Establishing Sustainable Tourism Policies

Representatives from Andaman Discoveries and North Andaman Community Tourism (N-ACT) met with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), village leaders, and responsible tour operators in Bangkok recently to design and implement a new sustainable-tourism standard for Thailand. The group established and ranked policies in such areas as service and safety, resource management, cultural heritage, and economics. ”The new standards include homestays, and are a good start towards establishing guidelines to help villagers interested in community tourism,” said Nattaya Sektheera of N-ACT.

The meeting was part of a project called the Corporate Social Responsibility and Market Access Partnerships (CSR-MAP) for Thailand Sustainable Tourism Supply Chains, and is funded by the European Union. The project targets suppliers in the Thailand tourism industry, which offer sustainable-tourism products, as well as local Thai communities, which have developed community-based tourism (CBT) programs, and European tour operators with a firm commitment to support of sustainable tourism.

Labels: community tourism, community-based tourism, responsible tourism, sustainable tourism