Voluntary
Initiatives for Sustainability in Tourism
VISIT
News
ITEM 4 - The developing trends in Sustainable Tourism
The EU flower and Agenda 21
Luigi Rambelli the chairman of VISIT has prepared
the attached briefing paper for VISIT members in
order to make progress on the general development
of ecolabelling in tourism and the interested stakeholders
together with a set of recommended action s related
to the new EU flower ecolabel for tourism developed
over the last 2 years.
The most important conclusions reached by European
bodies in approaching tourism are the proposals by
the Conference of Ministers of Tourism of EU Member
States that took place in Vienna on 21st March 2006.
The Conference highlighted the role of tourism within
the EU economy and the need to increase competitiveness
of the European tourist industry. Among selected
tools are:
- promotion of the extraordinary variety of European
heritage, nature and culture
- environmental protection
- implementation of local Agendas 21 on tourism
- involvement in actions by communities and civil
society
- development of a strong cooperation between the
EU and its member states (and between public and
private) by virtue of the subsidiarity principle.
A “European Agenda 21 for Tourism” to
promote tourism sustainability is also announced,
since the Commission will present a proposal for
an Agenda 21 by 2007, based on input from the Tourism
Sustainability Group, composed of tourism stakeholders
in 2005.
This orientation is in line with a series of official
positions that were issued in the last few years
- such as the Commission Communication on basic orientations
for the sustainability of European tourism (COM(2003)0716),
the Conclusions by the WTO Regional Conference for
Europe (Marienbad, 2004), the Basic guidelines for
sustainable European tourism (European Parliament
resolution Sept 2005-04/2229(INI)).
The Ministers’ Conference in Vienna also confirmed
the need to develop a close partnership of the EU
Commission with Member States’ authorities
and the tourism stakeholders. Most important, the
Conference recognizes that partnerships must be a
central component of action at all levels (European,
national, regional and local; public and private)
to make European tourism policy complementary to
policies carried out in Member States.
Indications emerging from the Conference were also
inspired by the innovative thrust of several voluntary
initiatives to improve environmental performance
of accommodation businesses, with a special reference
to the VISIT Life Project (quoted in the preparatory
materials of the EU Commission) from which the VISIT
Association was born. Since the beginning, the VISIT
Association’s steady approach and methodology
has been to adopt the sustainability criteria defined
in the Common Basic Standards and to promote close
cooperation with the tourist industry, based on business,
environmental and tourist diversity in different
countries. This approach helps incorporate actions
towards sustainability by single accommodation businesses
within the tourist setting in each country. It also
tries to put subsidiarity between public and private
into real practice, thus leading to common actions
and methods at local community and government levels.
Based on this experience,
the VISIT Association feels to advise member ecolabels
to declare themselves
available to participate in discussion tables and
experience exchange - within the frame of local and
national agreements.
Further, the VISIT Association believes that any
national agreements between VISIT ecolabels and Competent
Bodies managing the EU-Flower may be favourably considered,
when these arrangements provide for explicit authorisations
and financial backing to promotional/dissemination
activities on the EU-Flower to already ecolabelled
businesses (by national or local awards) to make
their course towards achieving the EU-Flower.
