United Nations WorldTourism Organization

BACKGROUND GUIDE

Vancouver Model United Nations The Twentieth Annual Session | January 29–31, 2021

Dear Delegates, On behalf of your dais team, welcome to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). My name is Jasper He, and I am privileged to be serving as your Director of the UNWTO for VMUN 2021. I am delighted to be working with your Chair, Owen Ebose, and Assistant Director, Emily Ramlochun, and the three of us look forward to a weekend of fruitful discussions. I trust that you will bring engaging insights into the committee room and fabricate meaningful resolutions to the two pressing topics we will discuss. Having attended my first conference in Grade 7, choosing to pursue Model UN remains one of the most rewarding decisions I have ever made. Although regarded by many as academically rigorous, Model UN has aided me in ways I could have never fathomed. Through Model UN, I have developed skills applicable to all walks of my life. Delegating a Model UN conference is an unforgettable experience, and you will not regret your decision to delegate in the UNWTO. I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone at VMUN, be it speaking for the first time or sponsoring a controversial resolution paper, have no regrets. Our committee will work to resolve two prominent issues within the global tourism industry. The Environmental Impacts of Tourism addresses the increasingly concerning environmental ramifications of tourism and how tourism threatens the very landscapes and natural resources that it depends on. In Vulnerabilities in Tourist-Reliant Economics, we will discuss ways to resolve and mitigate the devastating economic consequences of contingencies, many of which have been clearly exhibited throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. I wish you the best of luck in your research and look forward to seeing all of you at VMUN. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to email me at unwto@vmun.com. Sincerely, Jasper He UNWTO Director

William Tsai Secretary-General

Vivian Gu Director-General

Derek Wu

Chief of Staff

Tyler Rosenzweig Director of Logistics

Joyce Chen USG General Assemblies

Ethan Jasny

USG Specialized Agencies

Vivian Liang USG Conference

Jonah Ezekiel USG Finance

Laura Choi

USG Communications

Armaan Jaffer USG Delegate Affairs

Mia Tsao

USG Delegate Affairs

Position Paper Policy

What is a Position Paper?

A position paper is a brief overview of a country’s stance on the topics being discussed by a particular committee. Though there is no specific format the position paper must follow, it should include a description of your positions your country holds on the issues on the agenda, relevant actions that your country has taken, and potential solutions that your country would support.

At Vancouver Model United Nations, delegates should write a position paper for each of the committee’s topics. Each position paper should not exceed one page, and should all be combined into a single document per delegate.

For the United Nations World Tourism Organization, position papers are not mandatory but highly recommended, especially for a delegate to be considered for an award.

Formatting

Position papers should:

— Include the name of the delegate, his/her country, and the committee

— Be in a standard font (e.g. Times New Roman) with a 12-point font size and 1-inch document margins

— Not include illustrations, diagrams, decorations, national symbols, watermarks, or page borders

— Include citations and a bibliography, in any format, giving due credit to the sources used in research (not included in the 1-page limit)

Due Dates and Submission Procedure

Position papers for this committee must be submitted by midnight on January 22nd, 2021. Once your position paper is complete, please save the file as your last name, your first name and send it as an attachment in an email, to your committee’s email address, with the subject heading as your last name, your first name — Position Paper. Please do not add any other attachments to the email or write anything else in the body.

Both your position papers should be combined into a single PDF or Word document file; position papers submitted in another format will not be accepted.

Each position paper will be manually reviewed and considered for the Best Position Paper award.

The email address for this committee is unwto@vmun.com.

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Environmental Impacts of Tourism ........................................................................................................... 3

Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................3

Timeline ...................................................................................................................................................................4

Historical Analysis .................................................................................................................................................5

Case Study: Santorini, Greece ..........................................................................................................................6

Case Study: Great Barrier Reef, Australia .......................................................................................................8

Case Study: Venice, Italy ...................................................................................................................................9

Past UN/International Involvement ................................................................................................................. 10

Ecotourism Organizations ............................................................................................................................. 10

UN Sustainable Development Goals ............................................................................................................ 10

Current Situation ................................................................................................................................................ 11

Case Study: Mallorca, Spain .......................................................................................................................... 11

Case Study: Boracay, Philippines .................................................................................................................. 12

Case Study: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador ..................................................................................................... 13

Possible Solutions and Controversies ............................................................................................................... 13

Ecotourism Promotion & Guidelines .......................................................................................................... 14

Ticketing Vulnerable and Over-Visited Environments ............................................................................ 14

Implementation of Cleanups and Waste Management ............................................................................. 14

Transition to Sustainable Energy .................................................................................................................. 15

Bloc Positions ....................................................................................................................................................... 15

Europe .............................................................................................................................................................. 15

The Americas .................................................................................................................................................. 16

China & Asia ................................................................................................................................................... 16

Discussion Questions .......................................................................................................................................... 17

Additional Resources .......................................................................................................................................... 17

Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................................... 18

Vulnerabilities in Tourist-Reliant Economies ......................................................................................... 21

Overview ............................................................................................................................................................... 21

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................ 22

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Historical Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 22

Case Study: The Maldives .............................................................................................................................. 23

Case Study: Macau .......................................................................................................................................... 24

Past UN/International Involvement ................................................................................................................. 25

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) .............................................................................................. 25

Current Situation ............................................................................................................................................ 26

Case Study: Iceland ......................................................................................................................................... 27

Case Study: Sri Lanka ..................................................................................................................................... 28

Case Study: Grenada ....................................................................................................................................... 28

Possible Solutions and Controversies ............................................................................................................... 29

Contingency Funds ........................................................................................................................................ 29

Employment Contingency Plans .................................................................................................................. 29

Diversification Programs ............................................................................................................................... 30

Bloc Positions ....................................................................................................................................................... 30

Non-Tourism-Dependent Countries with Highly Diverse Economies .................................................. 30

Tourism-Dependent Economies .................................................................................................................. 31

Countries with Major Tourism Sectors ....................................................................................................... 31

Discussion Questions .......................................................................................................................................... 32

Additional Resources .......................................................................................................................................... 32

Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................................... 33

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Environmental Impacts of Tourism

Overview

In 2019, 1.5 billion international travellers stayed overnight at tourist destinations around the world,1 roughly equivalent to around 45 arrivals every second.2 Often, tourism strains natural resources, including local land, energy, and water resources via over-consumption. Tourism significantly impacts local land use, usually leading to soil erosion, natural habitat loss, increased pollution, and more strain on endangered animals. 3 These consequences progressively destroy the very environment that tourism relies on, as many points of interest—such as hotels, swimming pools, golf courses, restaurants— all rely on natural resources in varying ways. As an example, one golf course uses as much water as 60,000 rural villagers would use.4 Although some forms of tourism, such as ecotourism, raise awareness about the environmental issues surrounding tourism and may deter further environmental damage by encouraging sustainable travel, the growing impact of ecotourism is not felt significantly on a global scale. The world needs a sustainable solution that addresses the need to reverse and mitigate the environmental consequences tourism has brought.

Pollution is a growing concern in the tourism industry, in the forms of air pollution, noise pollution, and garbage. Tourists increase an area’s usage of diesel or gasoline through an increase in transportation demand. Tourist infrastructure can also create a heavy demand on other environmentally damaging energy sources such as coal and other fossil fuels. The by-product of these unsustainable energy sources are greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Noise pollution can significantly disturb local wildlife and cause annoyance in local residents. In most cases, noise pollution comes from tourist transportation and disruptive tourist infrastructure, including the building of tourist attractions in urban areas or wildlife habitats such as parks and caves. The building of tourist infrastructure may also require deforestation and cause habitat loss for native wildlife. Tourism also often causes an increase in sewage discharge with the construction of recreational facilities, hotels, resorts, and other buildings. If this wastewater is not handled properly or overwhelms the system, it can pollute surrounding oceans, lakes, and other bodies of water. Littering is also an issue in many popular tourist areas, and factors contributing to this problem can include irresponsible tourists and an inundated or weak waste management system.

With tourism continuing to trend upward, it is important that necessary actions are taken to mitigate and reverse the environmental damages tourism brings. Many stakeholders in this issue—such as politicians, businesspeople, and entrepreneurs—may find it inconvenient to prioritize the environment over the economy, even amidst a period of unparalleled activism surrounding climate change. Some prefer to stick with more profitable, predictable, and reliable business instead of investing into something unknown, like environmental conservation.

1 "World Tourism Barometer Nº18 January 2020 | UNWTO," UNWTO, January 19, 2020, https://www.unwto.org/world-tourism-barometer-n18-january-2020. 2 "Negative Environmental Impacts Of Tourism - TheWorldCounts," TheWorldCounts, https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/transport-and-tourism/negative-environmental-impacts-of-tourism. 3 Ibid. 4 Ben Adler, “The case against golf,” The Guardian, June 14, 2007, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jun/14/thecaseagainstgolf.

