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The Eleventh Meeting of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics has
closed with calls to make “Safe Coastal Tourism” a priority in coastal
destinations worldwide (Rome, Italy, 12-13 July,).
The Committee heard from invited guest, Caroline Danneels, founder of the
non-profit organization “Safe Coastal Tourism”, on the importance of safety
precautions at beaches and marinas across the globe. Based in the Flemish
Community of Belgium, the organization works to raise awareness of the crucial
need for adequate safety measures and the provision of accurate information to
tourists to prevent often fatal accidents at coastal sites. Committee members
drew particular attention to the need for safety warnings, in the form of signs
and flags, to alert visitors to dangerous conditions, and the absolute necessity
of life-guards and life-buoys to aid in rescues, even during tourist
“low-season”.
As the body responsible for promoting and monitoring the implementation of the
UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, the Committee applauded the signature
of the first Private Sector Commitment to the Global Code of Ethics by 11 of
Spain’s most prominent tourism companies at the 1st International Congress on
Ethics and Tourism (15-16 September 2011, Madrid, Spain). This Commitment
represents a public pledge on behalf of tourism enterprises to implement and
promote the values enshrined in the Code of Ethics, both by integrating ethical
practices into their business operations, and by reporting periodically to the
Committee on their actions in this regard.
The body further analyzed a number of pressing ethical issues including the
fight against human trafficking and child exploitation, the road to greater
gender equality and accessibility in tourism, and developments for the
protection of tourists/consumers and tourism enterprises. With reference to the
latter, the Committee reiterated its support for UNWTO’s preparation of an
international legal instrument in this area.
Committee members further backed UNWTO’s firm stand against human trafficking,
especially child trafficking, in the tourism sector, applauding the
Organization’s signature of a cooperation agreement with the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in April 2012. In the sphere of accessible
tourism, the Committee reasserted its support of the collaboration between UNWTO,
the Spanish ONCE Foundation and ACS Foundation, as well as the European Network
for Accessible Tourism (ENAT), in the interest of improving tourism’s
accessibility, particularly for persons with disabilities.
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