In Focus: Responsible tourism

The booming global tourism industry has driven economic growth. On December 4, 2024, the UN World Tourism Organization released the latest World Tourism Barometer. The report pointed out that around 1.1 billion tourists travelled internationally in the first nine months of 2024. Zurab Pololikashvili, the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, noted that “the strong growth seen in global tourism is excellent news for economies around the world”.

In recent years, the rapid development of tourism has had a negative impact on the local natural environment and ecosystem, causing an ecological burden. In some coastal areas, tourism activities have also had a significant impact on the marine and coastal environment and biodiversity resources. As a result of recognizing the negative impact of tourism activities on the environment, “responsible tourism” came into being, and the discussion on “responsible tourism” has also been continuously deepened at the theoretical and practical levels.

Responsible Tourism is based on “creating better places for people to live in, and better places to visit”, and was defined during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. Foreign research on “responsible tourism” began in 1965, showing the characteristics of multidisciplinary integration. Domestic research on “responsible tourism” started late, mainly focusing on basic theoretical research, practical research, and policy research. In March 2020, the Responsible Tourism Working Committee of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) was established, aiming to deeply root the concept of “responsible tourism” in the hearts of the people, lead the practice and research in the field of “responsible tourism”, and promote the green development of China’s tourism industry. Dr. Harold Goodwin, known as the “Father of Responsible Tourism”, is the director of the CBCGDF Responsible Tourism Working Committee.

This month’s journal focuses on the series of topics related to responsible tourism, and hopes to discuss with readers the theoretical research, development and practice of responsible tourism.