• Aims
• Tourism in the Mediterranean
• What do we mean by sustainable tourism?
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What do we mean by sustainable tourism?
The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) defines "sustainable development" as that "which meets current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". In the 2nd World Conservation Strategy (1990) "Caring for the Earth" the term sustainable development is used with the following meaning: "to improve the quality of life of the human beings by living within the carrying capacity of the ecosystems that support life". The need for sustainable development forms part of the world priorities expressed in the recommendations of Agenda 21 adopted at the Rio Conference and Community Action Program V for Sustainable Development.

Starting from the basis that tourist activity should form part of a broader framework of sustainable development in the Mediterranean, we consider that tourism is not an end in itself but a means to ensure more harmonious development of the societies of the Mediterranean Basin.

This project starts from the conviction that tourist activity is neither intrinsically positive or negative; this, in our opinion, is in function of tourism's impact on the space in which it occurs, meaning we can consider it as an instrument that increases the value of natural or cultural resources or as an instrument leading to the ruin of these resources.

The mass tourism model, which has characterized tourist flows since the 1950s, is a clearly unsustainable model, for at least four reasons:

1. It has not considered the importance of the conservation of the natural systems or of the rational use of natural resources as a value.

2. It has emphasized growth over the qualitative aspects of growth.

3. It has distributed the benefits of development very unfairly.

4. It has not included the surrounding area and its special features within the tourist offer, thus favouring homogenisation and depersonalisation.

Rather than an extensive model based on economic growth and the predatory use of natural resources, what is needed is a model of tourism that is sustainable. We understand sustainable tourism to mean the tourism that combines tourist development with respect for and preservation of natural, cultural and social resources. Sustainable tourism favours the reduction of tensions between the tourism industry, the visitors, the host communities and the environment.

We consider that sustainable tourism is a tourism that is:

Long-lasting (economically viable in the long-term, planned and well managed, which implies avoidance of mass tourism and a low impact).

Environment friendly (adapted to the carrying capacity of the natural and cultural spaces, minimizing seasonal effects)

Diversified (in relation to the hinterland, adapted to the site's personality, based on local enterprises and avoiding total dedication to tourism)

Participatory (with the participation of the local towns and villages)

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