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However, when presented with the opportunity of tourism, the world may be able to convince these stakeholders of the monetary benefits environmental conservation could bring to the tourism industry.

Timeline

March 1, 1872 — Yellowstone National Park opens. Although not the first national park to open worldwide, Yellowstone National Park has become one of the most influential national parks in the world, is one of the first permanent ecotourism attractions, and a role model for sustainable tourism guidelines.5

1965 — Claus-Dieter “Nick” Hetzer, a Berkeley-based adventurer and academic, is believed to have coined the term “ecotourism” in 1965. Hetzer led the first “ecotours” in the early 1970s to Yucatán, Mexico.6

1990 — The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) is founded with the purpose of facilitating and promoting sustainable tourism and environmental awareness.7

1990 — The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) is created.8 Similar to TIES, the ATTA is intended to encourage ecotourism.9

2015 — The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are adopted by every United Nations member state.10 Tourism has been included in Goal 8 regarding jobs and economies, Goal 12 regarding sustainable supply chain development, and Goal 14 regarding marine life.

2016 — The term “overtourism” is coined by Rafat Ali, CEO and founder of Skift, a travel intelligence website.11 Overtourism often leads to dire environmental problems and its effects have existed since before the term was coined.

June 2017 — Venice, Italy bans the opening of new hotels. This is an unprecedented response to massive overtourism issues and environmental damage to the island city.

April 2018 — Venice introduces crowd diversion techniques to separate tourists from locals in crowded streets and boost waste management efforts.12 For example, the road—named Strada Nova—that tourists use to travel

5 “Timeline Treasures,” Global Ecotourism Network, accessed September 25, 2020, https://www.globalecotourismnetwork.org/timeline-treasures/. 6 David B. Weaver, The Encyclopedia of Ecotourism (New York: CABI, 2001), 5. 7 “TIES Overview,” The International Ecotourism Society, accessed September 25, 2020, https://ecotourism.org/ties-overview/. 8 GEN, “Timeline Treasures.” 9 “About the Adventure Travel Trade Association,” Adventure Travel Trade Association, accessed September 25, 2020, https://www.adventuretravel.biz/about/. 10 “The Sustainable Development Agenda,” United Nations, accessed September 25, 2020, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/. 11 Rafat Ali, “The Genesis of Overtourism: Why We Came Up With the Term and What’s Happened Since,” Skift, August 14, 2018, https://skift.com/2018/08/14/the-genesis-of-overtourism-why-we-came-up-with-the-term-and-whats-happened-since/. 12 Nick Squires, “Venice to implement unprecedented crowd control measures to separate tourists from locals,” Traveller, April 26, 2018, https://www.traveller.com.au/venice-to-implement-unprecedented-crowd-control-measures-to-separate-tourists-from-locals-h0z9cs.

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from the train and bus stations to the popular churches of San Marco and Ponte di Rialto will be closed to tourists. Travellers will have to detour through the backstreets of Venice to get to their destinations.13

April 2018 — The Philippine resort island of Boracay closes for six months. This marks an unparalleled move to combat littering and pollution issues that have reached a tipping point on the island.14

March 11, 2020 — The World Health Organization (WHO) declares COVID-19 a pandemic.15 Since then, numerous borders have closed, and the tourism industry has shut down.

Historical Analysis

The history of tourism dates back to the roots of human civilization. Tourism steadily increased throughout history and began to show exponential growth in the late 1900s.16 In 1980, 278.1 million tourist arrivals were reported, and by the year 2000, that number rose to 682.1 million arrivals. By 2018, the number of tourists rose even further to 1.4 billion arrivals.17 It might seem that overtourism and the discussion surrounding the negative environmental impacts of tourism is one that was born fairly recently, but tourism has been damaging communities and landscapes for possibly hundreds of years, such as the concerns of tourist damages to Niagara Falls on the United States-Canada border in the mid 1800s.18 Instead, it is the media coverage, rise of technology, and coining of the term “overtourism” that are more recent.

There are several factors that have contributed to an increase in tourism over time, mainly concerning the development of new technologies. Transportation is at the core of tourism, as it is how tourists get to their destination, and over the years the cost of transportation has lowered dramatically. For example, in 1941, a round-trip airplane ticket between Boston and Los Angeles would, adjusted for inflation, cost USD 4,539.24 per person on average, take over 15 hours one-way, and make 12 stopovers one-way.19 In 2015, the same round-trip airplane ticket only cost USD 480.89 per person on average, only took 6 hours one-way, and made no stopovers.20 This shift is due to vast improvements in airplane technology and the wide accessibility of air travel. While this has made travel more convenient, the aviation industry is also a prominent cause of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. If the aviation sector were treated as a country, it would be the sixth highest in the

13 Helen Coffey, “Venice has become so crowded that the mayor is going to start separating tourists from locals,” Insider, April 27, 2018, https://www.insider.com/venice-is-going-to-start-separating-tourists-from-the-locals-2018-4. 14 Hugh Morris, “What's happening in Boracay, the island paradise ruined by tourism?,” The Telegraph, September 13, 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/philippines/articles/boracay-closure-when-will-island-reopen/. 15 WHO, “Coronavirus (COVID-19) events as they happen - WHO,” World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen. 16 “International Tourist Arrivals by World Region,” Our World in Data, accessed September 25, 2020, https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/international-tourist-arrivals-by-world-region.. 17 Ibid. 18 “Overtourism: a centuries-old issue,” Responsible Travel, accessed August 20, 2020. https://www.responsibletravel.com/copy/overtourism-a-centuries-old-issue. 19 Marisa Garcia, “What Flights Used to Cost in the 'Golden Age' of Air Travel,” Travel + Leisure, August 13, 2017, https://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/history-of-flight-costs. 20 Ibid.

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world for emission levels, ranked between Japan and Germany.21 World population growth has also increased the market for tourism. In 1970, the world had a population of just over 3.7 billion people,22 but today, over 7.8 billion people call Earth home23—more than a 200 percent increase over 50 years. Social media has also played a critical role in the growth of tourism. Particularly, social media influencers—people with large audiences on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube—can attract significant numbers of tourists to previously less popular tourist destinations simply by posting about it.24 To picture this, we can look at Chris Burkard, a professional American photographer and one of the top social media tourism influencers.25 Burkard has over 3.6 million followers on Instagram and frequently posts about various tourist destinations. His post on September 23, 2020 depicting a nighttime view of the Yosemite National Park landscape now has almost 62,000 likes over two days.26 Burkard has also collaborated with Animal Planet, Stay and Wander, and Huawei Mobile Canada for promotional tourism content. 27 This example shows the impact influencers can have on their followers, and combined with geotagging—which allows followers to know exactly where in the world the posted photo was taken—it has never been easier to promote a travel destination.

Case Study: Santorini, Greece

Santorini, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, faced threats from overtourism, including a decrease in the quality of life for locals due to traffic jams causing an increase in vehicle emissions and traffic congestion.28 The increase in tourists also caused excess waste, leading to significant waste management issues.29 The increased tourism has, however, helped the island cope with its decade-long financial struggles by boosting the local economy.30 From 2014 to 2019, the number of overnight stays on the island increased by 66 percent. This increase is largely attributed to pictures of the destination and its views going viral on social media.31 In late 2018 to early 2019, the local government introduced an 8,000 person count cap on daily cruise ship visitors in an effort to curb the issues of overtourism, the effectiveness of which has yet to be determined.32 Further research into the issues of cruise

21 “Airplane Emissions,” Center for Biological Diversity, accessed September 25, 2020, https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/transportation_and_global_warming/airplane_emissions/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20aircraft,from%20the%20U.S.%20transportation%20sector.. 22 “World Population by Year,” Worldometer, accessed August 21, 2020. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/world-population-by-year/. 23 "Current World Population," Worldometer, accessed August 21, 2020. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/. 24 "Influencer Marketing Tourism Trends on The Rise for 2019," Travel Mindset, accessed August 21, 2020, https://www.travelmindset.com/influencer-marketing-tourism-trends-on-the-rise-for-2019/. 25 "Top 10 U.S. Social Media Influencers in Travel & Tourism,” Agility PR Solutions, October 2019, https://www.agilitypr.com/resources/top-influencers/top-10-us-social-media-influencers-travel-tourism/. 26 Chris Burkard (@chrisburkard), “Truth be told, real life can be so much more beautiful than fantasy,” Instagram, September 23, 2020, https://www.instagram.com/p/CFfb6OhFrFh/. 27 Chris Burkard (@chrisburkard), Instagram, accessed September 25, 2020, https://www.instagram.com/chrisburkard/. 28 Jessica Bateman, “Santorini Under Pressure: The Threat of Overtourism,” Greece Is, August 6, 2019, https://www.greece-is.com/santorini-pressure-threat-overtourism/. 29 “EBRD proposals to slow down ‘overtourism’ on popular Greek island of Santorini,” Greek City Times, January 16, 2020, https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/01/16/ebrd-proposals-to-slow-down-overtourism-on-popular-greek-island-of-santorini/. 30 Bateman, “Santorini Under Pressure: The Threat of Overtourism.” 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid.

