Regional tourism forum: No sustainability without people and investments

Tourism ministers and state secretaries from eight Southeast European countries, including Croatia, met in Tirana this week for the first forum on sustainable tourism, calling for stronger regional cooperation and greater focus on people and investments.

The forum on environmental sustainable tourism was held in the Albanian capital from 3 to 5 April, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported.

"We must first focus on two priorities, namely people and investments, because without the right people or the proper investments, our plans for a transformed tourism will not get off the ground," UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said, underscoring the great progress that tourism has made in becoming more sustainable.

"UNWTO is spearheading tourism's shift to greater sustainability, including through the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism and the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative," the UN agency said.

According to the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sport, State Secretary Tonči Glavina said that Croatia is on the right track when it comes to sustainable tourism.

"The strategic direction of tourism in Croatia towards sustainability is also defined in the new tourism strategy until 2030, and for this purpose funds have been secured from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan," said Glavina.

He presented the guidelines of the umbrella law on tourism that are being developed, with an emphasis on measurement tools and indicators of sustainability, which aim at better and sustainable destination management.

(Hina)

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