Sustainable tourism must maximize its positive economic, social, cultural and environmental contributions, while minimizing its negative impacts. Tourist activity in and of itself is ambivalent: for want of an appropriate policy framework, it can destroy the very resources that underpin its success. The commercial exploitation of natural resources must include their protection or remediation. The development of cultural heritage sites must include measures designed to conserve these sites and promote traditional cultural expression and practices.

The future must be based on sound public policy and a tourism strategy consistent with national sustainable development and anti-poverty strategies, as well as with climate change and biodiversity programmes, in particular. But this future also depends on entrepreneurship and on the ability of operators and their partners to commit themselves, attract a new class of more responsible consumers, promote societal responsibility, develop local partnerships, devise cleaner products with reduced environmental impact, and set up innovative financing systems. With this perspective in view, this document describes a certain number of practices and proposals that illustrate the range of available solutions that can contribute to making the tourist industry a fundamental pillar of sustainable development.

This contribution stems from the work of the International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development, which held three meetings in Paris between September 2006 and December 2007. It was prepared with support from a French committee comprising the main public and private stakeholders, enterprises and NGOs involved in tourism and sustainable development in France.
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