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ship passengers in Santorini will be conducted by the University of the Aegean as per the Municipality of Thira and the Municipal Port Fund’s request.33 Waste issues were also addressed in a proposal by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with the banning of single use plastics in 2021, development of a recycling program, biologically purifying water for reuse in irrigation, and the frequent cleaning of areas prone to littering (streets, tourist attractions, etc.).34 The Hellenic Recovery Recycling Corporation (HERRCO) and the Municipality of Thira started a program that has increased the number of blue recycling bins across the island to 455, with plans to distribute 200 more. The number of glass collection bins has also doubled to 50. According to Greece's Environment Minister, Kostis Hatzidakis, plans are underway to build a modern waste management facility to replace the degraded, insufficient facility that was recently shut down. Santorini now strives to be a role model for other parts of Greece struggling with waste management issues.35

Figure 1: A image of the programs offered under the Reef Citizen Science Alliance initiative in the Great Barrier Reef (https://www.barrierreef.org/you-can-help/take%20action/volunteer).

33 Becky Pemberton, “Shore leave cancelled! Santorini is to limit number of cruise passengers visiting each day because island is just too crowded,” MailOnline, last updated March 21, 2016, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3483833/Shore-leave-cancelled-Santorini-limit-number-cruise-passengers-visiting-day-island-just-crowded.html. 34 Greek City Times, “EBRD Proposals.” 35 “Recycling being boosted on holiday island of Santorini,” Ekathimerini, August 7, 2020, https://www.ekathimerini.com/255560/article/ekathimerini/community/recycling-being-boosted-on-holiday-island-of-santorini.

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Case Study: Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef—the single largest structure made by living organisms—is a famous travel destination worldwide.36 The severity of the local tourism industry's impact on the reef is uncertain, but it is known that discharge from boats and heavy boating activities damage the reef. Coral bleaching happens when a significant change in the temperature of the water causes a colourful reef to whiten, and recovery from this can take weeks, months, or even years. If not allowed to recover, the coral is at a high risk of dying. In 2016 and 2017, two of the most severe coral bleaching events in history occurred; aerial surveys showing two thirds of the reef, equivalent to over 230,000 square kilometres, being over 60 percent bleached. 37 In total, over four major bleaching events in recorded history—in 1998, 2002, 2016, and 2017—90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef, the equivalent of over 313,000 square kilometres, has been affected by severe bleaching.38 Tourism has been blamed for the bleaching, as much of the affected parts of the reef were areas with larger concentrations of local tourist boating operations; tour operators have stated this is a mere coincidence.39 Local experts have warned that the Great Barrier Reef is in a “terminal stage.”40 The Great Barrier Reef Foundation alone offers 10 citizen volunteer programs under their Reef Citizen Science Alliance initiative with a further 25 funded community reef protection and local action projects (see Figure 1 above).41 Only 7 percent of the reef is open to tourism, and the visitors help with conservation efforts through the generation of revenue and raising awareness. 42 Global warming remains the primary cause of the coral bleaching but local boating activities have become the fastest growing contributor to bleaching events.43 Local tourism companies are pushing the government to help conservation efforts for the reef.44 However, most of the workers in the local tourism industry work seven days a week, and find it challenging to fit lobbying the government into their agendas.45 In 2018, the Australian government pledged AUD 200 million annually to conservation efforts in the reef.46 This will go towards the banning of disposing port related capital dredge in the entire 348,000 km2 World Heritage Area, which includes the Great

36 Joshua Robertson, “Great Barrier Reef tourism: caught between commerce and conservation alarm,” The Guardian, April 16, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/17/great-barrier-reef-tourism-caught-between-commerce-and-conservation-alarm. 37 Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed, “Great Barrier Reef at 'terminal stage': scientists despair at latest coral bleaching data,” The Guardian, April 9, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/10/great-barrier-reef-terminal-stage-australia-scientists-despair-latest-coral-bleaching-data. 38 Ibid. 39 Robertson, “Great Barrier Reef tourism.” 40 Knaus and Evershed, “Great Barrier Reef at 'terminal stage'.” 41 “Volunteer,” Great Barrier Reef Foundation, accessed September 27, 2020, https://www.barrierreef.org/you-can-help/take%20action/volunteer. 42 "Tourism and Conservation of the Great Barrier Reef," Great Barrier Reef Tours Cairns, accessed August 22, 2020, https://greatbarrierreeftourscairns.com.au/blog/tourism-and-conservation-of-the-great-barrier-reef/. 43 “Everything You Need to Know about Coral Bleaching—And How We Can Stop It,” World Wildlife Fund for Nature, accessed August 23, 2020, https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/everything-you-need-to-know-about-coral-bleaching-and-how-we-can-stop-it. 44 Robertson, “Great Barrier Reef tourism.” 45 Ibid. 46 “Managing and protecting the Great Barrier Reef,” Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, accessed August 23, 2020, https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/protecting-the-reef.

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Barrier Reef.47 The AUD 200 million will also support the implementation of tougher penalties against poaching and the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan. New port developments outside of existing long-term ports will also be blocked.48 These actions seem to be having an effect, as water quality has been improving with 28% less pesticide load, 11% less sediment load, 10% less nitrogen load, and 16% less dissolved inorganic nitrogen compared to a baseline in 2009.49

Case Study: Venice, Italy

Receiving over 36 million international tourists in 2017, Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe,50 which itself is the world’s largest tourism market.51 Along with overcrowding and waste issues, one of the main sources of Venice's environmental issues caused by rising tourism is the cruise industry.52 Cruises damage the city’s lagoons and waterways by stirring the seabed and creating deeper channels, which locals say allow more water to come into the lagoon, leading to an increase in frequency and severity of flooding events.53 This sparked a number of protests, one of the most dramatic being where locals blocked the passage of six large cruise ships in the 2016 “No Grandi Navi”—meaning "No Big Ships"—protest. 54 In response, the Italian government ruled in 2017 that cruise ships over 55,000 tonnes will not be granted access to the St. Mark’s Basin and Giudecca Canal from 2021 onwards, effectively closing off the southern side of Venice.55 This may have been too late, because in November 2019, the worst flood in 50 years saw tides peaking at 187 centimeters, flooding 45 percent of the city.56 Cruise ship activity may have contributed to this remarkable flood event, and locals were quick to point fingers at both cruise ships and climate change.57

Moreover, sanitation workers knock on every door in Venice each day to collect waste that is ferried away on barges as part of a complex waste and recycling system.58 However, these regulations and fines do not apply to tourists, despite the fact that garbage bins in tourist hotspots like St. Mark's Square fill up in as little as 30 minutes

47 Australian Government and Queensland Government, “What Australia is doing to manage the Great Barrier Reef,” Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, June 2015, https://www.environment.gov.au/resource/what-australia-doing-manage-great-barrier-reef. 48 Ibid. 49 Ibid. 50 Kara Fox, “Venice becomes the front line in the battle against overtourism,” CNN, last updated June 15, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/venice-tourism-overcrowding-intl/index.html. 51 Paula Hardy, “Sinking city: how Venice is managing Europe's worst tourism crisis,” The Guardian, April 30, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/30/sinking-city-how-venice-is-managing-europes-worst-tourism-crisis. 52 Fox, “Venice becomes the front line in the battle against overtourism.” 53 Julia Buckley, “Is Venice at war with itself?” CNN, February 4, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/venice-overtourism-situation-flooding/index.html. 54 Hardy, “Sinking city: Venice.” 55 “Overtourism in Venice,” Responsible Travel, accessed August 23, 2020, https://www.responsibletravel.com/copy/overtourism-in-venice. 56 Julia Hollingsworth, “Worst floods for 50 years bring Venice to 'its knees',” CNN, last updated November 13, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/13/europe/venice-flooding-state-of-emergency-intl-hnk/index.html. 57 Ibid. 58 Hardy, “Sinking city: Venice.”

