E-Newsletter (1)

Sustainability in tourism

Consumers, in particular the tourists, are becoming more demanding and are claiming greater environmental and social accountability from companies. 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 communities’ (World Tourism Organisation). Sustainable tourism does not refer to a specific type of tourism. It is an aspiration for the impacts of all forms of tourism. Education and training are essential when it comes to mobilizing citizens and communities to the responsibility of putting in place sustainable practices in the tourism sector. In this sense, European projects, namely Erasmus +, are a huge asset, because they allow the creation of networks through which skills related to sustainability are promoted and transferred. Sustainability is the keyword in BLUE TOURISM, as a clear reference to the renewable nature of water. A resource that is in fact renewable but needs to be preserved. This is the focus of BLUE TOURISM: to look at waterways as a drive for sustainable tourism development.