Hello,
I initially searched in Google using “Sustainable tourism Greece
Turkey Egypt Romania”
I found several sites belonging to international organizations that
are banding together to encourage sustainable tourism. They each
provide a forum for communication and honest reporting of ecotourist
businesses, events and locations.
The best place I found to begin was The official website of The
International Ecotourism Society (TIES), An International Non-Profit
Organization.
http://www.ecotourism.org/
This is an organization founded to bring together “worldwide expertise
from the travel industry, international and local conservation
organizations, and analysts from many fields, including biology, park
management, community development and environmental education.” They
are an excellent source for researching sustainable travel
experiences. While searching on their site, I was about to find
tourist location in Greece and Egypt, but not Romania or Turkey.
The mission of TIES is to make ecotourism a responsible way to travel
that contributes to the conservation of natural areas and the
well-being of local people.
You can read their newsletter, and sign up for a free subscription at
http://www.ecotourism.org/observer/default.asp
Also, there is Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism
Development
http://www.toinitiative.org/
This site has been developed by tour operators for tour operators with
the support of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO/OMT).
Then I found a few articles on the international community monitoring
and supporting sustainable Tourism.
The World Ecotourism Summit was held this year in Québec, Canada May
19 to 22, 2002. You can read about their findings at this website.
World Ecotoursim Summit
http://www.ecotourism2002.org/
The Mediterranean Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable
Development held in Athens, Greece, 19-20 April 1999 entitled
Instruments Favoring Sustainable Tourism and Green Purchasing of
Incentive Tours, Congresses and Seminars.
http://www.mio-ecsde.org/Bulletin/b16.htm
The main objectives of the hearing were to inform all interested
parties about latest trends and best practices regarding Eco-labels,
EMAS, ISO 14000, Local Agenda 21, Green purchasing for hotels,
congress and conference centers/halls, cities and destinations.
Earth Negotiation Bulletin
http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/vol05/enb05125e.html
I found several issues of the Earth Negotiation Bulletin discussions
that might be of interest. Three of the four countries you mentioned
were involved in these conferences.
GREECE urged international policy coordination to minimize impacts of
international tourism on destinations with valuable cultural and
natural heritage. TURKEY expressed the importance of applying the
user pays and polluter pays principles, and reiterated that tourism is
an engine for development for many developing countries. EGYPT
suggested identifying means to measure success of the program of
action for tourism and not wasting time developing a definition of
sustainable tourism
The Earth Negotiation Bulletin: Coastal impacts of tourism
http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/download/pdf/enb05125e.pdf
Tourism in Turkey
http://www.bestpractices.org/cgi-bin/bp98.cgi?cmd=detail&id=6246&key=
At this conference, Turkey very clearly addressed some of the
ecological and sustainable issues with tourism, which has developed
into an important economic sector for them, as well as all of the
Mediterranean. There has been too much construction in the area.
Turkey now has chosen Çirali, a small village surrounded by mass
tourism centers, as pilot area to maintain eco-tourism, organic
agriculture and tourism. The principle objective of the project is to
secure sustainable development, conservation of biodiversity and
natural resources in selected coastal areas of Turkey.
Tourism in Greece
http://www.bestpractices.org/cgi-bin/bp98.cgi?cmd=detail&id=2783&key=
Greece also has a pilot program for a sustainable community. Xanthi,
as small Greek city, has a strategic plan for sustainable development.
It is implementing a strategy. To insure a better quality of life,
environmentally and economically for its citizens, as well as for
tourists.
Egypt Sustainable Tourism and the Environment.
http://www.eepp.org/sustainable_tourism.htm
This web page is listed at the best practices for sustainable tourism
in Egypt. It expresses the common concern that I have seen for
preservation of coastal ecosystems. It also describes the Egyptian
government’s interest in sustainable and ecosensitive development in
tourist areas. It does not mention the economic sustainability of the
local people.
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANIA
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/romania/social.htm
Romania is developing programs for the development. The economy there
is presently moving towards privatization. The Government expects
that by strengthening private property it will support the promotion
of sustainable development. Promotion of small local businesses will
help to develop an sustainable economy in local areas of Romania.
GAP Adventures: Responsible Tourism
http://www.gap.ca/RT_Page4.asp
This page where you can search by country to find responsible tours.
They define the basic elements of responsible tourism as
1. Contributing to conservation of biodiversity.
2. Sustaining the well being of local people.
3. Including an interpretation / learning experience.
4. Involving responsible action on the part of tourists and the
tourism industry.
5. Delivering primarily to small groups by small-scale businesses.
6. Requiring the lowest possible consumption of non-renewable
resources.
7. It stresses local participation, ownership and business
opportunities, particularly for rural people.
Egypt, Greece, and Turkey were listed among the countries for which
they have tours. Romania was not.
I hope this gives you the information that you would like. These are
primarily international sources, but many of them are American based.
If you would like some clarification, or additional information,
please let me know.
Thanks for the interesting question.
pba |