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during peak times.59 Some businesses have taken the issues of waste management into their own hands. Using an innovative technique, the Romanelli family—which owns two local boutique hotels—decided to ban all plastic bottles on their properties, providing guests and staff with steel flasks and a map of all of the historic Venetian water fountains in the area so guests can refill their flasks.60 Even though the Romanelli family only operates 50 rooms and employs 40 staff, they have calculated a reduction of 36,000 plastic bottles yearly.61 With an estimated 40,000 hotel beds in Venice, hundreds of millions of plastic bottles could be saved annually if all hotels took the same actions as the Romanelli family—not including any plastic waste from restaurants or cruise ships.62 In September 2019, the Venetian government also introduced a EUR 10 entrance fee for day-tourists over six years of age, as a city tax that contributes to the same fund is already included in hotel rates.63

Past UN/International Involvement

Ecotourism Organizations

Ecotourism can be defined as tourism in exotic and environmentally threatened—including by pollution or habitat loss—environments with the intention of observing local wildlife and supporting conservation efforts. Various organizations have been formed surrounding the business of ecotourism, including TIES, ATTA, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Responsible Travel, Sustainable Travel International, and many more. Apart from the GSTC, most of these organizations focus around facilitating ecotourism to destinations worldwide. Although ecotourism and raising environmental awareness certainly helps combat the impacts of tourism, ecotourism alone cannot eradicate or reverse dealt damage. However, by creating and implementing guidelines for sustainable tourism, the environmental burden tourism brings can be lessened and the environment can be given time to heal. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council has created a set of guidelines, but the implementation of the guidelines has not been carried out. The guidelines include two sets of criteria: one for hotels and tour operators and another aimed at the sustainable management of tourism destinations.64 This set of criteria is currently the only internationally available guideline relating to sustainable tourism.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The 17 UN Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) address a variety of different issues, including the environment. Although tourism applies directly or indirectly to every SDG, the environmental consequences of tourism are connected most closely to Goals 12 and 14. Sustainable tourism is mentioned in Goal 12 regarding responsible supply chains, waste management, water resources, sustainable energy, wildlife biodiversity, and job diversity. Namely, sustainable energy practices need to be incorporated into the tourism industry to advance to more sustainable tourism. This can include the use of Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) and renewable energy.

59 Ibid. 60 Ibid. 61 Ibid. 62 Ibid. 63 Fox, “Venice becomes the front line in the battle against overtourism.” 64 “GSTC Criteria,” Global Sustainable Tourism Council, accessed August 23, 2020, https://www.gstcouncil.org/gstc-criteria/.

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This is implemented through the analysis of current national policies and carrying out revisions as necessary.65 Marine and coastal tourism depend upon healthy marine ecosystems, which is why tourism is specifically included in Goal 14 regarding marine ecosystems. Tourism must move forward with Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)—a method of comprehensively evaluating the management of a coast in an effort to achieve sustainability—in mind to protect marine environments. Additionally, ICZM serves as a vessel for promoting a bluer economy, including on issues of renewable energy, responsible fisheries, adequate waste management, sustainable maritime transportation, and the responsible use of marine resources.

Current Situation

It is logical to wonder why many countries continue to promote tourism even when in the grips of major environmental challenges. The answer is, for the most part, because of a need for funds. In places like the Caribbean or other tropical countries where tourism is the main source of income, it is difficult for governments to introduce measures that limit the number of tourists. Even if governments are willing to tackle their respective environmental challenges caused by tourism, they may simply not have the capability to do so. Particularly, ecotourism may be a lifeline for many developing countries that have little other income, for example, Ghana.66

As the tourism industry continues to grow, places around the world are feeling the industry's true environmental effects. In many of these affected regions, local citizens have begun protesting to attract more political attention towards the effects of tourism. Discussed below are a few prominent instances regarding the environmental ramifications of tourism:

Case Study: Mallorca, Spain

Tourism has significantly strained local water resources on the island of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands,67 with the average tourist using more than double the amount of water daily compared to residents.68 Some 11.8 million tourists overwhelmed the island in 2019, in stark contrast to the local population of less than 1 million, which further emphasizes the strain on local water resources.69 Moreover, a combination of incoming air traffic and car carbon emissions resulted in many locals wearing masks.70 For example, on one July 2017 day, a record-breaking one plane passed through Mallorca’s Palma de Mallorca airport every 90 seconds. 71 The rapid development of hotels, resorts, and other tourist attractions took advantage of landscapes with intricate and

65 “SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production,” Tourism for the Sustainable Development Goals (Developed by the UNWTO), accessed August 9, 2020, http://tourism4sdgs.org/sdg-12-responsible-consumption-and-production/. 66 Floreana Miesen, “The real cost,” Development and Cooperation, April 23, 2013, https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/tourism-benefits-many-developing-countries-not-necessarily-poor-and-environment. 67 Ibid. 68 Rostislav Stanchev, "The most affected European destinations by over-tourism" (Final Degree Project Report, University of the Balearic Islands, 2018), 7–17, https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:134975373. 69 Jen Rose Smith, "Mass tourism has troubled Mallorca for decades. Can it change?" National Geographic, July 17, 2020, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/2020/07/mass-tourism-has-troubled-mallorca-spain-for-decades-can-it-change-coronavirus/. 70 Ibid. 71 Ibid.

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sensitive ecosystems.72 In response, locals began the “Summer of Action” protests in 2018, protesting at airports, hotels, and on the streets, and in some cases even vandalizing hotels.73 The government has imposed a EUR 4 daily tourist tax per person that is applied when checking out of hotels, which will fund a more sustainable tourism model that supports regional communities.74 The environmental recovery attributed to a decline in tourism was clearly demonstrated as the global Covid-19 pandemic hit and tourists were barred from Mallorca; locals re-emerged after restrictions eased, and sightings of rare animal species, such as cinereous vultures, began.75 Locals also enjoyed a much emptier island than what they were used to, and it fueled the ongoing push for more sustainable tourism.76 Many locals considered the proposed sustainable tourism plan for the Balearic Islands to be grossly insufficient. The plan includes proposed virtual reality (VR) tours of Mallorca to decrease tourism arrivals.

Case Study: Boracay, Philippines

In 2017, 6.6 million tourists visited the Philippines, and nearly a third of those tourists—over 2 million—visited Boracay, one of 7,641 islands in the Philippine archipelago.77 In 2018, the environmental damage to the island reached a tipping point as viral video emerged of sewage flowing directly into the ocean surrounding Boracay.78 Subsequently, Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, reprimanded local authorities for allowing unrestricted development and dispatched an emergency taskforce to salvage the island from an environmental disaster.79 Authorities reported more than 800 environmental violations, such a lack of enforcement on curb littering, and studies showed that the waste accumulated per person on the island was more than three times that of the country's capital, Manila.80 In April 2018, President Duterte made the decision to shut down the island to all tourists for a six-month period of “repair and restoration,” calling its current state a “cesspool.”81 The island has since reopened, but with a new suite of restrictions and bylaws, including limiting tourist accommodations to 6,000 people, encouraging “electric jeepney”—a type of minibus—transportation, banning single-use plastics and littering, prohibiting pets, and removing all casinos from the island. 82 The effectiveness of these new measures is now being closely observed, but early reports indicate that travellers are largely complying with the new rules.

72 Ibid. 73 Erin Florio, “Mallorca: The Spanish Island Telling Tourists to Stay Home,” Condé Nast Traveler, August 28, 2018, https://www.cntraveler.com/story/mallorca-protests-the-spanish-island-telling-tourists-to-stay-home. 74 Ibid. 75 Smith, “Mass tourism has troubled Mallorca for decades.” 76 Ibid. 77 Morris, “Boracay, the island paradise ruined by tourism.” 78 Ibid. 79 Ibid. 80 Ibid. 81 Ibid. 82 Euan McKirdy, “Boracay reopens to tourism, but its party days are over,” CNN Travel, last updated October 25, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/boracay-reopening-restrictions-intl/index.html.

