Sustainable Tourism Law

108 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW IV.5) As a conclusion, we can summarize that despite what seems to be suggested by the title of the Draft Convention and its recitals, the focus is again on consumer protection, with no significant rights of the tourism service providers or the local residents at tourism destinations. The sustainable role of tourism is used as a catchphrase in the recitals but is not reflected in the provisions of the Draft Convention and its Annexes. V. UNWTO GLOBAL CODE OF ETHICS FOR TOURISM – FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOURISM ETHICS V.1. In 1999 the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organisation adopted a “Global Code of Ethics for Tourism” intended to serve as a frame of reference for responsible and sustainable tourism 20 . The provisions of the Code address all relevant stakeholders in tourism: governments, the travel industry, communities and tourists. The Code is not legally binding but rather a voluntarymechanismwhich stakeholders may refer to. Recently, the 22nd General Assembly held in China in September 2017, turned the Code of Ethics into what is meant to become the UNWTO’s first International Convention and approved the English text of a “Convention onTourism Ethics” 21 . The vague wording, rather proclaiming programmatic ideas than providing a robust fundament for application in the legal context, was acceptable for a non-binding ethical Code but could create problems as a Convention, as a piece of international legislation. The Convention maintains the broad definition of the term “tourist” 22 (see above) – which may be fine to blow up tourism statistics but doesn’t really reflect what tourism really is about and therefore doesn’t seem appropriate in the context of a legally binding instrument. The recitals of the Convention include several references to the principles of sustainability, as they express: • the desire to develop tourism with a view to contributing to economic development, international understanding, peace, prosperity and universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms; 20 ethics.unwto.org/content/global-code-ethics-tourism. 21 Resolution A/RES/707(XII). 22 Article 1 lit (d).