Sustainable tourism or ecotourism provide the right framework for harnessing tourism for development. As recently highlighted, by generating new wealth in rural areas where the poor reside, while at the same time working to limit wherever possible the environmental impacts of this wealth creation, sustainable tourism can genuinely address poverty and successfully conserve more landscapes. Tourism that focuses on small enterprises, linkages with other economic sectors, the importance of minimising or mitigating negative environmental impacts and the enhancement of local culture has also been included in Poverty Reduction Strategies. While it is true that tourism is an industry that is driven by the private sector, there is, however, much that governments should do to shape the way in which it develops and to enhance its impacts on the poor.
Via Martina Gernet. More from the IFC, including a checklist and CSR guidelines.
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