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Tourism encourages interaction and sharing with others and is the world’s largest industry. But given the saturation of certain destinations and the pollution generated by air travel, can we make it sustainable?

World Forum

Led by Sandrine Mercier, editor-in-chief of the travel magazine Aller/Retour, in partnership with Agir pour un Tourisme Responsable (Acting for Responsible Tourism) and attended by its president, Vincent Fonvieille, the debate on “sustainable tourism, a passport to peace” first focused on the fact that tourism needs peace, rather than the other way around. Jean-Marc Mignon, president of the International Social Tourism Organisation and a member of the World Ethics Committee, compared Lebanon in the late 1980s, when war put paid to any tourism, and Colombia, which has regained its ability to welcome tourists with its peace agreements. “It’s actually become a very popular country,” he explains.

Tourism: a source of wealth or a source of conflict ?

Although tourism generates significant revenues which can lift countries out of poverty, as has been the case in Mali and Mauritania, certain forms of tourism should be banned. “A hotel which is built in a place where there are problems accessing water can become a source of conflict with the local population,” says Vincent Fonvieille. But tourism is positive when it contributes something to each party. “One study on developing countries shows that young people working in tourism are not attracted to radical groups because they’re simply managing to earn a living.” “There’s a fundamental bottom line: respect for employees and local residents,” says Julien Buot, secretary general at Acteurs du Tourisme Durable. “Given that there is an increasing number of people travelling around the world, we must also focus more on sustainable development.”

Worth knowing

The Quai d’Orsay website offers travel advice based on countries’ stability, ranging from green (standard travel) to red (formally advised against), including yellow (heightened alert) and orange (all but essential travel advised against).

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