ISBN: 978-92-844-1929-6
PR No.: PR 17136
Kasane, capital of Chobe District in Botswana, hosted tourism stakeholders to exchange experiences and knowledge of innovative approaches to enhance tourism and conservation planning, financing and marketing. Under the theme “Empowering Tourism Destinations’ Sustainability through Innovation”, the 10YFP STP International Symposium and Annual Conference also discussed the role of the tourism sector in fighting climate change.
Inaugurated by Tshekedi Khama, the Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism of Botswana, the event began with a debate on how to market sustainability to trigger change among consumers. A second panel highlighted the relevance of integrating circular economy approaches into the tourism value chain to minimize waste, emissions and energy leakage at all stages of production. It also discussed the links between the tourism sector and the Paris Agreement, and the key role of destination managers therein.
The value of wildlife as a key asset of destinations was underlined in the third panel, dedicated to sharing experiences on wildlife tourism and its capacity to foster conservation given suitable financing frameworks. The last discussion focused on the application of new technologies – particularly geographic information systems and big data – to tourism planning, with the objective of promoting evidence-based decision making and increased synergies between tourism and conservation policy makers and practitioners.
‘The Tourism We Want’, a call to action to guide the network in the years to come
The second day of the event served to prepare the Kasane Call to Action for Sustainable Consumption and Production in Tourism under the title ‘The Tourism We Want’. The role of the 10YFP STP in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 12, was debated through consultations among all participants aimed at identifying the priorities for the 10YFP Network in the coming five years. “The Tourism We Want” is the Network’s contribution to the legacy of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, which is being celebrated throughout 2017.
Partnerships and networking essential tenets for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
Biodiversity and wildlife were present in most of the discussions, as well as the need to work in partnership with stakeholders of a diverse nature to advance shared goals and to multiply results. With 19 countries represented, the event was a good example of this approach: 40% of the over 100 attendees came from the private sector, 30% from NGOs, and 10% each from media, government and international organizations, including five different UN agencies and programmes.
The event was hosted by the Botswana Tourism Organization and co-organized by UNWTO and the governments of France, Morocco and the Republic of Korea, with support from the 10YFP Secretariat and UN Environment.
Additional information:
About the 10YFP Sustainable Tourism Programme
About the Kasane Call to Action “The Tourism We Want”
Programme of International Symposium
Programme of Annual Conference
Bios of Moderators and Speakers
Contacts:
UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org
UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org
2017
School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University,
Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism,
Monitoring Centre for Sustainable Tourism Observatories
Kaiping City, Guangdong Province, China
Jiangmen-Kaiping boasts the only World Heritage Site in the Great Bay Area, and is also the first observatory of sustainable tourism development in Guangdong Province. The monitoring theme of Jiangmen observatory is “Tourism Development and Multicultural Heritage Protection at World Cultural Heritage Site”. The monitoring work on Jiangmen’s tourism resources, environment, economy, society, culture, urban and rural recreation, and cultural heritage will help explore a model for sustainable tourism development which can minimize environmental impacts and maximize economic and social benefits.
MISSION
Tourism Development and Multicultural Heritage Protection at World Cultural Heritage Site.
At present, by combining UNWTO indicators and local practice, Jiangmen monitoring focuses on four aspects: tourism and economy, tourism and community, tourist satisfaction, tourism and environment. At the same time, considering the current situation of tourism development in Kaiping each year, 1 or 2 thematic studies will be included. In 2018, the two studies were “Kaiping World Heritage conservation and utilization” and “Tour guide system for tourists at Kaiping Diaolou”.In 2019, the two studies were “Sustainable livelihoods of heritage site residents” and “The impacts of tourism capital on community construction”.In 2020, the two studies were “Tourists’ attitude and behavior in the context of epidemic” and “Survival and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage”. In 2021, studies were carried on tourism industry integration. In 2021,new business types and ocean environment were monitored, and the monitoring scope has been expanded to cover Wuyi region around Kaiping, etc.
Tourism and Economy
Tourism and Community
Tourist Satisfaction
Tourism and Environment
Sustainable Livelihoods of Heritage Site Residents
A Comparative Study on Tourism Capital Influencing Community Construction
Protection, Development and Utilization of Kaiping World Heritage Site
A Study on the tour guiding system at Kaiping Diaolou
Chinese director, Jiang Wen’s masterpiece “Let the Bullets Fly” is set in Kaiping Diaolou. The villain of the movie Huang Silang is living in the Diaolou. One of the lines is impressive: “Gun in hand, follow me. Kill Silong and occupy the to Diaolou”.
30 international and local journalists have participated in a mission to Botswana where they had the opportunity to cover the 10YFP Conference as well as to visit several initiatives around the Okavango Delta and the Chobe National Park, home of 2/3 of the elephants in the African continent.
The journalists also participated in a workshop on the different angles of covering wildlife-related topics. The activity served to enhance their capacities and skills as well as to increase their engagement with this theme.
See Press Release: http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2017-12-08/unwto-promotes-role-media-advocates-wildlife-tourism
Following the seminars conducted in Gabon and Niger, two additional seminars on Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism were facilitated in Dubréka, Republic of Guinea, from 14 to 16 November and in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, from 21-23 November 2017.
Each of the 3-day trainings welcomed 30 participants, resulting in fruitful exchanges and discussions on the role that tourism has to preserve biodiversity.
Read the Press Release at: http://africa.unwto.org/news/2018-01-24/unwto-implements-last-two-seminars-its-series-training-tourism-and-biodiversity-west
