NATIONAL ARTS PUBLICATION DATABASE (NAPD)
Tourism, Culture and Sustainable Development

Author: Mike Robinson and David Picard

Publication Year:

Media Type: Report

Summary:

We can safely say today that, thanks to the boom in tourism in recent decades, never before in the history of humanity have the inhabitants of this planet travelled as much, or been as much engaged in the discovery of other cultures. So, what are we, as interna-tional organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), politicians, policy makers, practitioners and as ordinary citizens and tourists, doing with this tremendous opportunity to advance understanding among the inhabitants of the planet through encounters with others and their cultural and artistic expressions, monumental and living, past and present?

Abstract:

We can safely say today that, thanks to the boom in tourism in recent decades, never before in the history of humanity have the inhabitants of this planet travelled as much, or been as much engaged in the discovery of other cultures. So, what are we, as interna-tional organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), politicians, policy makers, practitioners and as ordinary citizens and tourists, doing with this tremendous opportunity to advance understanding among the inhabitants of the planet through encounters with others and their cultural and artistic expressions, monumental and living, past and present?

We believe that tourism, which brings individuals and human communities into con-tact, and through them cultures and civilizations, has an important role to play in facilitating dialogue among cultures. Tourism also has the capacity to assist the world’s inhabitants to live better together and thereby contribute to the construction of peace in the minds of men and women, to paraphrase the Constitution of UNESCO.

Cultural and natural heritage, that attracts so many tourists, and is a resource for devel-opment, is, fortunately, distributed throughout the world, thus providing an additional opportunity for many non-industrialized countries. Raising awareness, educating and training the staff concerned, is essential in involving communities in the process of con-serving and enhancing their heritage. It is the involvement of all that will enable the heritage of humanity to be better preserved, living conditions to be improved and poverty reduced. Preserving cultural and natural heritage, to bring it within reach of all, making cultures and civilizations better known, improving daily living conditions and reducing poverty, is what gives meaning to the sustainability of tourism development.
However, these objectives depend upon the quality of the design and the implementa-tion of tourism policies and activities - that is to say, their understanding of culture and their sustainability - which involves the participation of communities in the pres-ervation and enhancement of cultural heritage in the long term.

The negative impacts of tourism are, by no means, inevitable. Tourism can have posi-tive and lasting effects on our cultural and natural heritage, on creativity and cultural diversity, and on the environment and balance of societies. We believe that the objec-tives set out above, of dialogue among cultures and development, may be reached if decision-makers and actors in tourism and culture, the societies hosting tourists and the tourists themselves, develop respectively, policies and attitudes resulting from an understanding of the complex relations between tourism and culture, in the light of the conventions, declaration and texts of the United Nations adopted in the fields of culture and sustainable development.

This is the purpose of this publication: to open a debate on the complex questions that surround the relations between culture and tourism, tourism and development, tourism and dialogue among cultures; questions that every decision-maker and actor engaged in tourism should address before a tourism project is launched. This report presents several of the operational projects implemented by, or with the support of, UNESCO, to illustrate how cultural tourism policies developed in the spirit of the principles and values contained in the texts, standard-setting instruments, declarations and recom-mendations adopted by UNESCO, are put into practice.

UNESCO is resolutely engaged, alongside its Member States, the private sector and civil society, and in cooperation with the relevant agencies of the United Nations, in promoting the sustainability of development in tourism, which, as we know, preserves cultural diversity and the dialogue among cultures. [Preface p. 4-5]

Arts & Intersections: Tourism

Categories: Tourism, Economic Impact, Cultural Planning

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Pages: 97

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PUBLISHER INFORMATION

Name: UNESCO

Website URL: http://www.unesco.org