The Youth Career Initiative is the hotel industry’s award winning solution to global youth unemployment. It aids the hotel sector to address SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) by supporting disadvantaged young people – including survivors of human trafficking – through skills and employability training. Such skills enable them to access employment and education opportunities, thereby boosting local economies. YCI currently works with eleven international hotel groups, including Marriott and the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), to transform the lives of youths in 16 countries and 26 locations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific. YCI centres on a six-month programme offering students hands-on vocation training in 15 hotel departments (80% of the programme). They also gain work and life skills in a classroom-based environment (20% of the programme). YCI’s partnership model is unique, bringing together hotels and local non-profit partners to work collaboratively to deliver the training programme. Hand in hand, they create an engaging curriculum with the support of dedicated mentors. YCI enables hotels and other businesses to recruit from an untapped talent pool, while building a motivated workforce. YCI began in 1995 as the Youth Career Development Programme in Bangkok, spearheaded by the Pan Pacific Hotels Group. Lyndall De Marco, Corporate Director of Education at Pan Pacific, and Dr Kitiya Phornsadja, Child Protection Officer for UNICEF Thailand, created the unique model. They recruited the programme’s first students from social welfare schools in northern Thailand’s rural provinces. In 2004, De Marco joined the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), where she expanded the programme under its current name (YCI) as an initiative of the International Tourism Partnership (ITP).

Tourism is the dominant sector of the Samoan economy, contributing more than 20% of its GDP. The principle resource bases of tourism are Samoa’s pristine beaches and its coastal, lagoon and reef areas. Some 70% of Samoa’s population live within the coastal strips, with tourism operations generally within 100 meters of the coastline. As they are adjacent to the coast, many operators and reliant communities are exposed to the impacts of climate change-induced natural hazards and other long-term incremental changes like rising sea-levels. To address these issues, this project (2013-2017) focuses on expanding the resilience of natural and socio-economic systems in tourism-related operations and areas; on enhancing livelihood strategies; and on supporting communities to weather climate change-induced hazards. The initiative supported the formulation of integrated and climate-sensitive Management Plans for five Tourism Development Areas, involving at least 10 villages, 16 community-owned tourism operations, four tourism attractions, and the wider communities in the villages of South-East Upolu, Manono, Eastern Savaii, Northwest Savaii and South East Savaii. The project’s objectives are pursued by strengthening multi-level stakeholder collaboration and public-private partnerships, in order to introduce a set of locally-tailored adaptation measures; strengthen institutional capacities to integrate climate change and disaster risks in tourism-related policy frameworks; and improve local awareness and understanding of the importance and benefits of preparedness in the face of climate change risks.

Bohol province, located in the Central Visayas region, is the tenth largest of the Philippines’ 7,641 islands. With a main island surrounded by 72 smaller islands, Bohol is now one of the country’s most prominent tourism destinations. The province is best known for its tourism circuits involving one of the world’s smallest and most endangered primates – the Philippine tarsier – as well as the unique limestone formations of the Chocolate Hills, its white sand beaches and other natural wonders. Bohol is historically and culturally significant, with its Spanish-era heritage churches. Prior to its development as a major tourism destination, the province was characterized by widespread poverty, low incomes and high out-migration rates. Bohol was a member of Club 20 – the 20 poorest provinces of the Philippines – and a hotbed of communist insurgency, hosting the general headquarters of the Communist Party in the Central and Eastern Visayas. To address these issues, the Provincial Government of Bohol decided to pursue ecotourism as a form of regional development for environment-friendly and community-based economic growth. This decision was based on the influence of good governance practice, province-wide stakeholder consultations involving local communities, and the province’s inclusion as one of the key sites in the Philippines’ National Ecotourism Strategy. This led to the establishment of strong partnerships both within and outside the province. As such, provincial tourism stakeholders gained the skills to manage continued and sustainable tourism growth.

The SDAA focuses on two of the most tourism dependent regions in the world – the Caribbean and Central America. These regions are also biodiversity hotspots, particularly for marine ecosystems, and are highly susceptible to climate change vulnerability. If inappropriately managed, tourism may aggravate challenges in these areas, such as the misuse or degradation of precious ecosystems, economic leakages, and a loss of cultural traditions in face of rising homogenization. However, tourism can also be a powerful mechanism for addressing such issues by supporting conservation efforts, moves to protect reefs and forests, initiatives to safeguard culture and heritage, and by providing much-needed employment opportunities, foreign exchange earnings and prospects for investment. To harness tourism’s potential in this regard, the SDAA was launched in March 2014 by Sustainable Travel International (STI) and a range of partner organizations, listed below. This innovative public-private partnership is grounded upon a shared commitment to building resilience in local communities, improving the way tourism is managed, and enhancing competitiveness in destinations across the Caribbean and Latin America. Eleven destinations – mainly coastal regions and islands that are highly popular with tourists – are part of the Alliance, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, and St Kitts and Nevis. The SDAA demonstrates how sustainably managed tourism can be efficiently managed at the regional level to improve lives and protect the environment. The SDAA’s objectives are to: – Maximize tourism’s benefits for local communities and residents; – Protect the region’s natural and cultural assets by conserving its land and marine resources; and – Embed sustainability practices in the day-to-day management and marketing of destinations.

Tanzania’s coral reefs are under threat from dynamite fishing and overexploitation, while coastal forests are disappearing in the wake of rising charcoal production and coastal development. Marine Protected Areas play a crucial role in conversing biodiversity and replenishing coral and fish stock. They can also generate income for their own sustainable management through ecotourism. In response to this situation, CHICOP’s overall aim is to create a model of sustainable nature conservation – one in which ecotourism supports park management, research and Environmental Education Programmes for local school children. While the Park’s objectives are non-commercial, its operations follow commercial principles. Since 1991, CHICOP has turned the formerly uninhabited Chumbe Island into a fully-managed, internationally recognised nature reserve that: – Includes a marine park, forest reserve, visitors’ centre and eco lodge; and – Provides sanctuary to critically endangered species, such as Aders’ duikers, coconut crabs and Roseate terns. All this was achieved in partnership with local communities, through: – Village meetings before and during project development; – Employing and training former fishermen as Park Rangers, underscored by a preference for recruiting local people; – Basing all operations on detailed Management Plans spanning 1995-2027; – Creating a Park Advisory Committee with Government, university and village representatives; – Offering marine rescue services to local fishermen/women in distress; and – Developing Environmental Education Programmes for fishermen, school children and all visitors.

The Sundarbans mangrove forest, a natural wonder and one of the largest continuous blocks of mangrove forests in the world, stretches across south-western Bangladesh. Local communities living along the fringes of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Ramsar Wetland Sanctuary, in the districts of Sathkhira and Khulna, are highly dependent on forest resources for their lives and livelihoods. Natural phenomena and the overexploitation of natural resources, including by growing human populations with few alternative livelihood opportunities, pose a threat to this delicate mangrove forest ecosystem. Relief International’s (RI) ecotourism project in the Sundarbans Impact Zone aims to lessen local communities’ dependence on forest resources by supporting them to explore ecotourism as an alternative income generating source, and develop their options as eco-entrepreneurs and service providers in the ecotourism value chain. The project’s overall objective is to strengthen local livelihoods and enhance respect for local culture, communities – including minority ethnic groups – and ecology through the development of ecotourism, cultural tourism and entrepreneurship. The initiative also instils a sense of respect and responsibility among tourists, encouraging them to buy local products, ensure that they have the least amount of impact on the surrounding environment, and understand that their contributions assist the conservation of the neighbouring mangrove forest.

Lanzarote, a leading European destination and the easternmost of Spain’s Canary Islands, receives 3 million tourists each year. Given the island’s unique landscape, local artist and architect César Manrique conceived an ambitious creative project to conserve Lanzarote’s environment and culture while showing its beauty to the world, involving interventions that explore the harmonious relationship between art and nature. Thus, the foundations of the Art, Culture and Tourism Centres (CACTs) were laid in 1966. Manrique began to develop a network of tourist centers for Lanzarote’s Cabildo (island Government), engaging fellow artist Jesús Soto and a range of outstanding craftsmen – gardeners, blacksmiths, stone masons, carpenters and Cabildo workers. Today, the network of Centers encompasses nine tourism attractions integrated with the surrounding natural environment. Combined, they receive 2.9 million visitors annually. The spaces include a cave (Cueva de los Verdes), a volcano (Jameos del Agua), other natural wonders (Jardín de Cactus, Mirador del Río, and Montañas del Fuego/Timanfaya), a castle (Castillo de San José), an underwater museum (Museo Atlántico) and cultural heritage sites (La Casa Amarilla and Monumento al Campesino).

HI USA, a national non-profit organization that operates 33 hostels across the United States of America, offers carefully-designed immersive environments that promote interaction and understanding among people of diverse backgrounds. Its targeted experiential learning programmes foster cultural competence and challenge the traditional tourism experience – one characterized by spectatorship and consumption as opposed to engagement and creation. HI USA’s education and engagement programmes are a permanent, recurring core feature of the organizations work. They are offered to guests and community members to strengthen intercultural understanding and global citizenship. Between April 2016 and March 2017, over 122,000 people participated in HI USA’s intercultural experiential learning programmes – 5,100 programmes were offered to travellers and 760 to community members. 56% of all programmes were led by community volunteers. Over the same period, HI USA’s New York Hostel offered 930 experiential learning programmes to travellers and 57 to community members. Led by locals interested in engaging visitors and learning about them, HI NYC’s programmes offer a deeper opportunity to think about travellers’ impact on the lived experience of the places they visit, and reflect on their own culture’s similarities or differences. Community-led discussions, events and service opportunities help visitors develop a more complex perspective of a place, how it shapes the people who live and work there, and the challenges that local communities face. This impacts what tourists think about others, themselves, and the actions they take. The good practice lessons learned from these programmes have direct impacts on intercultural understanding.

The Mayakoba Tourism Development initiative is situated in Riviera Maya, within the Solidaridad municipality in the northern reaches of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It encompasses a 249 hectare complex, located on a karstic coast with a humid tropical climate. The local environmental systems – known as Punta Bete and Punta Maroma – form strips parallel to the sea, consisting of beaches, coastal dunes, mangrove forests and ‘medium’ forests. Tourism has a high environmental impact on such dune and mangrove ecosystems, especially mass tourism with a high density of rooms. Recognizing the need for a very different model of tourism development in Mayakoba, the Spanish company Obrascón Huarte Lain (OHL) designed and implemented an innovative, low-density model. Engineers, architects, experts, consultants and scientists from research centres – both local and international – undertook specialized studies and participated in technical planning. Mayakoba’s main location lies behind the mangrove forest and involves minimum use of the rear dune’s watershed. It seeks to have the lowest possible impact on local ecosystems. The complex forms an environmental matrix, marked by the use of existing terrestrial ecosystems and the creation of a 25 hectare aquatic ecosystem of canals, which functions as a natural estuary. Designed through rigorous study based on scientific foundations, the area’s tourism infrastructure consists of four world-class hotels and a PGA Tour-certified professional golf course. Mayakoba’s natural and anthropic elements are integrated within a framework of ‘lasting natural luxury’. Its operation has enabled the maintenance of pre-existing flora and fauna, as well as the creation of aquatic and coastal habitats that did not previously exist. This has sparked an increase in fauna, particularly birds, fish and amphibians, forming an important new wildlife sanctuary.

Mexico is highly exposed to natural hazards – ranging from droughts to hurricanes. As climate change gains pace, wide-ranging shifts in climate variability are anticipated, including increases in extreme weather events and associated likely impacts on economic activities like tourism. To address these challenges, a series of Climate Change Vulnerability Studies on 20 of Mexico’s priority tourism destinations were conducted between 2012 and 2016. These studies were undertaken by a research centre, the National Academy of Research and Development, at the request of the Ministry of Tourism. They assess vulnerability to climate change in Cancún, Riviera Maya, Acapulco, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, Mazatlán, Boca del Río, Veracruz, Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Huatulco, Campeche, Coatzacoalcos, Costa Esmeralda, Tlacotalpan, Guanajuato, Monterrey, Morelia, Puebla, San Miguel de Allende and Manzanillo. These Climate Change Vulnerability Studies have four main components: - An assessment of the destination’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate variability and climate change, considering various risks; - An Adaptation Programme for each destination, carried out through an on-site workshop with local actors. These evaluate the matrix of specific adaptation actions to be carried out by the tourism sector in each destination, subjected to a hierarchical and cost-benefit approach; - Vulnerability and risk maps for each destination, featuring geographic information on vulnerabilities; and - Analysis of each destination’s Early Warning System, operated by the Directorate General of Civil Protection of Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior.

The Olderkesi Community Wildlife Conservation Trust (OCWCT) spans 7, 608 acres in the south-eastern reaches of the Maasai Mara region in Kenya, bordering Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Kenya’s Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Home to the Maasai tribe, the area is known for its abundant wildlife – both flora and fauna – including several endangered species of animals. In 2013, the OCWCT was initiated by the Cottar’s Wildlife Community Trust (CWCT) and landowners in Olderkesi, with the aim of improving the livelihoods of the Maasai community in Olderkesi. All activities undertaken through the OCWCT seek to strengthen livelihoods, preserving Maasai culture and enhance visitor experiences at Cottar’s 1920s Camp and Bush Villa. Community land is leased to OCWCT for wildlife conservation and tourism. In return, the community receives an incentive in the form of a land lease fee. Wildlife and the area’s rich Maasai culture are the main tourism products which have been sustained through the CWCT and OCWCT. The latter’s main stakeholders are Cottar’s 1920s Camp and landowners in the area, who are involved in decision making. The participation of all land owners has been vital, as is the involvement of relevant local authorities to ensure proper documentation and certification.

The village of El Carlos in northern Colombia, situated in the Necoclí municipality in Antioquia state’s Urabá region, lies next to the border with Panama. Due to its strategic location, the Urabá region has suffered a history of violence. El Carlos itself was affected, obliging communities to develop survival strategies to avoid becoming a target of conflict. In 2005, with the demobilization of paramilitary forces, a process of community reconciliation began. Communities began working together in the spheres of tourism, handicrafts, fisheries and cocoa farms. Thus, the El Carlos Ecotourism and Archaeological Centre was created to strengthen tourism and peace in the area. The community was supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Prosperity Department, which initiated a programme to provide community members with alternatives to illegal economic activities. Support was also forthcoming from the local government for various projects, with funds from a range of ministries and institutions. The community developed ties with tourism stakeholders in the area. In 2015, Colombia’s Vice Ministry of Tourism designated the Urabá region as a pilot in its Tourism Development Plan, within the context of its Tourism, Peace and Coexistence programme.

Buildings account for 40% of the European Union’s (EU) total energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions. Accommodation is responsible for 21% of the tourism sector’s CO2 emissions. While there is immense potential for savings in this sphere, the hospitality sector’s fragmented nature poses challenges to this objective. As EU directives for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) are rolled out, Europe’s hospitality sector will have to comply with these requirements. The Nearly Zero Energy Hotels (neZEH) Consortium was created to assist hotels to save energy, reduce their carbon footprint and build a more competitive and sustainable hospitality sector. It supports hotels to reach Nearly Zero Energy levels, in response to the EU’s commitments on energy efficiency and climate change (2020 and 2050 targets), specifically its policies of transforming Europe’s building stock into Nearly Zero Energy Buildings. The neZEH initiative provides hotels with tailored technical advice, shares good practices and undertakes capacity building related to energy renovations. The project offers sound, adapted guidance, practical training and useful tools such as the neZEH e-toolkit. This free online tool assists hotels to identify appropriate solutions in the area of energy efficiency. The toolkit and the overall neZEH project build upon the Hotel Energy Solutions (HES) initiative, used by over 1,540 hotels to improve their competitiveness through resource efficiency. To date, renovation projects have been implemented in seven EU member states, with 16 Nearly Zero Energy Hotels supported between 2013 and 2016. Championing an approach can lead to a 70% reduction in energy consumption, these innovators serve as an inspiration towards a more sustainable hospitality sector.

Tourism is one of the strongest pillars of Dubai's economic growth. With the aim of attracting 20 million visitors by 2020, Dubai has set clear targets for sustainable development. These are in line with the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform the United Arab Emirates (UAE) into a ‘Green Economy for Sustainable Development’. Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) is a public-private partnership, with the involvement of civil society, that aims to contribute to Dubai’s broader clean energy and sustainable development targets by embedding the principles of sustainability into all aspects of the tourism sector. DST brings together all economic stakeholders involved in tourism and hospitality – from tour operators to hotel developers and operators. Its holistic approach builds on common goal to achieve the long-term objective of a sustainable economy. The initiative’s structured approach to achieving sustainability identifies four clear targets – energy efficiency; environmental protection; awareness and education; and sectoral engagement. These fall within the overall context of environmental protection, social development and economic enablers, which will enable tourism in Dubai contribute to the overall journey of mitigating climate change and promoting sustainability by using four working streams or delivery platforms.

Ladakh, located in the Indian Himalayas, boasts rich cultural heritage due to its location on the ancient silk route. Tourists from around the world visit the area to meditate, explore its mountain valleys and its traditional heritage. Local communities were largely dependent on kerosene lamps for lighting, which emitted toxic fumes and caused health problems. In 2013, the Global Himalayan Expedition initiative (GHE) was founded by Paras Loomba in Ladakh to expand access to electricity for the area’s remote Himalayan communities by leveraging tourism as a model to provide their villages with electricity. The GHE offers tourists the opportunity to travel to the most remote reaches of the Himalayas, while having a tangible, positive impact on the lives of local communities through expanded access to electricity. It offers a life changing experience for visitors and local indigenous communities through its three-step expedition approach: – A survey of the communities, involving the creation of an itinerary for the expedition which revolves around adventure and social impact; – Reaching out to tourists through social media, inviting them to be part of the impact expedition; and – Taking groups of 15-20 tourists from around the world to improve the lives of marginalized local communities. To date, GHE has conducted 37 expeditions which have provided 53 villages with access to electricity, improving the lives of at least 20,000 people. The initiative has formed partnerships with several global enterprises, which send their employees to serve as part of leadership expeditions and extend electricity to the area’s villages.

Volcanoes National Park (VNP), a haven for the highest concentration of endangered mountain gorillas in the world, is situated in northern Rwanda, on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The region is characterized by its high population density – of some 700 people per square kilometre – land scarcity and poverty. These factors have prompted some locals to illegally access the Park’s resources to sustain their livelihoods – including water, meat, wood, medicinal herbs and honey. To enhance the Park’s conservation and protect its biodiversity, there was a need to actively involve the neighbouring community in protection efforts. SACOLA was created to contribute to Volcanoes National Park’s sustainable conservation, while improving the socio-economic conditions of the local population. The Association’s tourism project involved the construction and operation of a high-end community lodge – the Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge – marked by community participation and representation. SACOLA’s members include local leaders, key community representatives of the Rwandan Office of Tourism and National Parks (RDB) and the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP). Its composition was guided by a desire to ensure the appropriate representation of the local community, and to ensure sustainability by involving RDB and IGCP. Responsibility for environmental conservation and strengthening community livelihoods is shared among all the institutions involved. The initiative is grounded upon Rwanda’s political will to link conservation to the principles of sustainable development.

ILUNION Hotels is a chain of accessible hotels offering differently-abled professionals the opportunity to work in the tourism sector. The ILUNION Hotels project covers the entirety of Spain, with physical representation in the provinces of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, Seville, Zaragoza, Malaga, Huelva, Cadiz, Gerona, Menorca, Merida and Badajoz. One of its main objectives is to integrate persons with disabilities in a working environment where such professionals are lacking. Appreciating the great potential of Special Employment Centres (CEE) – where the vast majority of staff members are persons with disabilities – ILUNION decided to carry out a trial in one of its hotels. After a trial lasting several months, which verified the viability of this approach, ILUNION requested the hotel’s official classification as a CEE. Today, all of ILUNION’s hotels offer employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. Those classified as Special Employment Centres, where over 70% of employees have disabilities, are especially significant examples of labour integration. These CEEs offer all key hotel services, from accommodation to event hosting and catering, in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. The success of this initiative has involved a range of actors alongside ILUNION, including its dedicated staff and management, and several foundations, like FSC-INSERTA, dedicated to working with persons with disabilities.

The region of Mopti in Mali boasts two prominent tourism destinations – Djenné, a flooding area, and Sangha, a non-flooding area. Women in Mali are highly engaged in the production of handicrafts, hotel services, restaurants, the supply of produce and product processing. In Mopti, many small camps, restaurants and eateries are run by women. Women also dominate several branches of handicrafts – including jewellery making, pottery and the dyeing of traditional fabrics like indigo and bogolan – as well as agricultural and processing activities like vegetable growing and the production of natural jams and fruit juices from local produce, such as tamarind, bissap and baobab. Nonetheless, great swathes of women in Mali are impoverished. In this context, a project by UNWTO’s Sustainable Tourism - Eliminating Poverty Initiative (ST-EP) worked to support women entrepreneurs in the Mopti region, enabling them to become integrated into the tourism value chain and related local supply chains. Targeting community groups and vulnerable women in region’s leading tourism destinations, the project structured, organized and reinforced several women’s associations and cooperatives. Beneficiaries included: – Women artisans in Djenné; – The Sevaré/Mopti Agro-Food Processing Women’s Network; – The Association of Women Produce Suppliers of Sangha; – The Women's Hotel and Restaurant Association of Mopti and Djenné; – Women tour operators, alongside food and beverage operators in the informal sector; – Women’s associations in the Mopti region involved in tourism, agro-food, arts and crafts, and produce; and – Tourism establishments in the Mopti region who support gender equality, especially in terms of job creation.

Cuba’s Las Terrazas Complex spans 5,000 hectares in the eastern reaches of the Sierra del Rosario UNESCO biosphere reserve, in the Candelaria municipality of the province of Artemisa. The area is traversed by several rivers, including the San Juan and Bayate rivers, and boasts natural pools of fresh, crystalline water. Situated in the area are the colonial-style Hotel Moka; the Casa del Lago, located on the shore of Lake San Juan; and the Ecological Research Centre, responsible for overseeing the well-being of forest ecosystems. The local community’s rich cultural life is showcased to visitors through workshops that specialize in painting, serigraphy (screen printing), ceramics, woodwork and plant fibres. The Las Terrazas Complex was created in 1994 as a tourism-based sustainable rural development project, giving continuity to the country’s Integral Development Plan, initiated in 1968. The Complex aims to rehabilitate and preserve the area’s environmental integrity through the reforestation of terraces, while achieving a balance between the local population and the environment. Since the founding of the Las Terrazas community, tourism has been their main source of livelihood through the Las Terrazas Complex. It is considered Cuba’s first eco-museum, serving as a national and international reference point. It strives not only to incorporate tourism as an economic facilitator, but also to ensure social and environmental sustainability through responsible tourism. This prevents negative socio-environmental impacts while creating links between tourism and the community, thus guaranteeing tourism’s compatibility with social development.

Kumarakom is situated on the banks of the Vembanad Kayal – the second largest lagoon in India – near the city of Kottayam, in the heart of the Kerala backwaters, a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Tourism is thriving as visitors are drawn to the area’s immense lake and lush green paddy fields, variety of migratory birds, farmers tending tiny plots of land inter locked with small canals, fishermen’s boats plying travellers across canals and lagoons, and rich culinary traditions. Although Kerala was doing well in terms of tourist arrivals, tourism projects were marked by a top-down approach that did not sufficiently take into account the voices of tourism stakeholders, local communities and local self-government. Tourism development often led to conflicts over resource use, employment and benefit sharing with the local community. In 2007, the Department of Tourism of the Government of Kerala established the Kumarakom Responsible Tourism project to foster sustainable tourism development in the state. Kumarakom was selected as a pilot destination for the initiative, as one of Kerala’s most globally renowned destinations. The project envisages that each stakeholder in the destination has a responsibility to make tourism sustainable, prioritizing economic, socio-cultural and environmental sustainability through responsible activities by all stakeholders. An institutional mechanism was created to lead the project. This destination-level Responsible Tourism Committee encompasses representatives from the local self-government (panchayat ), the tourism industry, NGOs and the community.

The local development project spearheaded by Club Med and the NGO Agrisud supports local producers who are in precarious situations and live in the vicinity of Club Med resorts in Senegal, Brazil, Morocco and Indonesia. The initiative’s challenging aim is to organize a lasting match between the local supply of food products and the demands of Club Med resorts – meeting quality, quantity, diversity, regularity and price criteria. Its objective is also to ensure fair remuneration for producers and a strong distribution of added value, giving the poorest groups access to these markets. The project has trained 350 Very Small Enterprise (VSE) vegetable and produce suppliers in agro-ecology, as well as organizing these suppliers into commercial cooperatives. They have since been able to supply 92 tonnes of vegetables to Club Med resorts in these four countries. Overall, the partnership has benefited about 2,400 people – both local producers and their families. The project’s approach is comprehensive – spanning the entire supply chain from the producer to the end customer, in order to match the now-professional supply side with the high expectations of the demand side. Agrisud interacts with farming VSEs near Club Med resorts in order to: – Strengthen producers’ capacities in technical matters (e.g. agro-ecological practices), economic management (e.g. the development and analysis of operating accounts) and organizational issues (e.g. the bulk purchase of seeds, the maintenance of irrigation systems, etc.); and – Establish a sustainable local procurement system through the participatory development of the procurement protocol, as well as by grouping producers into commercial cooperatives.

As Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana, prepared to assume the title of European Green Capital 2016, a study among local hoteliers and restaurants revealed that two main obstacles prevented them from purchasing locally produced goods – price and complexity. In order to resolve these issues, the Green Supply Chains project was launched in 2015. It aims to increase the percentage of locally produced food and drinks available in hotels and restaurants in and around Ljubljana by offering these stakeholders the possibility of purchasing 100% locally produced foods and drinks via a uniquely managed, centralized and easy-to-use online system. By 2017, the initiative had spread to the entire region of central Slovenia, linking Ljubljana and 25 other municipalities. The project enables tourism sector stakeholders – specifically hotels and restaurants – to easily access local farmers, and vice versa, via a Rural Development Cooperative which acts as a linkage between suppliers and buyers. Farmers, hotels and restaurants who wish to participate in the project sign a formal contract with the Cooperative, obliging them to either deliver or purchase locally produced goods. Seasonal offers are available online (see: http://www.jarina.si/) , at prices negotiated by the Cooperative on behalf of its members. This site enables members to submit their daily/weekly orders. Goods are then delivered to their doorsteps. The Green Supply Chains project was initiated by Ljubljana Tourism, hand in hand with the Institute Factory of Sustainable Tourism, the NGO GoodPlace, the municipal Department of Rural Development and the Jarina Rural Development Cooperative.

Dahshour is home to two of Egypt’s oldest and best-preserved pyramids. This UNESCO World Heritage Site, comprising five small villages, is located less than an hour from Cairo. Covering an area of 70 km2 between the river Nile and the desert, Dahshour is home to some 40,000 people. Many local community members maintain old customs, living in a traditional manner. Most of the population’s livelihoods are based on crops and livestock rearing. The region is marked by severe food insecurity, malnutrition, vulnerability and poverty. The Dahshour World Heritage Site for Community Development project (2009-2013) was a joint initiative by the Egyptian Government and five UN agencies – UNWTO, UNDP, ILO, UNESCO and UNIDO. To protect the area of the Dahshour pyramids, its ecosystem and communities, the project supported tourism-based sustainable development, cultural and ecological management, and opportunities for revenue generation. It focused on improving the livelihoods and working conditions of the local population through targeted employment-generation activities, with special focus on women’s and youth employment, as well as the development of locally-driven MSMEs. The development of community-owned and operated MSMEs enabled the community to access microfinance schemes. The project also provided the population with technical training and expertise in small business sector development. The initiative was based on the premise that a well-planned influx of tourists could benefit Dahshour so long as local stakeholders gained the necessary capacities to ensure sustainable community development through tourism-related opportunities. The pioneering initiative marked the first time national and international partners from the tourism, cultural heritage and natural heritage sectors came together to work with the Dahshour community to reduce poverty.