24 April 2014
Asia-Pacific Consultation Recognizes Sustainable Tourism Potential in SIDS
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A UN consultation in the Asia-Pacific region recognized the potential for sustainable tourism in small island developing States (SIDS), and recommended creating integrated sustainable impact assessment (ISIA) tools for planning.

10ypf19 April 2014: A UN consultation in the Asia-Pacific region recognized the potential for sustainable tourism in small island developing States (SIDS), and recommended creating integrated sustainable impact assessment (ISIA) tools for planning.

The UN Office of Sustainable Development (UNOSD) organized the Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation on Sustainable Tourism, from 17-19 April 2014, in Busan, Republic of Korea. The meeting discussed the current state of sustainable tourism efforts globally, and related resource use and management issues. It also included a special session on challenges and opportunities for sustainable development of tourism in SIDS.

A statement from Nikhil Seth, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), highlighted challenges and opportunities for SIDS to benefit from such development, noting that SIDS received approximately 3.2 per cent of the global market share of tourism in 2010. Seth said the consultation will inform the preparatory process for the Third International Conference on SIDS convening in Apia, Samoa, on 1-4 September 2014.

Wrapping up the consultation, Sang-In Kang, UNOSD, said discussions had called for stock-taking analyses of national tourism markets, development of strong criteria for sustainable tourism, development of ISIA tools and integration of ISIA within national tourism management systems.

The Asia-Pacific consultation took place as part of the sustainable tourism component of the UN’s 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), hosted at UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) adopted the 10YFP to accelerate the shift towards SCP. Sustainable tourism is one of five initial programmes under the 10YFP.

UNEP and the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) conducted a global survey on sustainable tourism from August-October 2013. A Southern Africa regional consultation on sustainable tourism in the 10YFP also took place on 15 August 2013. [Asia-Pacific Consultation Webpage] [10YFP Website] [Sustainable Tourism Programme]


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