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English Abstracts â" TourismWatch No. 49, December 2007 By Christina Kamp Focus on Climate Change and Tourism By Christina Kamp and Sabine Minninger The Human Development Report 2007/2008, published by UNDP in November 2007, tackles the global challenges of climate change. It looks at the impact of climate change on the world's most vulnerable regions and the world's poorest people. Christina Kamp summarises some of the HDR's findings on both mitigation and adaptation. The report draws attention to extreme inequalities in adaptation capacity in rich and poor countries which may create a world of âadaptation apartheidâ. It calls for the elimination of âperverse subsidiesâ and for the taxation on flights and fuel, or the application of cap-and-trade to the aviation industry. With regard to climate change, the World Tourism Organization has undergone a paradigm shift. Sabine Minninger reports from the Second International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism which took place in early October in Davos, Switzerland. UNWTO acknowledges that the tourism sector is part of the problem of global warming and has to take its share of responsibility in reducing emissions. The conference outcome, the âDavos Declarationâ, however, shows a higher level of awareness than the discussions which actually took place at Davos, comments Sabine Minninger. Adaptation to climate change was regarded as more important than the reduction of emissions, and disaster preparedness in poor destination countries was not seen as an issue to be debated at this forum at all. For more information, see: Human Development Report 2007/2008: http://www.undp.org/ UNWTO Davos Declaration: http://www.unwto.org/pdf/pr071046.pdf Focus on CSR Reporting in Tourism By Christina Kamp and Sabine Minninger The âCSR Reporting Initiative for Tourismâ, an initiative by KATE (Center for Ecology & Development, Stuttgart) in cooperation with EED-Tourism Watch, âForum anders reisenâ and the European network of services trade unions UNI Europa, has published guidelines which outline eight steps towards sustainability reporting for small and medium-size tourism enterprises. It provides check lists and other tools to gather and assess data, including destination checks, accommodation checks, partner agency checks and tourist guide checks. Five small tour operators participated in the pilot project and developed sustainability reports. The CSR Reporting Initiative was co-funded by the European Commission. Simone Probost, CEO of INTI Tours, a small German tour operator specialising in Latin America, took part in the pilot project. Interviewed by TourismWatch, she describes her experiences in analysing her business operations against a set of criteria covering the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. She welcomes the process as an opportunity for reflection on the strengths and possible weaknesses of the company and recommends sustainability reporting processes to other tour operators. As a next step, external certification of sustainability reports could be introduced. The guidelines include suggestions with regard to such certification. The guidelines were presented by Angela Giraldo (KATE) at both the European Trade Union Liaison Committee on Tourism (ETLC) Conference and at the European Tourism Forum in Portimão, Portugal, in October 2007. The European Tourism Forum had a focus on sustainability, as Sabine Minninger reports. Guidelines CSR-Reporting in Tourism. 8 Steps Towards Sustainability Reporting. Kontaktstelle für Umwelt & Entwicklung (KATE), Stuttgart, (forthcoming) Download at: http://www.kate-stuttgart.org Progress in Fighting Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Dominican Republic By Brigitte Binder In certain tourist areas in the Dominican Republic, child prostitution has become so rampant that hoteliers have recognised the need of taking action. Supported by the German Travel Association (DRV), ECPAT Germany and GTZ, a workshop in May 2006 at Puerto Plata had brought together entrepreneurs, law enforcement agencies, child rights organisations and politicians to discuss ways and means to protect children against sexual exploitation. A lot has happened since then, as Brigitte Binder reports. More and more tour operators and hoteliers are requesting the local ECPAT group âMAISâ to conduct training programmes for their staff. The tourism authority has initiated an information campaign, based on the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. In March 2008, the Dominican Republic will be the officially partner country of the International Tourism Fair (ITB) 2008 in Berlin. It remains to be seen how the Dominican Republic and the travel industry will position themselves with regard to the sexual exploitation of children. Community-based Tourism in Peru: Getting down to the grassroots? By Jane Carnaffan Mainstream tourism has long been criticised for excluding local, indigenous people. While community-based tourism helps those marginalized by the mainstream tourism industry, it tends to benefit the more privileged, says Jane Carnaffan. She examines what lessons can be learnt from community-based tourism projects on the islands of Taquile and Amantani on Lake Titicaca and similar projects in Peru. During her PhD field research, she found that travel agents and NGOs work with the more well-off, well-connected and better educated in a community. Less successful community members are left on the sidelines, or integrated into tourism businesses at lower levels: tending the fields and cleaning the houses of those looking after tourists. Unscrupulous travel agencies are often blamed for favouring certain families over others in return for discounts. This brings down prices and causes conflict among community members. If community-based tourism is to live up to its grassroots principles, it needs to address the essential questions of who benefits and how much. The author concludes that tourism projects need to plan ways of spreading the benefits of tourism development more equitably throughout communities. Full Text [ http://www.tourism-watch.de/49.en.peru/ ] Reisepavillon 2008 in Stuttgart The 18th Reisepavillon, an international fair for sustainable tourism, will take place in Stuttgart from 18th to 20th January, 2008. It provides a forum to exhibitors and organises presentations, panel discussions and other events. In 2008, Reisepavillon will have a focus on tourism and water, with a special event being organised on 19th January, and on climate change. âForum anders reisenâ will be celebrating their 10th anniversary. Tourism Watch will organise a discussion on fair trade in tourism on 20th January 2008, 12.00 o'clock, with Christine Plüss, Angela Giraldo, Mechtild Maurer and Heinz Fuchs. -ck- For more information, see http://eng.reisepavillon-online.de