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Case Study: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

According to the Observatorio de Turismo de Galápagos, just 173,419 tourists visited the Galápagos Islands in 2007, compared to 241,800 in 2017.83 From 2007 to 2016, over 90 percent of tourists were visitors who flew into airports on the islands of Baltra and San Cristóbal for as little as USD 400 a ticket, and then took separate, first-come first-serve tours that are significantly less costly than traditional cruises.84 Hostel accommodations can be as cheap as USD 20 per night, making the islands no longer restricted to upscale travellers.85 97 percent of the islands are uninhabited wildlife sanctuaries within the Galápagos National Park, which collect a USD 100 fee—with a planned increase to USD 200—from non-Ecuadorian visitors to help fund park maintenance and conservation in the park. 86 As a result, the islands depend on tourism for much-needed capital to support conservation efforts; despite this fact, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) still designates tourism as one of the greatest threats to the islands’ environment.87 Regardless, because of the monetary benefits tourism brings, the lack of limitation on land-based visitors is not surprising. Cruise passengers are usually on all-inclusive tours and the number of cruise passengers is already capped due to the capacity of ships. Rules established by the national park, such as maintaining 6 feet of distance with wildlife and not feeding animals, are routinely disregarded, and with limited resources allocated by the Galápagos Government, the national park is not able to provide adequate enforcement.88 Another concern, the impacts of waste mismanagement, has been felt by at least one local luxury hotel—Finch Bay Galapagos Hotel—whose staff are forced to clean the adjacent beach of litter, plastics, and microplastics every day to maintain its white sand.89 Organizations such as the Galapagos Conservancy continue to raise awareness and lobby the government to take substantial action on waste management. For now, conservation and cleanup efforts have marginally balanced littering and overtourism, although it is unclear how long this can last.90

Possible Solutions and Controversies

In order to successfully come up with a practical resolution that aligns with the values of the UNWTO, it is important for delegates to be cognizant of the UNWTO’s mandate and values. The five pillars of the UNWTO are: “making tourism smarter through celebrating innovation and leading the digital transformation of the sector; making tourism more competitive at every level through promoting investment and promoting entrepreneurship; creating more and better jobs and providing relevant training; building resilience and

83 Adam Popescu, “Going to the Galápagos Is Easier and Cheaper Than Ever. That Might Not Be a Good Thing.” New York Times, February 5, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/travel/galapagos-overtourism.html. 84 Ibid. 85 Ibid. 86 DM Chan, “Galapagos moves to combat overtourism,” Asia Times, October 8, 2019, https://asiatimes.com/2019/10/galapagos-moves-to-combat-overtourism/. 87 Popescu, “Going to the Galápagos Is Easier and Cheaper Than Ever.” 88 Ibid. 89 Ibid. 90 Shivani Vora, “Is Land Tourism Threatening the Galápagos?” New York Times, June 1, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/travel/galapagos-land-tourism-overtourism.html.

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promoting safe and seamless travel; and harnessing tourism’s unique potential to protect cultural and natural heritage and to support communities both economically and socially.”91

Ecotourism Promotion & Guidelines

Ecotourism can be effectively used as a vehicle for environmental awareness and conservation efforts. In some cases, organizations have turned ecotourism into a profitable business, which could provide an incentive to more economically oriented stakeholders. However, it should be stressed that ecotourism will do little to reverse the environmental damage of tourism, and delegates are encouraged to incorporate other solutions alongside ecotourism. It is also important to note that ecotourism is generally more costly than other types of tourism, which discourages the public from participating in ecotours. Delegates should consider a method of ecotourism promotion that caters towards the working class and wealthy alike. This could include partnering with existing organizations such as TIES and ATTA to offer a range of trip options that encapsulates the financial capabilities of the working class and wealthy.

Delegates can also fabricate an international comprehensive guideline to sustainable tourism, although this task may be very tedious. An example of something similar is the criteria that the GSTC has already developed. A new set of criteria could include elements like ticketing attractions and implementing clean-ups in addition to existing GSTC guidelines; these guidelines can also be enforced more strictly.

Ticketing Vulnerable and Over-Visited Environments

Vulnerable environments encompass places with fragile ecosystems, heavy environmental damage, and inadequate regulations or enforcement of regulations. Many over-visited or vulnerable tourist destinations already implement ticket policies, either with environmental damage or monetary income in mind. Such a practice limits the amount of people that visit vulnerable locations such as caves, national parks, and forests. The revenue generated by ticketing is also used to support conservation efforts and foster a dynamic relationship between tourism and conservation. Ticketing policies can be integrated into an international sustainable tourism guideline. It is important to consider that the UN cannot enforce any laws and that the onus of ticketing implementation is on individual countries. However, it is unlikely that ticketing alone can reverse the existing environmental effects of tourism, and delegates are encouraged to use this concept alongside others in a comprehensive resolution.

Implementation of Cleanups and Waste Management

The environment only has the chance to heal when better practices in cleanup and conservation are implemented. Delegates can implement routine shoreline cleanups, increase cleanups at tourist hotspots, evaluate countries’ waste management systems, and apply proper recycling techniques. Delegates can look to places that have had waste issues with tourism for inspiration, including Venice’s plastic pollution management strategies and the Galápagos Islands’ beach cleanup strategies. However, the funding required to facilitate this solution is not present in some countries, which makes it difficult for economically challenged countries to implement these

91 “About UNWTO,” UNWTO, accessed July 25, 2020, https://www.unwto.org/who-we-are.

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practices. Revenue can be generated by combining this strategy with another, such as the ticketing of vulnerable and over-visited environments.

Transition to Sustainable Energy

Many countries, such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Spain, have existing renewable energy infrastructure in place that delegates may take inspiration from.92 As tourism requires a significant amount of energy, which oftentimes strains natural resources, transitioning to more sustainable energy can help reduce the burden tourism places on the environment. This can include developing minimum sustainable energy use thresholds in guidelines, as well as providing incentive to transition to electric vehicles and other ZEVs in popular tourist cities and areas. Energy sources can also transition to cleaner practices—such as hydro, geothermal, or wind—which would be less costly in the long run and beneficial to tourists and locals alike. A key issue, however, is the capital required to facilitate these solutions. Developing countries and those hit hard by pollution may not have the funds in place to implement better practices, and delegates need to consider a sustainable method of revenue generation to address this.

Bloc Positions

Europe

Many popular tourist destinations are found within Europe, and the continent has, in many cases, been proactive in environmental conservation and restoration efforts. As Europe is at the forefront in the tourism industry, its countries play a crucial role in the UNWTO, and the rest of the world often regards European tourism as a role model for sustainable and profitable tourism. Europe brings experience in waste management—such as tourist waste management systems in Venice and ecotourism—for example, the well-managed and protected national parks in France—which delegates can use to their advantage to create practical and effective regulations. European countries may be more hesitant to ticketing and cleanup solutions given the monetary drawbacks.

Many European cities are home to numerous historical neighbourhoods and sites; the entire city centres of some European cities, such as Vienna, Austria or Tallinn, Estonia, are widely popular tourist destinations and are wholly recognized as World Heritage Sites. These areas pose a unique opportunity for European nations to focus on strengthening eco-friendly transportation, reduce pollution, and improving the lives of local residents in the densest of tourist urban spaces. For example, the city of Barcelona, Spain has introduced a new urban planning concept known as "superblocks." These "superblocks" close entire neighbourhoods consisting of nine blocks to vehicle traffic, allowing only pedestrian or bicycle access and creating new green spaces.93 As a product of these

92 Nicholas Nhede, “Top ten countries with the highest proportion of renewable energy,” Smart Energy International, January 24, 2020, https://www.smart-energy.com/renewable-energy/top-ten-countries-with-the-highest-proportion-of-renewable-energy/. 93 Anupam Nanda, "Superblocks: Barcelona’s car-free zones could extend lives and boost mental health," The Conversation, September 13, 2019, https://theconversation.com/superblocks-barcelonas-car-free-zones-could-extend-lives-and-boost- mental-health-123295

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urban planning efforts, air quality and noise pollution in these areas would be reduced, and ambient levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) are expected to fall by a quarter.94

The Americas

Although the United States and Canada are not members of the UNWTO, the Americas have long been known for their economic superiority.95 Many nations in the Americas have shown interest in sustainable tourism, particularly ecotourism; Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Peru are prominent ecotourism destinations. Much of the world's conservation efforts have been magnified on the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, which still serves as a natural sanctuary for environmentalists. Natural sites that are protected by a respective countries’ law—such as the caves of Mexico, rainforests of Brazil, and the national parks of both the U.S. and Canada—further attest to support for environmental conservation. As there is an abundance of ecotourism destinations throughout the Americas, there is major support for policies that promote ecotourism. With ticketing measures already in place throughout Canadian, American, Latin American, and South American parks and protected areas, a solution regarding ticketing measures would also be welcomed.

China & Asia

In 2019, outbound Chinese tourists reached 149.72 million,96 making China the largest source of tourists in the world. 97 As such, China plays a significant role in the UNWTO. The People’s Republic of China plays a significant role in addressing this issue because of the financial capabilities China brings. Considering China’s ongoing struggles with overtourism and environmental degradation, China is more likely to favour the solution of ticketing vulnerable environments and possibly the implementation of cleanups. Some tourist sites in China, such as the island of Gulangyu in Fujian Province, are pioneering the use of electric vehicles for tourist transport, while simultaneously banning cars which run on fossil fuels. Other countries, like the Republic of Korea or Japan, have well-established technology sectors and vehicle manufacturing industries, and may be able to utilize these strengths to invest in eco-friendly tourist transportation infrastructure. Countries such as Bhutan and Mongolia have also long been known for their protected environments; in fact, Bhutan is the world’s only carbon negative country, with forests consuming more carbon dioxide than the population produces.98 These countries can help inspire more environmentally friendly practices in the tourism industry and would be in support of most, if not all of the possible solutions.

