Sustainable Tourism Law

TOWARD A REGIONAL SUSTAINABLE TOURISM 821 European 9 level, so much so that now the theme is extremely topical not only at the international level, but national and regional. In fact, sustainability in the tourism sector, thanks to its double transversality (both as regards actions for sustainability, and as regards the tourism sector), affects the local choices of strategic planning of tourism development, both in large cities cultural and non-cultural, both in small towns that have so much to enhance and propose. The extent of the actions that can be taken constantly requires a coordination and a direction that the governing bodies must guarantee. Generally, the tourist fruition of a territory and the maintenance of its environmental characteristics are always, potentially, on a collision course the one with the other. However, it is the legislator himself who is concerned with defining the criterion useful for reconciling the two aspects 10 . For this reason the United Nations Environment Programme listed three principal actions to set for a sustainable tourist development: 1) make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity; 2) respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance; 3) ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation. Sustainable tourism development requires the informed participation of all relevant stakeholders, as well as strong political leadership to ensure wide participation and consensus building. Achieving sustainable tourism is a continuous process and it 9 Inevitably the European Union has also activated itself to include tourism in a sustainable development plan: Commission communication: Basic guidelines for the sustainability of European tourism , COM (2003) 716 final, 21 November 2002; Commission Communication: Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism , COM (2007) 621 final, 19 October 2007; Commission Communication: Europe, the world’s No 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe , COM (2010) 352 final, 30 June 2010; Madrid 14 April 2010: The European conference of tourism sector operators in Europe , meant to increase the visibility of tourism at European level and to determine how to promote an EU tourism industry competitiveness and how sustainable growth of European tourism can be consolidated within an updated framework for EU tourism policy; the European system of indicators for tourism: TOOLKIT For Sustainable Destinations, February 2013; Commission Communication, European strategy for more growth and employment in coastal and maritime tourism , COM (2014) 86 final, 20 February 2014; European Parliament resolution of 29 October 2015 on new challenges and strategies for promoting tourism in Europe (2014/2241 (INI)). 10 The words belong to: D. Boga – G. Tassoni, Trasformazione urbanistica e ormeggio stabile di imbarcazione adibita a struttura ricettiva, in Riv. It. Dir. tur, 20-21, 2017, p. 290.