Sustainable Tourism Law

394 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW sustainable development, social issues, local community development, the improvement of understanding between cultures and addresses labour issues. TheTips for a ResponsibleTraveller were developed by theWorld Committee on Tourism Ethics and are based on the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. Adopted in 1999 by the General Assembly of theWorldTourismOrganization (UNWTO) and acknowledged by the General Assembly of the United Nations two years later, this comprehensive set of principles is designed to guide key- -players in tourism development and is addressed to governments, tourism companies, destinations, local communities and tourists alike. The Code was called for in a resolution of the UNWTO General Assembly, meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1997. Over the following two years, a special committee for the preparation of the Code was formed and a draft document was prepared by the Secretary-General and the legal adviser to UNWTO, in consultation with UNWTO Business Council, UNWTO’s Regional Commissions and the UNWTO Executive Council. The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, meeting in NewYork inApril, 1999, endorsed the concept of theCode and requestedUNWTO to seek further input from the private sector, non-governmental organizations and labour organizations. Written comments on the Code were received from more than 70 UNWTOMember States and other entities. The resulting 10 point Global Code of Ethics for Tourism – the culmination of an extensive consultative process – was approved unanimously by the UNWTO General Assembly at its meeting in Santiago, Chile, in October 1999, in UNWTO resolution A/RES/406(XIII). The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in its relevant session of July 2001, adopted a draft resolution on the Code of Ethics and called on the UNGeneral Assembly to recognize the document. Official recognition by the UN General Assembly of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism came on 21 December 2001, through UN resolution A/RES/56/212, by which it further encouraged the World Tourism Organization to promote an effective follow-up of the Code. As a fundamental frame of reference for responsible and sustainable tourism, the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET) is a comprehensive set of principles designed to guide key-players in tourism development. Addressed to governments, the travel industry, communities and tourists alike, it aims to help maximize the sector’s benefits while minimizing its potentially negative impact on the environment, cultural heritage and societies across the globe. The General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization, acknowledged by the United Nations two years later, expressly encouraged UNWTO to promote