94 Ibid. 95 Mack McLarty and Nelson Cunningham, “North America is the strongest economy in the world. Let’s keep it that way.” Washington Post, June 29, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/north-america-is-the-strongest-economy-in-the-world-lets-keep-it-that-way/2016/06/29/ca06952c-3e0b-11e6-84e8-1580c7db5275_story.html. 96 “2018 China Tourism Facts & Figures,” Travel China Guide, last updated January 22, 2020, https://www.travelchinaguide.com/tourism/2018statistics/. 97 “International tourism, number of departures - Country Ranking,” IndexMundi, last updated December 28, 2019, https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/ST.INT.DPRT/rankings. 98 “Why Bhutan is the only carbon-negative country in the world,” GVI Canada, May 2020, https://www.gvicanada.ca/blog/bhutan-carbon-negative-country-world/.

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Discussion Questions

1. What has your country done to address any environmental impacts from tourism?

2. Which destinations within your country are important to your country? How might this influence your country’s perspective of this topic?

3. How can your country help promote sustainable tourism?

4. What experiences, lessons, or knowledge can your country contribute in terms of the various possible solutions presented?

5. What does your country stand to lose from a decline in tourism?

6. What current policies are in place within your country to curb the strain of tourism on local resources (energy, land, pollution, etc.)?

Additional Resources

UNWTO Website: https://www.unwto.org/. TED Talk on Smart Tourism: https://youtu.be/tWU7XxgajS8. UN SDGs Website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/. Tourism for SDGs Website: http://tourism4sdgs.org/. The Telegraph’s Timeline on Overtourism: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/timeline-action-against-overtourism/.

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Vulnerabilities in Tourist-Reliant Economies

Overview

With the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many countries where tourism comprises a significant portion of their economies and gross domestic product (GDP) are experiencing economic crises. As a result of reduced tourism, many iconic businesses face bankruptcy as worldwide economies falter. The pandemic has allowed the world to see a new vulnerability in both local and national economies. Those with the privilege of diverse economies suffered less than those that are more tourism-reliant, and as such, a contentious topic emerged. How can the world address the flaws of tourist-reliant economies? How can similar economic crashes be prevented should another contingency arise?

In the international community, discussion is growing about how to prepare for future events that may hinder the tourism industry.99 The term “contingencies” not only entails global events such as pandemics and wars but also more localized matters like earthquakes, violence, and other natural disasters. At first glance, the obvious solution would seem to diversify the economies in question, but many places simply do not have the infrastructure, knowledge, or time to do so. Delegates also should consider the monetary strains such an initiative would bring upon the member states of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and balance that with any return on investment. Delegates also need to consider the sustainability of such solutions. How can the world enhance tourism-reliant economies to persevere through future crises and last for generations to come? It is also important to note that diversifying a country’s economy might do little to help any tourism-reliant local, smaller economies; thus, the well-being of both local and national level economies need to be taken into account.

Susceptibility to contingencies is not the only vulnerability of tourism-reliant economies. The tourism industry is also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, especially in destinations that rely heavily on ecotourism.100 Most tourism industry jobs are relatively low-skilled; these include restaurant wait staff or hotel service, and are part of the service economy. 101 These jobs—more often than not—have seasonal fluctuations and are consequently considerably unstable, and most workers in the service economy have little opportunity for promotion or advancement to more stable positions.102 Foreign poaching is also a significant hurdle to the local economy. Local tourist infrastructure is often owned by large foreign companies that make major profits while leaving little for local businesses103

99 Stefan Gössling, Daniel Scott, and C. Michael Hall, “Pandemics, tourism and global change: a rapid assessment of COVID-19,” Journal of Sustainable Tourism (2020): 5, https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1758708. 100 Isabel Jurema Grimm, Liliane C. S. Alcântara, and Carlos Alberto Cioce Sampaio, “Tourism in the scenario of climate change: impacts, possibilities, and challenges,” Brazilian Journal of Tourism Research 12, no. 3 (2018): 1, https://doi.org/10.7784/rbtur.v12i3.1354. 101 Paul Goodman, “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Tourism,” Soapboxie, updated on February 15, 2020, https://soapboxie.com/economy/Advantages-and-disadvantages-of-tourism. 102 Ibid. 103 Ibid.

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Timeline

October 18–19, 2003 — United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change workshop on Economic Diversification is held in Tehran, Iran, focusing on collecting worldwide evidence of tourism reliance and its possible ramifications.104

December 3–11, 2007 — The 27th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) is held in Bali, Indonesia. This session began to explore local tourism-reliant economies.

December 7–18, 2009 — The SBSTA 31st session is held in Copenhagen, Denmark. This session began to analyze in-depth local tourism-reliant economies and their disadvantages, citing specific examples as well as briefly covering sustainable tourism.

December 5, 2018 — The 12th Focal Point Forum of the Nairobi Work Programme (NWB) is held in Katowice, Poland. This conference looked at what specific action could be taken to help diversify tourism-reliant economies specifically.

January 1, 2016 — The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) come into force.105 They mark a path for sustainable development in a Decade of Action from 2020 to 2030. Tourism and economic diversification are specifically mentioned under Goal 8 regarding economic growth and employment.

Late 2019 — The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2) is declared a pandemic and tears across the globe. Borders are closed and travel restrictions bring virtually all tourism to a standstill.

Historical Analysis

The process of an economy becoming tourism-reliant is typically not catalyzed by any single event. Of course, many factors, such as a site's natural (e.g. beaches, scenery, and mountains) and man-made (e.g. artwork, historic sites) physical features, climate, and suitability for tourism are largely out of human control.106 On the contrary, factors such as infrastructure, accessibility, social media, safety, and proximity to other tourist hotspots are manageable.107 The development of more infrastructure—such as hotels, roads, tourist information centres, attractions, and malls—is a crucial factor in tourism development. 108 A destination’s accessibility to typical tourists will usually contribute to its success.109 Shopping infrastructure and resorts mean more places for tourists

104 Le-Yin Zhang, “UNFCCC Workshop on Economic Diversification,” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - Secretariat, (October 15, 2003): 10–27, https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/background_paper_on_economic_diversification.pdf. 105 “The Sustainable Development Agenda,” the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda-retired/#:~:text=On%201%20January%202016%2C%20the,Summit%20%E2%80%94%20officially%20came%20into%20force.. 106 “Factors affecting the growth of tourism hotspots,” JKGeography, accessed September 4, 2020, https://www.jkgeography.com/factors-affecting-growth-of-tourism-hotspots.html. 107 Ibid. 108 Ibid. 109 Ibid.

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to visit and thus increase local spending in the economy and make destinations more appealing.110 Picturesque views and scenic destinations can go viral on social media platforms and with geotagging, prospective visitors have the ability to see and plan dream experiences at their fingertips.111 Safety is a slightly overlooked factor that, when problematic, will greatly deter potential travellers from visiting a destination.112 Factors like high crime rates, kidnappings, and theft all reduce safety and make a destination much less appealing to travellers.113 Finally, when multiple tourist destinations are within reasonably close proximity to each other, tourists may be inclined to tour more places as it becomes convenient.114 Furthermore, people are more likely to visit attractions that have many other points of interests nearby compared to a lone tourist attraction.115 All of these factors increase the likelihood of an increase in tourism demand in a particular location, which will undoubtedly influence local governments and businesses to develop and invest in where the demand lies. With such strong demand for tourism, stakeholders are less likely to invest in other areas where the prospect of immediate return on investment is lower. Over time, this can turn into a dependence on tourism.

Case Study: The Maldives

According to the World Bank, tourism accounted for 38.92 percent of the Maldivian economy in 2018—ranking the small Indian Ocean island nation as the most tourism-dependent country in the world by percentage of GDP.116 A tropical paradise comprising almost 1200 islands, roughly 200 of which are uninhabited, the Maldives has been a source of picturesque posts of light blue waters against pearl white beaches on social media. The country attracts over a million visitors every year, according to the World Bank.117 However, climate change is taking its toll on the archipelago, with rising sea levels and coral bleaching changing the landscape.118 According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the global average sea level has increased roughly 7-8 centimetres in the last decade. This sea-level rise poses an especially significant risk to the Maldives, as the country is both the lowest and flattest nation globally—with no island in the archipelago over 1.8 meters above sea level.119 The tourism sector is also critically threatened, as five airports and 128 harbours are all concentrated along the coastlines of Maldivian islands. The only two international airports are within 50 meters of the coastline. In 2008, then-President Mohamed Nasheed made plans to purchase land elsewhere for citizens and businesses to relocate should rising sea levels render islands inhabitable; however, in 2013, a new government led by former President Abdulla Yameen changed course and sought to resist the effects of climate change via various

110 Ibid. 111 Ibid. 112 Ibid. 113 Ibid. 114 Ibid. 115 Ibid. 116 Natasha Frost, “The countries most reliant on tourism for GDP,” Quartz, October 9, 2019, https://qz.com/1724042/the-countries-most-reliant-on-tourism-for-gdp/. 117 The World Bank, “International tourism, number of arrivals - Maldives,” World Bank accessed November 13, 2020, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL?locations=MV. 118 Nenad Jarić Dauenhauer, “On front line of climate change as Maldives fights rising seas,” New Scientist, March 20, 2017, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2125198-on-front-line-of-climate-change-as-maldives-fights-rising-seas/. 119 Deborah Byrd, “Places to go: Maldives is the world’s lowest country,” EarthSky, February 7, 2014, https://earthsky.org/earth/maldives-lowest-country-in-the-world.

