The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the twelfth of which is “Responsible consumption and production,” namely: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Under this major goal, there are 11 targets, the 12.b of which is “Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products.”

●Current Situation

About the World

UNWTO at COP27: Uniting tourism around tangible climate action plans

Since the launchof the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism at COP26, more than 700 businesses, destinations, civil society groups and even countries have signed up, committing to decarbonize, regenerate and measure in order to halve their carbon emissions by 2030 and reach Net-Zero by 2050 at the latest.

“A net zero future for tourism largely depends on the ocean and the regeneration of destinations, notably coastal destinations. We have to turn tourism into a sector that is responsive to the climate emergency,” said Peter Thomson, UN secretary general’s special envoy for the ocean.

Ovais Sarmad, deputy executive secretary of the UNFCCC, added “The Declaration provides a framework for all tourism stakeholders to raise their climate ambitions. Further integrating tourism into the Nationally Determined Contributions will be the key to mobilizing the support needed to scale-up the efforts.”

Participants represented the different dimensions of tourism, at both the national and subnational level. Financial and UN institutions, in particular the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank Group and CAF (the Development Bank of Latin America) voiced their readiness to support tourism destinations in their transformation towards more low-carbon, sustainable and resilient tourism models.

Source: unwto.org

About China

Discussion and prospect on promoting the sustainable development of tourism in China

In recent years, the scale of China’s tourism industry has been expanding day by day, which has caused certain damages to the environmental resources and social humanities on which it relies for survival, and hindered its sustainable development process.

It is mainly reflected in the following three aspects: First, the construction of tourism facilities pollutes the soil environment. Second, tourists cause pressure on the supply of resources in the area where the scenic spot is located, and have a negative impact on the social economy. Third, excessive tourism destroys the human environment.

At the same time, there are some problems in the financing channels of China’s tourism industry, and the constraints on the capital chain become the bottleneck for the sustainable development of the domestic tourism industry. In August 2015, the Opinions on Further Promoting Tourism Investment and Consumption issued by the General Office of the State Council clearly pointed out that the financing channels for tourism enterprises should be actively expanded. In recent years, with the in-depth development of the concept of green sustainable development, green finance has become the mainstream. Green financial instruments such as green bonds, green funds and green asset securitization can not only expand the investment and financing channels of domestic tourism industry, but also introduce the concept of environmental protection into investment and financing decisions, urge the tourism industry to reduce its negative impact on the environment, and guide its development towards green and sustainable direction. 

Therefore, the sustainable development of China’s tourism needs to be gradual. In the future, government departments and tourism enterprises can take relevant measures from the following aspects:1) Innovate touse green financial tools to expand financing channels for sustainable development of tourism; 2) Pay more attention to the concept of ESG and disclose relevant information of ESG; 3) Promote the combination of ESG concept and tourism, and support the sustainable development of tourism.

Sources: iigf.cuef.edu.cn

●Cases

About the World

Jobs, education and training: together, tourism and transport can deliver a better future for Europe

Research has found that, as a result of the pandemic, European travelers prefer to holiday closer to home, and heightened levels of insecurity coupled with economic uncertainty are only likely to reinforce this preference. At the same time, we have seen a post-pandemic shift in consumer behavior towards more eco-friendly or sustainable tourism experiences. Young people have become increasingly aware of the impact of their travels and are determined to keep their footprints as low as possible.The restart of tourism, therefore, presents us with a unique moment to seize opportunity from crisis. In the case of transport – unsurprisingly the single biggest part of tourism’s carbon footprint – joined-up thinking and strong political and economic support are needed if we are to both speed up and scale our shift to greater sustainability. The DiscoverEU initiative is an effective example of what’s possible. The project has succeeded in promoting smart travel, most notably through incentivizing people to choose the most sustainable mode of transport for their journey. When the pandemic hit and travel came to a halt, many workers left the sector. And not all of them have returned. The number of people employed in the air transport sector within the European Union dropped to the lowest level in almost 15 years. 

In the summer, UNWTO held its first Global Youth Tourism Summit in Italy, out of which came the Sorrento Call to Action, a pledge by the next generation of travelers, of professionals and leaders, to accelerate the progress of recent years and to reimage the tourism of tomorrow. The voices of young people must now be reflected in Europe’s Agenda for Tourism 2030, to build a sector that works for people, planet, and peace, so as to direct the sector on a different path, one that leads to a more sustainable and resilient future. 

Source: unwto.org

Portuguese university advocates for creative tourism in small cities and rural areas

Creative tourism aims to offer visitors new experiences by stimulating their active participation in the places they visit and promoting their contact and involvement with locals as well as their traditions. “Cultural and creative tourism can make important contributions to cultural preservation and the socio-economic development and empowerment of local communities, especially when world civilizations are linked to creative tourism,” reads the Sofia Declaration on World Civilizations and Creative Tourism.

The Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in Portugal, coordinated a project focused on this practice. The Creative Tourism Destination Development in Small Cities and Rural Areas project (CREATOUR) was a multidisciplinary research project based on a theoretical-practical approach to collaborative research processes. It aimed to activate and contribute to developing a sustainable creative tourism sector in small cities and rural areas across four regions of Portugal. This creative tourism can provide a new lens on the value of local cultures and identities.And this type of tourism can challenge people to think about how to be a tourist and engage with residents creatively and meaningfully. Creative tourism can be a seed for broader sets of activities, contributing significantly to post-COVID-19 pandemic tourism, in line with what is stated in the document One Planet Vision for a Responsible Recovery of the Tourism Sector: “the resilience of tourism will depend on the sector’s ability to balance the needs of people, planet and prosperity.” And, as destinations seek new models of tourism for the future, it is wise to envision creative tourism as part of emerging alternatives to mass tourism.

Source: un.org

About China

Smart Asia Digital Tourism Development Forum on sustainable development of tourism

The 2022 Smart Asia Digital Tourism Development Forum was held online on the December 12. With the theme of “wisdom empowering and promoting sustainable development of Asian tourism”, the forum aimed to build an exchange platform for Asian digital tourism, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in digital tourism in Asian countries and regions, and share new opportunities for digital tourism development. Wang Zhiqin, vice president of the China Academy of Information and Communication Research, said that the development of digital economy is an inevitable trend of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, and has become a key force driving China’s economic development. The tourism sector should achieve high-quality development through science and technology empowerment, and improve the digital and intelligent level of cultural tourism.

Source: chinanews.com

Looking forward to the development of Shenzhen’s tourism during the “Fourteenth Five-Year Plan” period

The “Fourteenth Five-Year Plan” for Tourism Development in Shenzhen has been officially issued. By 2025, Shenzhen will have three new demonstration areas for culture and tourism integration development at or above the provincial level, five new tourist attractions at or above the national 3A level, and 100 international air routes. The plan proposes that by 2025, Shenzhen’s modern tourism system will be more perfect, effective tourism supply and high-quality tourism supply will be more abundant, new tourism formats will develop rapidly, and the system and mechanism for high-quality tourism development will be more perfect. Shenzhen will focus on the development of tourism in all areas, all elements and all formats, and implement “six tasks”: 1. Build a demonstration city of culture and tourism integration; 2. Build an international coastal tourism benchmark city; 3. Create a pioneer city of urban tourism innovation; 4. Build a leading city of science-and-technology-enabled tourism; 5. Build an international and domestic tourism hub city; 6. Build a model city of tourism consumption services, enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of tourismin an all-round way, create a national tourism demonstration area, and build a world-class tourism destination with global influence.

Source: thepaper.cn

●Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Initiated by the United Nations

On January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.