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Friday, 18 June 2010
OECD Conference Centre, Paris
Co-organised by the Tourism Committee, the Annual Meeting of Sustainable Development Experts (AMSDE), the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea and the French Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment, with the technical assistance of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this workshop examined the development of sustainable tourism strategies and policies and their integration in national and regional sustainable development strategies.
PROGRAMME
Joint chairs:
Mr. Etienne COFFIN
Chairman of the French Committee for Sustainable Development in Tourism
General Directorate for Competitiveness, Industry and Services (DGCIS)
French Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment
and
Mr. Alain DUPEYRAS
Head of the Tourism Unit
OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development (CFE)
Opening session
Mr. Sergio ARZENI
Director, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development (CFE)
Mr. Robert VISSER
Deputy Director, OECD Environment Directorate
Three major challenges for sustainable tourism
Climate change
Dr. Stefan GÖSSLING
Professor, Lund University (Sweden)
Tourism and climate change: tourism is concerned by mitigation policies to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, of which transport is a major source, and adaptation policies to adjust to global warming and its implications. How can tourism reflect those policies?
Resource conservation
Prof. Valéry PATIN
Associate Professor, University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne and Expert Consultant, World Bank and UNESCO
Presentation (in French only)
Tourism and resource conservation: cultural and natural resources are often behind a region’s tourist appeal, but they may be under threat from excessive visitor traffic. How can they be managed sustainably?
Social cohesion
Mr. Jean-Marc MIGNON
Vice-President, International Bureau of Social Tourism
Presentation (in French only)
Tourism is facing two challenges in terms of social cohesion: how can it engender harmonious relations between tourists and local communities? How can low-income groups be given more access to tourism?
Tourism as a factor in sustainable green growth
The perspective of professionals
Ms. Patricia CORTIJO
Environment Director, ACCOR Group
Mr. Tom SELÄNNIEMI
Senior Adviser, Tour Operators Initiative (TOI)
Can tourism contribute to sustainable green growth? What is the role of private operators in promoting this trend? What do private operators expect of government in this field? Is a strategic national debate on sustainable tourism a good tool to achieve this aim?
Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism
Mr. Charles ARDEN-CLARKE
Head, Goods and Services Unit, Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch,
Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Mr. Gérard RUIZ
Chair, Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism
As part of the Marrakech Process, an International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development has been meeting since 2006 and has adopted guidelines and policy recommendations for sustainable tourism, one of which aims at providing the basis for the development of sustainable tourism strategies. A United Nations partnership is in the process of being created to provide a permanent forum for discussion, co-ordination and mobilisation on this subject.
Examples of sustainable tourism strategies: National and local approaches
Austria: Green events
Dr. Regina PRESLMAIR
Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, the Environment and Water Management
Austria’s strategy to enable major events to be more environment-friendly by using a sustainable development approach. This strategy was illustrated by some examples, such as the 2008 European Football Championship.
France: Tourism and culture
Mr. Michel RICARD
High-Level Official for Sustainable Development, Ministry of Culture and Communication, France
The presentation focused on the linkages between tourism and culture and the inclusion of a section on "cultural tourism and sustainable development" in the French ministry's strategy. Three examples were presented: i) the territories and cultural tourism – the cities and places (pays) of art and history; ii) the major sites and historical monuments - a sustainable development strategy; iii) international co-operations - UNESCO World Heritage/European labels.
Australia: Policy approach to sustainable tourism
Mr. Max WHITBY
Acting Manager of the International Team, Tourism Division
Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism of Australia
An introduction to Australia’s policy approach to sustainable tourism.
Korea: The Green New Deal and the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project
Mr. Pan Sang HAN
Minister Counsellor, Korean Delegation to the OECD
Korea has become one of the first countries to choose green growth as a core national development strategy. The presentation introduced Korea's Green New Deal, which aims at overcoming the economic crisis and creating jobs, and the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, which is an example of an effective means of responding to climate change.
Spain: The Platja de Palma Project
Ms. Margarita NÁJERA
Commissioner of the Spanish Government and Director of the Urban Management Consortium for the development of Platja de Palma (Beach of Palma)
Spain's initiative to improve the Platja de Palma (Beach of Palma) through the implementation of seven strategies concerning its territory, market positioning, living conditions of residents and workers, sustainable development and climate change, use of new technology and governance.
Closing session
Ms. Isabel HILL
Chair of the Tourism Committee and Deputy Director of the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, U.S. Department of Trade
Ms. Catherine LARRIEU
Head, Sustainable Development Delegation, Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea, France
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