Sustainable Tourism Law

88 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW member State, if it so wishes and in accordance with its constitutional procedures and practice, to express its consent to be bound by the Convention through the deposit of an instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession to the Secretary- -General of the UNWTO ”. At present, the UNWTO is preparing a draft Convention for the Protection of Tourists and the Rights and Obligations of Service Providers. 2017: The International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development This very year UNWTO proclaimed 2017 as the International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development 116 .The 2017 Year programme consecrates the connection and the interconnection between Sustainable Development and Sustainable Tourism, and offers something new. The addition is the word Development. It consecrates the connection between the two, but underlines the difference. Sustainable Tourism – an important part of Sustainable Development – must take in particular consideration the needs of social development, and, in a way, the interests of the investors. A detail that – as far as I can tell – is a specificity of Sustainable tourism. Sustainability and Sustainable Tourism for Development: a compromise and a sort of conclusion Business loves money more than it does nature. And so do the stakeholders, or the investors. They have a strong point of view. Investors invest for profit. And investments in Tourism mean development. On the other hand, sustainability means preservation. It entails the preservation of nature and the environment. Those who support conservative sustainability have a strong point of view too. Development without limits jeopardizes our future. Sustainable Tourism for Development is, therefore, a compromise. Its goal is to preserve nature and the environment without preventing a reasonable development. 116 The International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development is presented by UNWTO as follows: “In the context of the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 aims to support a change in policies, business practices and consumer behaviour towards a more sustainable tourism sector and contribute to the SDGs”.