Responsible holidays

Among the purposes of ONU 2030’s sustainable development, tourism is one of the main levers, so much so that at the beginning of the ‘70s the world institution established UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization, in Italian OMT, headquartered in Madrid and present in 163 countries), that coordinates the touristic policies and promotes a responsible tourism and leisure time that respect the environment, economy and society. Tourism is increasing all over the world, Italy included, and data regarding Milan are remarkable: a 6% increase in visitors in the last year. In the world the people who work in this sector are about 6,5% of the total employed people. So the ONU’s vademecum is very important. Its main points are: increasing the protection of natural landscapes, fostering biodiversity, stimulating low-impact nutrition and logistic habits by choosing local food and non-invasive low-consumption transportation means, saving water and power (especially for illumination and air conditioning), separating wastes and helping local craftmanship. Next June 2nd is the tenth world sustainable tourism day, and Italy endorses it through the association AITR, whose 2019 theme is “Tourism as a tool to contribute to peace”: eco-tourism events, workshops on bees and vegetable gardens, cycling holidays, trekking and farm holidays. Info: aitr.org, festivalitaca.net.

Giuliana Zoppis