Sustainable Tourism

According to UNWTO’s long-term forecast report Tourism Towards 2030, projections to 2030 point out that tourism sector is expecting continued exponential growth rates, with international tourism arrivals worldwide expected to increase by 3.3% per year to reach 1.8 billion by 2030.

According to Eurostat, Malta had the highest proportion of nights in tourist accommodation spent by tourists from other EU countries (84%).

Since several years the main European tourism destinations have exceeded the limit of their carrying capacity with negative consequences of an accelerated deterioration of the cultural and environmental heritage because mass tourism create intense pressures due to the presence of a large number of tourist in a small area, mostly on season periods.

In particular, in the countries of the Mediterranean basin, tourism is one of the key economic activities, with a relevant percentage of their GDP’s. The area has a myriad of extraordinary and unique cultural and environmental assets that must be preserved thorough mitigation measures and holistic approaches and policies carried out in a transnational multilateral framework that enhances and implements sustainable tourism and blue economy policies in order to ensure a sustainable exploitation of the tourism destinations also tackling wider global challenges.

Facing mass tourism destination issues, we have also to consider smart energies solutions and disaster risk mitigation and prevention measures in consideration of the severe climate-change consequences which more and more often affects tourism sites.

The wide array competences of ISDI’s shareholders and their international experience have developed a capillary worldwide network of contacts of professionals and public and private institutions that may be involved in any sustainable tourism related field initiatives or projects.