Marketing Programme for Benin , Burkina Faso , Ghana , Mali , Niger , Senegal andTogo

Network of Cross-Border National Parks and Protected Areas in 9 Countries: Benin, Gambia, Guinea,Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone

Zambia Village Action for Sustainable Tourism



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Annex 5

Network of the Members of the Silk Road Programme174

174http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/content/member-states (retrieved on 28 September 2012)



60

8. Bibliography

8.1. Tables and Figures

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Figure 1: Key numbersURL: http://www2.unwto.org/en/content/why-tourism (retrieved on 12 September 2012)

Table 1: Total tourism revenues by regionURL: UNWTO (2012) Tourism Highlights 2012

Figure 2: UNWTO’s recommended twofold strategiesURL: http://step.unwto.org/en/content/tourism-and-poverty-alleviation-1 (retrieved on15 September 2012)

Figure 3: Objectives of the UNWTO Silk Road ProgrammeURL: http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/content/objectives (retrieved on 26 September 2012)

Figure 4: Network of the Members of the Silk Road ProgrammeURL: http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/content/member-states (retrieved on 26 September 2012)

8.2. List of Literature

8.2.1. Books and Documents

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International. ISBN 0-85199-582-9

Éditions Nathan (2006) Le tourisme en France. CLERC S.A. ISBN 2.09.183127.1

Fleet Kate, Krämer Gudrun, Matringe Denis, Nawas John, Rowson Nawas, Rowson Everett, (2007)

Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. E. J. Brill. ISBN 90-04-09738-4

Hug, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang (1990) Geschichtliche Weltkunde. Verlag Moritz Diesterweg GmbH.

ISBN 3-425-03318-2

Hug, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang (1991) Geschichtliche Weltkunde. Verlag Moritz Diesterweg GmbH.

ISBN 3-425-03317-4

Jackson, Patrick Thaddeus and Nexon, Daniel (2002)Whence Causal Mechanisms? A Comment

on Legro Dialogue IO 1



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Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Rudra Prasad Upadhyay (2006). Tourism and Economic Development in

Nepal. Northern Book Centre. ISBN: 0-8172-1117-38

Profanter, Annemaire (2009) Kulturen im Dialog, Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der

Wissenschaften. ISBN: 978-3-631-59374-5

Theobald, William F. (1998). Global Tourism (2nd ed.). Oxford [England]: Butterworth-Heinemann.

ISBN 0-7506-4022-7

UNWTO (1980) Manila Declaration on World Tourism

UNWTO (1994). Recommendations on Tourism Statistics. ISBN 978-92-116-1362-9

UNWTO (1995). Concepts, Definitions, and Classifications for Tourism Statistics, Technical Manual

No. 1. ISBN 978-92-844-0103-1

UNWTO (2005) Tourism Pearls of the Silk Road

UNWTO (2010). Recommendations on Tourism Statistics. ISBN 978-92-1-161521-0

UNWTO (2011) Fact and Figures. Tourism and Sustainability

UNWTO (2011) Facts and Figures. Tourism and Ethics#

UNWTO (2011) Facts and Figures. Tourism and Poverty Reduction

UNWTO (2011) Facts and Figures. Tourism in the Green Economy

UNWTO (2011) Report on the progress of the reform of the Organization (White Paper)

UNWTO (2012) Annual Report 2011

UNWTO (2012) UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2012

Walt, Stephen M. (1998) International Relations: One World, Many Theories, Foreign Policy,

No. 110, Special Edition: Frontiers of Knowledge

World Travel & Tourism Council (2012) Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2012

8.2.2. World Wide Web

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62

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UNWTO; Tourism and Poverty AlleviationURL: http://step.unwto.org/en/content/tourism-and-poverty-alleviation-1 (retrieved on 15 September2012)

UNWTO; Tourism and Poverty Alleviation; Background and ObjectivesURL: http://step.unwto.org/en/content/background-and-objectives (retrieved on 14 September 2012)

UNWTO; Tourism and Poverty Alleviation; Overview of ST-EP ActivitiesURL: http://step.unwto.org/en/content/overview-st-ep-activities-0 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)

UNWTO; Tourism and Poverty Alleviation; The Seven MechanismsURL: http://www.unwto.org/step/mechanisms/en/ms.php?op=2 (retrieved on 16 September 2012)

UNWTO; Tourism and Poverty Alleviation; The Seven ST-EP MechanismsURL: http://step.unwto.org/en/content/seven-st-ep-mechanisms (retrieved on 16 September 2012)

UNWTO; Tourism and the Millennium Development GoalsURL: http://www.unwto.org/tourism&mdgsezine/ (retrieved on 15 September 2012)

UNWTO; Tourism key to the economic recovery of EgyptURL: http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2011-05-31/tourism-key-economic-recovery-egypt(retrieved on 28 September 2012)

UNWTO; Tourism makes vital contribution to economy of Argentina says PresidentURL: http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-08-30/tourism-makes-vital-contribution-economy-argentina-says-president (retrieved on 28 September 2012)

UNWTO; Tourism towards 2030URL: http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_2030_ga_2011_korea_1.pdf(retrieved on 27 September 2012)

UNWTO; UNWTO joins industry voices in support of Obama’s move to facilitate travelURL: http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-01-20/unwto-joins-industry-voices-support-obama-s-move-facilitate-travel (retrieved on 26 September 2012)

UNWTO; UNWTO Silk Road Ministers’ Meeting at ITB Berlin 2012URL: http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/event/unwto-silk-road-ministers-meeting-itb-berlin-2012-0(retrieved on 22 September 2012)

UNWTO; UNWTO Silk Road Ministers’ Summit: Commitment and cooperation to establish apowerful brandURL: http://silkroad.unwto.org/en/news/2011-03-22/unwto-silk-road-ministers-summit-commitment-and-cooperation-establish-powerful-brand (retrieved on 22 September 2012)



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UNWTO; UNWTO welcomes new Egyptian President’s support for tourismURL: http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2012-07-04/unwto-welcomes-new-egyptian-president-s-support-tourism (retrieved on 28 September 2012)

UNWTO; UNWTO/WTTC Leaders for Tourism CampaignURL: http://leadersfortourism.unwto.org/ (retrieved 26 September 2012)

UNWTO; Why Tourism?URL: http://www2.unwto.org/en/content/why-tourism (retrieved on 15 September 2012)

UNWTO; World Tourism Barometer, Volume 10, July 2012URL: http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_barom12_04_july_excerpt_0.pdf,(retrieved on 13 September 2012)

UNWTO / University of Klagenfurt; Tourism and PeaceURL: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/frieden/downloads/Leaflet_Project_Tourism_and_Peace.pdf, (retrievedon 18 September 2012)

Willamette University; Fordism, Post-Fordism and the flexible system of productionURL: http://www.willamette.edu/~fthompso/MgmtCon/Fordism_&_Postfordism.html (retrieved on9 September 2012)

WTTC; Leaders for TourismURL: http://www.wttc.org/activities/leaders-for-tourism/ (retrieved on 26 September 2012)

WTTC; Marketing is not the only answer for UK tourism, says WTTCURL: http://www.wttc.org/news-media/news-archive/2012/marketing-not-only-answer-uk-tourism-says-wttc/ (retrieved on 13 September 2012)

WTTC; Travel & Tourism larger industry than automotive manufacturingURL: http://www.wttc.org/news-media/news-archive/2012/travel-tourism-larger-industry-automotive-manufacturing/ (retrieved on 14 September 2012)