Sustainable Tourism Law

178 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW binding agreements 8 . The legislative instruments on Sustainable Tourism were drafted as the guidelines that States should follow as a moral duty, without constituting mandatory international law, written as a Soft Law. However, these have been accepted by different States and, likewise, they have been cited and invoked in different normative texts and, consequently, their legal value is now undeniable. This demonstrates that Soft Law has served as an inspiration for States to legislate in Sustainable Tourism matters. In Spain we find some examples: Decreto 35/2016, de 23 de junio, por el que se desarrolla la Ley del impuesto sobre estancias turísticas y de medidas del impulso sostenible, de las Islas Baleares 9 . This Law deals with tourist tax and measures for sustainable development. In Portugal there are several internal legislation on the context of Sustainable Tourism, such as Regime Jurídico da Instalação, Exploração e Funcionamento dos Empreendimentos Turísticos (RJET) 10 and Código de Conduta das Empresas de Animação Turística e Operadores Marítimo Turísticos 11 . There are various other examples worldwide: Italy; France; Republic of Malta, Colombia, Liberia, Costa Rica, Bulgaria, China and Germany are special Ambassadors of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 and they are working hard on Sustainable Tourism legislation. There is no doubt that Soft Law in Sustainable Tourism has served to bring about changes in policies, business practices and consumer behaviour 12 . Soft Law as a harbinger of Hard Law; Soft Law as an alternative to Hard Law; Soft Law as a complement to Hard Law and even as a parameter of interpretation of Hard Law 13 . There is a process of evolution: the continuous motivation that emerges from the world community has allowed the application of both the classical legislative technique used for the creation of international treaties and the modern legislative technique of Soft Law, through the participation of the subjects of International Law. 8 International Development Research Centre (IDRC), How Can Communities Use ‘Soft Law” and Nonbinding International Agreements?, 2011. 9 BOIB n. 181, de 25 de junio 2016. 10 Decreto-Lei n.º 186/2015 de 3 de setembro. 11 Portaria n.º 651/2009 de 12 de Junho. 12 R. DE LA VEGA, A Hard Law and Soft Law: a panel . 1998. 13 R. ALONSO GARCÍA, “El Soft Law Comunitario”, Revista de Administración Publica , núm. 154. Enero-Abril 2001, pp. 63 y ss.