Very often it is stated that tourism is the "industry without smokestacks," yet it is still far from being a sector of the economy with zero impact on the environment and natural resources. Proof of this is the fact that pressure at this time of summer generates a large influx of tourists on the Mediterranean coast, the largest spa destination in Europe (150 million tourists each year). The visitors increase local consumption of energy and water (which is scarce in the Iberian peninsula due to the severe drought), produce more waste and burn more fuel contaminants in their travels.
This not counting the damage that can occur on nature reserves open to the so-called ecotourism when this is done without proper planning and without the participation of native communities, especially in regions of high biodiversity of the planet where the ecological wealth coexists with human poverty.
However, the top international body in the sector, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), believes in the viability of sustainable tourism, saying that institutionally "The guidelines for sustainable tourism development and sustainable management practices are applicable to all Forms of tourism in all types of destinations, including mass tourism and various tourism segments. "
For the UNWTO, tourism is sustainable when there is an optimum use of environmental resources that are an essential element of tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural resources and biodiversity.
Two other requirements, listed by the WTO to consolidate tourism as a sustainable industry, are: respect the cultural authenticity of host communities (while retaining its architectural and cultural assets of their traditional values, while contributing to tolerance and intercultural understanding) and ensuring viable economic activities in the long run, including employment opportunities and income and social services to host communities, thus contributing to poverty reduction.
Various documents of the World Tourism Organization lay the foundation for the pursuit of environmental sustainability in this industry. This is the case with the Quebec Declaration on Ecotourism "(2002), the Djerba Declaration on Tourism and Climate Change "(2003), and the recent" Muscat Declaration on the architectural environment of Sustainable Tourism "(2005).
Written by Luis Gabriel David García
ECOESTRATEGIA
http://www.ecoestrategia.com 
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