Sustainable Tourism Law

172 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (A/RES/70/193). The International Year aimed to support a change in policies, business practices and consumer behaviour towards a more Sustainable Tourism sector that can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. Under these circumstances, the tourism industry itself will be called in the coming years to become one of the fundamental engines and priority fields of application of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals, one of the facets that will mark the future of the industry’s commitment will be the way it increases the capacity of bringing benefits to communities and foster local sustainable development within the framework of a fair economy. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations Specialized Agency for Tourism, has a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the contribution of Sustainable Tourism to development among the public and decision-makers working on private and public sectors, while mobilizing all stakeholders to work together in making tourism a catalyst for positive change. The International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development will promote tourism’s role in the following five key areas: inclusive and sustainable economic growth; Social inclusiveness, employment and poverty reduction; Resource efficiency, environmental protection and climate change Cultural values, diversity and heritage and, finally, mutual understanding, peace and security. Those goals and areas on Sustainable Tourism have been developed since the 1980s and have been reflected in several legal instruments, such as: • Manila Declaration on World Tourism (1980); • Charter for Sustainable Tourism (Lanzarote, Spain, 1995); • Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry (1996) • Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (1999) – UNWTO Convention on Tourism Ethics (2017); • World Charter for Sustainable Tourism+ 20 (2015); • Draft UNWTO Convention for the Protection of Tourists and the Rights and Obligations of Service Providers; • Chengdu Declaration on Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals (China 2017).