Climate change, increasing consumption of natural resources and continuous loss of biodiversity of flora and fauna are the most outstanding impacts human economic activities impose on our environment. It is a challenge for the tourism business to manage and mitigate the impacts of tourism.

Sustainable tourism businesses develop concepts that create products which support climate change prevention, environmental protection and nature conservation. Furthermore, sustainable tourism businesses deal fairly with destinations and work in partnership with local businesses and inhabitants. All these efforts should not keep tourism businesses from concentrating on their key activity: to offer joyful and relaxing holidays to the costumer.

With its publications and project outputs, ETE offers information on sustainable tourism development and management to accommodations, travel agencies, tour operators, tourism associations, authorities, communities and regions. ETE assists you in finding the right solutions for your sustainable tourism business or your destination management.

ETE's special web site "Zukunft Reisen" (German) informs about the activities and projects of governments, authorities, tourism associations and NGOs dealing with sustainable tourism. Links with concrete and detailed descriptions of the institutions and their activities help you find the right information and related web sites to get to know more about sustainable tourism development.

Publications on sustainable tourism

Study 'Sustainable Tourism in Germany'

The study 'Sustainable Tourism in Germany' is one important output of the project Fostering Sustainable Tourism. It lists and discusses the main activities and initiatives of politics, tourism industry and NGOs on sustainable tourism during the last ten years. Based on this research, it draws conclusions concerning the success of the Federal Republic of Germany with the implementation of the UN work programme on sustainable tourism which has been agreed by the German government in 1999 when the programme has been adopted by the conference of parties to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). The study concludes with recommendations stating what actions should be taken for future development.

Download: Study 'Sustainable Tourism in Germany' (german)

Best Practice

Two ETE brochures present best practice examples of sustainable tourism projects of German NGOs, the tourism industry and regions in Germany.

Download: Best Practice in tourism industry and regions (german)
Download: Best Practice of NGOs (german)

www.zukunft-reisen.de

You can find more comprehensive and manifold information and links on sustainable travel and tourism at ETE's web site "Zukunft Reisen"

The German internet portal lists more than a hundred links to the web sites of tour operators, organisations and institutions that provide information on environmentally friendly and socially responsible travel. Planning your trip, adequate accommodation, environmentally friendly means of transport and leisure activities, ecolabels and awards for sustainable travel agencies - on all these topics you can find concrete and detailed descriptions and links, leading you quickly to the information and web site you search for when planning your next sustainable holiday.