Sustainable tourism

We at Sustainable by Nature carry out all our activities and consultancy services in the framework of the sustainable development, which “meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Sustainable tourism is not a niche market of tourism but rather an aspiration and goal for the entire industry. It is a set of principles and good practices designed to transform all types of tourism. Sustainable by Nature believes that sustainability should manifest in three complementary areas:

• Social: Sustainable tourism should allow friendly and equitable interactions between tourists and the local people, in a context of mutual understanding and respect; it should provide high quality experiences and safety for people; it should offer opportunities to local people to improve their quality of life, as well as respect their human and labor rights. Moreover, sustainable tourism should preserve and enhance the destination’s cultural values, including its history, architecture, landscape, traditions, technologies, gastronomy, language, and others.

• Environment: Sustainable tourism must collaborate in the conservation and enhancement of the environment at destinations; thus, tourism activities, products, services and infrastructure must all allow the natural processes and cycles that take place within the ecosystems and on the planet as a whole to be maintained. Environmental impacts cannot be completely avoided. Therefore, tourism developments and activities must be accompanied by control, mitigation and compensation measures. Sustainable tourism must also protect biodiversity and ensure that it can be responsibly enjoyed.

• Economy: Sustainable tourism must be profitable. Entrepreneurs won’t be interested in sustainability if their business and activities are not successful. Tourism must generate acceptable levels of economic profitability for the tourism industry as a whole, as well as for local residents.

For a company to become more sustainable, all three aspects need to be given due attention; for example, a company might contribute to nature conservation but neglect the effects of tourism on the local economy or the impacts on the local culture. Sustainable by Nature recommends assessing the sustainability of a tourism operation in terms of the three aspects. This should be followed by the identification and implementation of practical solutions.