Sustainable Tourism Law

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION 111 V.3. Article 6 of the Convention explicitly refers to tourism as “a factor of environmental sustainability”. It is directed to all stakeholders in tourism and requires them to safeguard the natural environment with a view to achieving sound, continuous and sustainable economic growth geared to satisfying equitably the needs and aspirations of present and future generations 30 . Again, the provision is full of programmatic terms which make it difficult to efficiently enforce it. The Article obliges public authorities to give priority to forms of tourism development which are conducive to saving rare and precious natural resources, as well as avoiding unnecessary waste production 31 . But what exactly does „priority“ mean? It certainly means that other forms of tourism development which are detrimental to all these natural resources are not completely banned. The provision therefore hardly contributes to a measurable change towards sustainability in tourism. The same applies to the appeal for a more even distribution of holidays to reduce the pressure of tourism activity on the environment 32 . The Article does not assign a clear responsibility for its implementation and it is very likely that the distribution of holidays will continue to be mainly affected by economic factors, climate conditions and cultural habits. When the Convention asks for tourism activities to be programmed in such a way as to protect the natural heritage composed of ecosystems and biodiversity 33 , this appeal is mainly directed to tourism professionals and not to the tourists themselves. V.4. As a result we can say that the Convention is pursuing a noble objective – but the means provided by the Convention, at least from a legal point of view, are too weak to allow its efficient enforcement. However, some of the provisions can serve to improve the balance between sustainability and a traditional concept of consumer protection, which always regards the consumer as the “weak party” who needs protection while completely ignoring the contribution of these consumers to the destruction of the environment, cultural heritage and local economy. 30 Article 6 paragraph (1). 31 Article 6 paragraph (2). 32 Article 6 paragraph (3). 33 Article 6 paragraph (4).