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geoengineering projects. The new Maldivian government tactic became to rent out islands and use the profits to fortify and reclaim existing islands—even building new ones—so citizens could be moved to more flood-resistant land when necessary. One of these geoengineering projects is the City of Hope, being constructed on a human-made island called Hulhumale, which is close to Malé, the Maldivian capital. A government-owned company is pumping sand from nearby atolls and coral reefs and dumping it on shallow reefs surrounding the original lagoon to build Hulhumale; the environmental impacts of the project are not fully understood.120

However, until the pandemic, notions to diversify the local economy were not taken seriously and aforementioned efforts were made with a broader focus of combating the effects of climate change. Travel restrictions were first imposed in the Maldives on February 3, 2020 and since then, at least 22,000 local payroll jobs in resorts have been affected as a result of the pandemic. In response to the economic crisis, the government has granted local resorts up to MVR 7.7 million to cope with the financial stress of the pandemic, as well as a six-month moratorium on monthly loan payments.121 The hope is that, pending the resolution of the current health crisis, more thought and action will be devoted to economic diversification in the Maldives.

Case Study: Macau

An autonomous Special Administrative Region (SAR) on the southern coast of China, Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal; hence, the city is sometimes known as the “Las Vegas of the East” and “Monte Carlo of the Orient.”122 Gambling is Macau’s main source of revenue123 and in 2018, the SAR drew USD 37.59 billion in revenue from gambling.124 In comparison, Nevada—the state in which Las Vegas in the United States is located—drew more than three times less revenue in 2018, at USD 11.6 billion.125 This disparity is significant given that Las Vegas is widely considered to be the most iconic gambling city in the world.126 Most of the gambling in Macau is attributed to tourists, of which 97% are "international" tourists, where 69% originate from mainland China and 15% originate from Hong Kong.127 However, gambling is not the sole tourist attraction in Macau. Once a Portuguese colony, remnants of historical cultural structures, such as the Ruins of St. Paul’s and A-Ma Temple, remain scattered throughout the city. Apart from gambling, these historic sites also help to attract tourists to Macau. In 2018, according to the World Bank, travel and tourism contributed to over 28 percent of

120 Dauenhauer, “Maldives fights rising seas.” 121 The Ministry of Economic Development, Government of Maldives, United Nations Development Programme, “Rapid Livelihood Assessment: Impact of the Covid-19 Crisis in the Maldives,” (May 28, 2020): 6–12, https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/km-qap/UNDP-MV-Rapid-Livelihood-Assessment-Impact-of-COVID-19-Crisis-in-the-Maldives-2020.pdf. 122 “Macao Gaming History,” Macao SAR Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, accessed September 5, 2020, http://www.dicj.gov.mo/web/en/history/. 123 Ibid. 124 C. Textor, “Gambling industry in Macao - Statistics & Facts,” Statista, June 23, 2020, https://www.statista.com/topics/5675/casino-industry/. 125 S. Lock, “Casino gaming revenue in Nevada 2010-2019,” Statista, February 11, 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/418686/nevada-casino-gaming-revenue/. 126 Jill Schensul, “The World’s Top Casino Hubs,” Your AAA Daily, September 13, 2018, https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/travel/casino-vacations/worlds-top-casino-hubs/. 127 “Economic reliance on tourism sector stands at nearly 30%,” Macau Daily Times, April 17, 2019, https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/economic-reliance-on-tourism-sector-stands-at-nearly-30.html.

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the Macanese GDP. This strong reliance drew warnings from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), as policy shifts by the central Chinese government or other border closures could wreak havoc on the local economy.128 Evidence of this vulnerability became visible in 2014 and 2015, when an anti-corruption campaign that was launched by the Beijing government essentially halved local gross monthly gambling revenues and catalyzed an economic recession. 129 These drastic impacts occurred due to Macau's reliance on gambling activities popular among many wealthy businessmen and corrupt politicians—many of which chose to stay away from Macanese casinos out of fear of the central government’s anti-corruption campaign.130 In 2014, Macau’s GDP stood at USD 55.348 billion but dropped almost USD 10 billion in just a year to USD 45.362 billion in 2015.131 Then, as tourism began to steadily rebound in a long recovery period,132 Macau’s GDP also recovered, surpassing 2014 values in 2018.133

Past UN/International Involvement

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are a set of goals designed to guide the world to address various global challenges. The SDGs provide the basis of a “Decade of Action” from 2020 to 2030, when all the goals are set to be achieved. Specifically, tourism applies to Goal 8 regarding sustainable economies, Goal 12 regarding supply chains, and Goal 14 regarding the responsible use of marine resources. Economic diversification, however, is heavily emphasized under Goal 8; it is at the core of target 8.2 which is defined by the UN as: “[Achieving] higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors.” The success of the target is measured by Indicator 8.2.1, which is the “annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person,” according to the UN. GDP per employed person or worker is a measure of the overall productivity and may not reflect economic health134 and will fluctuate as the population that is employed changes.135 Unemployed people comprise, for instance, retired people, unemployed people who are not looking for work, unemployed people who are looking for work, students, children, and those who work at home but not as employees—including mothers taking care of children. 136 This goal encourages all non-diverse economies—including those that are tourism-reliant—to

128 Macau Daily Times, “Economic reliance on tourism sector stands at nearly 30%.” 129 Ibid. 130 Fanli Zhou, “How anti-corruption policy of mainland China affects Macau gaming industry,” Iowa State University Graduate Theses and Dissertations 15478, (2017): https://doi.org/10.31274/etd-180810-5273. 131 “GDP (current US$) - Macao SAR, China,” the World Bank, 2019, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=MO. 132 TCdata360, “Travel And Tourism Direct Contribution To GDP, %: Macao SAR, China,” the World Bank, accessed September 5, 2020, https://tcdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/tot.direct.gdp?country=MAC&indicator=24648&viz=line_chart&years=1995,2028&indicators=944. 133 The World Bank, “GDP (current US$) - Macao SAR, China.” 134 Alex J. Pollock, “GDP per-worker vs. GDP per-capita,” R Street, November 17, 2016, https://www.rstreet.org/2016/11/17/gdp-per-worker-vs-gdp-per-capita/. 135 Ibid. 136 Ibid.

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diversify through means of education in diverse fields of study, inclusion, non-discriminatory practices, monetary loans, and government support.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

From 2013 to 2018, there were 13 events organized or hosted by the UNFCCC that related to economic diversity.137 Conveners of these events included the Nairobi Work Programme (NWP), UNFCCC, Adaptation Committee, Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), and Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). All of these events connected to economic diversification in the context of climate change, focusing on diversifying towards low-emission and climate-resilient income sources. The two main vehicles of collaboration for organizations and parties outlined by the UNFCCC are the exchange of experiences and practices that promote economic resilience, as well as the exchange of experiences and any lessons learned pertaining to economic diversification, its coalescence into development plans, and the mitigation of poverty.

Current Situation

According to Statista, tourism accounted totally (i.e., all induced and indirect contributions) for 10.4 percent of the world’s GDP in 2019. With such a high stake in the global economy, any fluctuations in the tourism market and worldwide well-being are sure to reflect in local economies. There are two major worldwide issues affecting tourism in today’s world. One of them is the impact of climate change on tourism, and the other is an example of the type of contingency which all economies should ideally be prepared for: the COVID-19 pandemic.

