News International Conference "Sustainable Tourism 2004", 7 - 9 July 2004, Segovia, Spain

Address
Source Ian Salter

For more information on this event please see the following website: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2004/sustainabletourism04/index.html The following is an abstract from the website: "Tourism has become a major international industry, with many countries all over the world relying on the income it produces. Its economic advantages as a major source of foreign exchange and employment lead to its active promotion by governments and other institutions independent of the consequences on the environment. The demands of tourism can however contribute to the destruction of the natural and cultural environment upon which it depends. It is essential to find ways to protect those environments for the present and future generations. Sustainable Tourism 2004 aims to achieve these objectives through the development of new solutions, which minimise the adverse effects of tourism, either on the environment, or outside its boundaries. This can be achieved through the development of new strategies for managing our environment, involving the active collaboration of Society as a whole. The continuous growth of tourism gives substantial urgency to these problems, to find solutions to cope with its impact on the environment, including culture and society. Intelligent policy frameworks, sound public and private planning and sensitive management can make significant contributions to sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism is about process, and should not be confused with the tendency to generalise 'greening' and 'eco-labelling' of tourism products. This conference will explore issues concerned with achieving environmental, social and economic sustainability of tourism alongside the governance mechanisms needed to support sustainable tourism. In particular, the meeting will focus on empirical work and case studies from around the world, which can offer new insights and best practice guidance. Sustainable Tourism 2004 will adopt a multi disciplinary approach and will specifically aim to foster greater understanding and collaboration between scientists and social science experts, practitioners and policy makers. It will take a broad view of this sophisticated and complex industry, and will examine the practice of sustainable tourism from global travel trends through to destination and site management. Innovative solutions, including those involving ecological tourism are particularly welcome as well as cultural initiatives that will lead to better approaches to tourism with the objective of preserving the diversity of our planet".