UNEP DTIE SCP Branch: Tourism

International Task Force on
Sustainable Tourism Development
A Three-Year Journey for Sustainable Tourism

Implementation Milestones

Background and objectives

The International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development chaired by France was launched in 2006
In the 9th Special Session of UNEP's Governing Council (Dubai, 5-9 February 2006) focus was given on tourism and sustainable consumption and production. It was during this Governing Council that France announced its willingness and commitment to initiate and chair a Task Force on Sustainable Tourism. The role of the Task force will be to encourage participants in the Marrakech Process to undertake actions that promote sustainable tourism, such as providing support tools and presenting existing initiatives that may inspire pilot projects and good practice in other countries.

Overview outcomes of the Task Force

The International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development (ITF-STD) has implemented its Programme of Work by developing a number of projects and actions under the following activity areas:

	Policy tools - Work related to broad policy recommendations, standards and certification processes, international financing mechanisms, governance issues and some specific policy tools.
	Good practices - Collection, classification and dissemination of good practices on sustainable tourism development, which are available at www.veilleinfotourisme.fr/taskforce
	Education and capacity building - Development and dissemination of training manuals and e-learning tools focusing on the main stakeholders of the tourism value chain.
	Strategies and pilot projects - Work on Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility (CSER) related issues; frameworks for national and regional sustainable tourism development strategies; and pilot demonstration projects.
	Information, communication and networking - Dissemination of information, collaboration between websites, networking activities, sharing of good practices, and awareness-raising activities.

Policy Recommendations of the Task Force to reinforce sustainability parameters

The Task Force's Policy Recommendations will be showcased at high-level UN Meetings
The recommendations will be presented during preparations for the 18th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in 2010, where the development of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) will be discussed. It was also acknowledged at the UNWTO General Assembly by a group of Member States in October 2009.

The Task Force agreed in 2009 on a set of policy recommendations
During the 5th International Meeting of the International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development (ITF-STD) in Marrakech, Morocco, April 2009, its members agreed on a set of policy recommendations to reinforce sustainability parameters in tourism planning and management. The overall aims are to guide tourism stakeholders on the identification of opportunities and their strategies of implementation to improve the economic resilience of the sector, guarantee long-term sustainability of tourism development and engage the tourism industry on key universal concerns such as poverty alleviation and climate change.

The policy recommendations are structured around the tourism life-cycle
To this end, the policy recommendations using a simplified life cycle approach of the tourism value chain, including: