Sustainable Tourism and Sustainable Development in Central America

A/RES/74/211No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 19Sustainable development, published in 2020.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2012–2022

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/76/201

2022A/RES/76/201Sustainable tourism and sustainable development in Central AmericaLatestCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/211Sustainable tourism and sustainable development in Central AmericaCompare with previous version
2018A/RES/72/214Sustainable tourism and sustainable development in Central AmericaCompare with previous version
2016A/RES/70/196Sustainable tourism and sustainable development in Central AmericaCompare with previous version
2014A/RES/68/207Sustainable tourism and sustainable development in Central AmericaCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Central America Ecotourism Regional Cooperation Sustainable Development Tourism Tourism Development Tourism Policy

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2021.

2021A/76/217Sustainable tourism and sustainable development in Central America report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

29 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;

Recognizes the major role that sustainable tourism plays in the development of the Central American countries, as an instrument of social inclusion that generates decent jobs and contributes to the improvement of the quality of life of the population, aimed at achieving poverty eradication in all its forms and dimensions;

Also recognizes that since the adoption of resolution 72/214 in 2017, the Central American countries have strengthened efforts to promote sustainable tourism and sustainable development, as well as enhanced inclusiveness and coordination among all stakeholders, and have also highlighted the key role that sustainable tourism plays in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and targets;

Recalls the adoption of the principles of sustainable tourism, developed by the Central American Tourism Integration Secretariat and found in its strategic plan for sustainable development, 2014–2018, which captures the region’s vision of itself as an integrated, sustainable, multi-location, cross-border destination of high quality and emphasizes its action plan for tourism and climate change as a component of the regional strategy on climate change;

Recognizes that the tourism sector has been a catalyst for achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions in Central America, including addressing environmental issues, in particular climate change, poverty eradication and economic development, highlighting the importance of strengthening appropriate policies and financial support within a broader framework of sustainable development policies;

Encourages regional and national tourism organizations to promote destination models that seek the highest possible direct benefits for local and national economies, in order to contribute to improving quality of life and reducing poverty in local communities, taking into account the integration of sustainability policies in the tourism sector, and invites all stakeholders to identify, assess and mitigate the impacts of tourism on the three dimensions of sustainable development;

Recognizes the valuable role of international cooperation with relevant partners, and encourages them to continue to support the implementation of various projects aimed at promoting sustainable tourism in the region by, inter alia, strengthening ecotourism, rural, cultural and heritage tourism, including colonial sites, preventing trafficking in cultural artefacts and ensuring respect for intangible cultural heritage and cultural and natural sites;

Welcomes the progress made by the Central American countries in converging towards a regional tourism strategy based on preserving the region’s biodiversity and natural and cultural attractions and reducing poverty through employment and entrepreneurial tourism development that emphasizes micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, while addressing the adverse effects of climate change, to improve the quality of life of the region’s inhabitants;

Appreciates the continued efforts of the Central American countries to support sustainable tourism development, including the adoption and implementation of new legislation and policies, and encourages them to use sustainable tourism as a tool to promote the eradication of poverty and enhance the protection of biodiversity, cultural heritage and community development;

Encourages cooperation to promote the engagement of women, youth, indigenous peoples and local communities and initiatives that foster their socioeconomic empowerment through sustainable tourism that continues to promote equitable partnerships, the creation of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities;

Recognizes the continued need to support sustainable tourism activities and relevant capacity-building efforts that promote environmental awareness, conserve and protect the environment, respect wildlife, biodiversity, ecosystems and cultural diversity and improve the welfare and livelihoods of local communities by supporting their local economies and the human and natural environment as a whole;

Notes the importance of adequately measuring the sociocultural and environmental impact of tourism, and encourages efforts to fill the present data gap in this area by taking advantage of the emergence of non-traditional solutions and sources of data, with an overarching goal of advancing the national sustainable development agenda beyond the tourism sector;

Recognizes that the implementation of sustainable consumption and production patterns in the tourism sector in Central America, and hence advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development7 in the region, requires, inter alia, the identification and adoption of more resource-efficient tourism planning approaches by all relevant stakeholders;

Stresses the need to promote the further development of sustainable tourism, in particular through the consumption of sustainable tourism products and services, and to strengthen the development of ecotourism, maintaining, in particular, the culture and environmental integrity of indigenous and local communities and enhancing the protection of ecologically sensitive areas and the natural heritage and indigenous cultural and religious sites of those communities;

Invites Governments and other stakeholders to join the Sustainable Tourism Programme of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, which aims at promoting innovation and circular thinking to accelerate resource efficiency in the tourism value chain;

Welcomes the establishment of two observatories for sustainable tourism in Central America, and invites Governments and other stakeholders to consider joining the International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories of the World Tourism Organization, which contributes to the promotion of economically, socially and environmentally sustainable tourism, and to support the practice of informed policymaking around the world;

Encourages further collaboration by public-private partnerships towards the enhancement of quality data collection, taking into account the concerted efforts by national authorities of the Central American countries, in conjunction with the private sector, through the establishment of observatories for sustainable tourism to monitor the development of tourism at the destination level in order to provide timely information for evidence-based policies and decision-making;

Urges the tourism sector in the Central American countries to be part of the coordination, knowledge-sharing and communication mechanisms for security and emergency management at the national and regional levels and to collectively promote an evidence-based approach in developing measures for safe, secure and seamless travel, which will enable government agencies to make relevant, informed and coordinated decisions;

Emphasizes, taking into account the fact that the tourism sector is vulnerable to natural disasters, the need to foster resilient tourism development in the Central American region, including through national strategies for rehabilitation after shocks, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction plans and public-private partnerships;

Welcomes the efforts of the World Tourism Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, regional commissions and other regional organizations, as well as the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, to promote sustainable tourism worldwide;

Invites Member States and other stakeholders and the World Tourism Organization to continue to support the activities undertaken by the Central American countries for the promotion of sustainable tourism in the region, including with regard to emergency preparedness for better disaster risk reduction, the vulnerabilities of the Central American countries to natural disasters, and their impacts on sustainable tourism, as well as for capacity-building, job creation and the promotion of local culture and products, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals;

Invites the international community to support efforts, as appropriate, in creating and implementing innovative technologies to modernize the tourism industry in the Central American countries;

Encourages the Central American countries, through the Central American Tourism Council and the Central American Tourism Integration Secretariat, to promote sustainable tourism by intensifying bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation at the level of the tourism industry, and to continue to support sustainable tourism through policies that foster responsive and inclusive tourism, strengthen regional identity and protect their natural and cultural heritage, including their ecosystems and biodiversity, and notes that existing initiatives, such as the Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism, among other international initiatives, can deliver direct and focused support to Governments;

Also encourages the Central American countries to establish and strengthen secure, reliable, efficient, high-quality, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including transit transport systems that link them to international markets, affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy and information and communications technology, with the support of the international community, as appropriate, so as to promote sustainable tourism in the region;

Recognizes that persons with disabilities have equal rights to access tourism services and opportunities, such as independent travel, accessible services, trained staff, reliable information and inclusive marketing, and that great efforts should be made to ensure that tourism policies and practices are inclusive of persons with disabilities, the majority of whom live in developing countries;

Calls upon Member States and the tourism sector to take effective measures, in the context of sustainable tourism, including ecotourism initiatives, to help to promote the equal participation of women and the balanced participation of youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and local communities, at all levels and in decision-making processes in all areas, and to promote effective economic empowerment, mainly through decent job and income creation;

Recognizes that addressing the need for improved monitoring of the development impacts of tourism requires rethinking and changing traditional practices in order to incorporate multiple data sources to provide public administrations and the tourism sector with the most updated intelligence on tourism, and notes the progress achieved through the International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories of the World Tourism Organization, which is focused on continuously monitoring the impacts of tourism, tackling the three dimensions of sustainability, strengthening evidence-based decision-making and creating a culture of continuous and timely monitoring and measurement;

Welcomes the positive role of tourism in the conservation of biodiversity and in fighting climate change, which provides a further argument for enhancing the environmental components of tourism policies and better utilizing the potential of tourism as an enabling agent of change, and the convening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid within the context of the twenty-fifth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

Requests the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization and with other relevant United Nations entities, to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session an action-oriented report on the implementation of the present resolution, including concrete recommendations to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in this regard, in the Central American countries, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-sixth session the item entitled “Sustainable development”.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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