If World Tourism Day (Sept 27) passed you by, there’s still time to participate if you’re handy with a camera.
For the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) annual photography competition is a global showcase and we in the Highlands and Islands are well placed to take part thanks to the dramatic landscape we enjoy and the heightened levels of awareness of sustainable tourism.
The theme for this year’s World Tourism Day photography competition is climate solutions in tourism. Examples include “good practices that reflect how we adjust to protecting our planet from climate change and how we can alleviate its effects on the environment.”
The competition is open to people of all ages, from all around the world. Participants must register and submit photographs electronically. The deadline for receipt of entries is 30 November 2008. For full details of the rules and guidelines, visit UNWTO.org
The photography competition launch came as this year’s World Tourism Day (WTD) Think Tank concluded that tourism growth must be pursued with increasing emphasis on ethics, local community involvement as well as reducing carbon emissions systematically.
“Tourism must grow in a smart way. The commitment to credible sustainability criteria will represent big opportunities for new entrepreneurs in this smart growth economy, involving businesses, communities and innovative governments”, said Geoffrey Lipman, Think Tank moderator and UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General.
The experts convened by UNWTO agreed that special consideration must be given to the world’s poorest countries. While these are the least contributors to global warming, they will face the worst hardship of its consequences.
“The climate challenge must not displace global poverty reduction efforts. Both should be pursued simultaneously”, said UNWTO Deputy Secretary-General Taleb Rifai.
This will require new metrics to reflect the importance and positive role of tourism, to go beyond existing measurement tools. The legal and the ethical base need to be developed side by side and factored into this measurement, together with new databases to cover areas of intersect between public and private sectors.
While most of the world’s poor countries are in Africa, also Latin America faces severe challenges from the climate shift. All over the world, national and regional level Initiatives are emerging based on the Davos Declaration Process:
Against this background, tourism has to take advantage of its potential as a global communications industry. The sector can be used as a platform to help educate the world on the need for action on climate change coherent with the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Participants of the Think Tank welcomed two new initiatives:
* ClimateSolutions.travel: Built with support of Microsoft, this portal will be a global repository of good practice for all tourism stakeholders to replicate.
* Tourpact.GC: The first sectoral initiative of UN’s Global compact. It links the Corporate Responsibility Principles and Processes of the Compact with UNWTO’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. The UN Secretary-General has welcomed it as an initiative to be followed by other sectors.
ClimateSolutions.travel and Tourpact.GC represent innovative and concrete steps to keep the momentum on the Davos Declaration Process, to help advance replicable good practice and to engage the private sector.
The Davos Declaration Process encourages all tourism stakeholders to adapt to changing climate conditions, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the sector, apply existing and new technologies to improve energy efficiency; and secure financial resources to assist regions and countries in need.
The Peru Think Tank was mirrored by similar events around the world and conclusions will be carried to the upcoming Ministers’ Summit on 11 November in London, during this year’s World Travel Market.
World Tourism Day 2008 Think Tank - Issues and Conclusions
* This quality oriented growth pattern will provide major opportunities for new entrepreneurs, creating a shared space for business, communities and innovative governments.
* More sustainability goals and climate targets need to be included in corporate objectives.
* Intelligent growth calls for new metrics that go beyond existing measurement tools. The legal and the ethical base need to be developed side by side and factored into this measurement, together with new databases to cover areas of intersect between public and private sectors.
* Responsible government policies must set the framework to lead the drive to this new approach, which will need transition strategies.
* Climate change has multi-stakeholder impacts and calls for multi-stakeholder response including the public and private sector, travellers and local communities.
Against this background the following conclusions were reached:
* Tourism can be a positive catalyst for national, regional and local change. The private sector can be a leader but must also be a partner to governments and non-governmental organizations.
* Tourism must be proactive and integrate the deep change in culture and in operations that are required.
* Tourism is a communications industry for the world and it should be used to help educate the world on the need for action on climate change coherent with the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
* Sustainability in action requires increased awareness and must be factored into general education policies and programmes, putting tourism and climate change into curricula.
* Climate and poverty response need special support for the poor. The poorest nations are also the least contributors to global warming but will face the worst hardship.
* Poor states should not pay for past excesses of rich nations.
* The new initiatives ClimateSolutions.travel and Tourpact.GC were welcomed as innovative and concrete ways to keep the momentum on the Davos Declaration Process, to help advance replicable good practice and to engage the private sector.