Climate change is a broad term that entails many global occurrences, including rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and global warming. Rising sea levels are well-known to affect many coastal and tropical tourist destinations, such as the Maldives, the Seychelles, and Aruba.138 Ocean acidification often leads to the bleaching and dissolving of coral reefs, such as the Great Barrier Reef, which are often popular tourist destinations.139 When economies are diverse in affected regions, the economic consequences of climate change are more manageable than if economies are tourism-reliant; places such as the Maldives, the Seychelles, and Aruba are beginning to experience the consequences of climate change in their tourism-dependent economies.140

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented situation and although its effects on the tourism industry can usually be prioritized after the immediate aid and healthcare issues, the pandemic's impacts on the tourism sector are present and significant. By April 20, 2020, 100 percent of worldwide tourist destinations had introduced some sort of travel restriction as a result of the pandemic.141 As of May 2020, the UNWTO estimates a monetary loss

137 “Economic diversification,” UNFCCC, accessed September 6, 2020, https://unfccc.int/topics/resilience/resources/economic-diversification. 138 World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), “What happens when an island is dependent on Tourism?” Medium, July 29, 2015, https://medium.com/@WTTC/what-happens-when-an-island-is-dependent-on-tourism-871ca4465a93. 139 K. R. N. Anthony, D. I. Kline, G. Diaz-Pulido, S. Dove, and O. Hoegh-Guldberg, “Ocean acidification causes bleaching and productivity loss in coral reef builders,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 105, no. 45 (November 6, 2008): 17442, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0804478105. 140 World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), “What happens when an island is dependent on Tourism?” 141 “Impact assessment of the COVID-19 outbreak on international tourism,” UNWTO, updated May 2020, https://www.unwto.org/impact-assessment-of-the-covid-19-outbreak-on-international-tourism.

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of at least USD 80 billion in travel and tourism due to the pandemic.142 In Canada, for example, the Hotel Association of Canada reported that, as of August 10, 2020, over a quarter of the hotels in Canada would be forced to shut down if hotels did not receive further aid.143 In addition, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada warned in a report that 61,000 businesses in the tourism sector would be forced to close without any further aid.144 These businesses are equivalent to 57% percent of all tourism-related businesses nationwide and would result in 1.66 million employees losing their jobs.145 Canada’s economy is relatively diverse; thus, the effects these contingencies may have on less diverse, more tourism-dependent economies is even greater.146

The situation of the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the drastic and long-lasting effects of a global contingency. These events are exactly what policymakers need to account for in their preparations for emergencies and crises, especially in tourist-reliant economies. On a local level, regional contingencies—such as natural disasters, violence, civil unrest, and climate fluctuations—may have an equal or more severe effect on local industries and again, will be magnified in economies that are overly reliant on the tourism sector.

Case Study: Iceland

In 2013, there were 7 jobs available for every 100 tourists in Iceland.147 By 2018, that number had more than doubled to 15 jobs available for every 100 tourists.148 Iceland has become increasingly more tourism-dependent, but climate change is beginning to damage the nation. Iceland’s iconic glaciers—a favourite attraction among tourists—are receding.149 Scientists predict that most Icelandic glaciers will have vanished within 100 to 200 years; this decline may seem insignificant but as glaciers reduce in size, tourists will undoubtedly show increasingly little interest in them.150 Iceland has adopted stricter measures to combat climate change in 2018—including increasing carbon taxes, taking part in the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, and supporting zero emission vehicles (ZEVs).151 The Icelandic economy also consists of major aluminium manufacturing, fishing, and finance industries, offering feasible options which the Icelandic government may seek to diversify into.

142 Ibid. 143 Kathleen Harris, “Gutted by COVID-19, travel and tourism industry pleads for aid from Ottawa,” CBC News, August 10, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/travel-tourism-covid19-1.5680813. 144 Ibid. 145 Ibid. 146 Carolyn A. Wilkins, “Canadian Economic Update: Strength in Diversity,” Bank of Canada, June 12, 2017, https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2017/06/canadian-economic-update-strength-diversity/. 147 Duncan Madden, “Ranked: The 10 Countries Most Dependent On Tourism,” Forbes, April 2, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanmadden/2020/04/02/ranked-the-10-countries-most-dependent-on-tourism/. 148 Ibid. 149 Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, “Climate Change,” Government of Iceland, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.government.is/topics/environment-climate-and-nature-protection/climate-change/#:~:text=The%20third%20report%20on%20impacts,the%20next%20100%2D200%20years.. 150 Ibid. 151 Ibid.

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Case Study: Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the number of jobs per tourist rose from 258 jobs per 100 tourists in 2013 to an unprecedented 473 jobs per 100 tourists in 2018—making the South Asian country the most tourism-dependent nation as a measure of jobs per tourist.152 However, in April 2019, Sri Lanka was struck by multiple terrorist attacks; several Easter Day bombings killed more than 250 people, inciting fear in travellers worldwide.153 As a result, the immediate aftermath saw a 70 percent decline in tourist arrivals in the country,154 leading local hotels and businesses to experience extreme drops in income—to the extent that many were ready to file for insolvency. 155 The government took tough measures to increase security in the country—although the specifics of these measures were not publicly disclosed—and by Christmas of 2019, Sri Lanka saw an 80 percent rise in tourism compared to previous years.156

Case Study: Grenada

Grenada doubled its amount of jobs per tourist from 5 jobs per 100 tourists in 2013 to 9 jobs per 100 tourists in 2018.157 According to the World Bank, tourism directly contributed just under 7% to Grenada’s GDP in 2018 and is projected to steadily increase, eventually contributing 9.63% in 2028.158 However, climate change threatens Grenada’s scenic coastal areas and towns, as the increasing frequency of storms and floods threaten local infrastructure, livelihoods, and businesses.159 In 2014, Hurricane Ivan took a devastating toll on the island, with damages greater than double the country’s GDP at the time.160 As Grenada is financially weaker—with a GDP of USD 1.186 billion in 2018—it relies mainly on foreign aid to respond to major issues. For example, after Hurricane Ivan, the World Bank responded and helped Grenada to raise USD 150 million through public awareness and campaigns for international aid.161

152 Madden, “Ranked: The 10 Countries Most Dependent On Tourism.” 153 “Sri Lanka sees a slow revival of tourism after Easter Sunday attacks,” DW News, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.dw.com/en/sri-lanka-sees-a-slow-revival-of-tourism-after-easter-sunday-attacks/a-51624931. 154 Ibid. 155 Ibid. 156 Ibid. 157 Madden, “Ranked: The 10 Countries Most Dependent On Tourism.” 158 TCdata360, “Travel And Tourism Direct Contribution To GDP, %,” the World Bank, accessed September 6, 2020, https://tcdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/tot.direct.gdp?country=GRD&indicator=24648&viz=line_chart&years=1995,2028. 159 International Monetary Fund Fiscal Affairs Department, “Grenada : Climate Change Policy Assessment,” International Monetary Fund, July 3 2019, https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2019/07/01/Grenada-Climate-Change-Policy-Assessment-47062#:~:text=Climate%20change%20is%20an%20existential,over%20200%20percent%20of%20GDP.. 160 Ibid. 161 ReliefWeb, “Grenada: Dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan,” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), September 23, 2009, https://reliefweb.int/report/grenada/grenada-dealing-aftermath-hurricane-ivan#:~:text=On%20September%207%2C%202004%2C%20Hurricane,of%20Grenada%2C%20causing%20widespread%20destruction.&text=The%20hurricane%20damaged%20more%20than,75%20public%20schools%20remained%20undamaged..

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Possible Solutions and Controversies

Contingency Funds

A contingency fund could potentially be established within the UNWTO to counteract countries’ economic losses in a variety of contingencies, such as natural disasters, civil unrest, or the ongoing pandemic. This fund can help pay off any outstanding debts and help struggling businesses. Member states of the UNWTO can choose to allocate excess funding to this fund as a reserve in times of economic well-being or loan funds in times of crises. In the United States for instance, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was established in March 2020 and provides USD 45 billion out of a USD 2.2 trillion stimulus from federal reserves specifically for this pandemic. In Canada, a CAD 350 million Emergency Community Support Fund was also implemented to support vital charities and community initiatives, as well as the working class and impoverished. However, in order for a contingency fund to be established and effective, there needs to be enough funds allocated in the first place and all member states with the capacity to store funds need to be willing to do so. Some countries with more diverse economies may feel uncomfortable allocating money to a fund that they will seldom ever need. Delegates will also need to establish a guideline to ensure that funds are not taken when unnecessary and to ensure the proper allocation of funds to necessary governments, companies, and organizations in times of contingencies; that is, parties must be financially incapable of supporting themselves in a crisis for fund allocation to be considered. The committee may choose to establish a body to assess requests for support and allocate funds appropriately.

Employment Contingency Plans

Employment contingency plans could include programs similar to employment insurance (EI) and job relocation programs. EI aims to provide a temporary form of income support to those who are unemployed and are not at fault for their unemployment, improving their skills, looking for employment, and on leave as a result of specific circumstances (e.g., illness, pregnancy, caring for critically ill family members). In exchange, workers and businesses pay premiums to the program. This kind of employment insurance is used in countries like Canada and has shown success, especially during the ongoing pandemic.162 Similar programs are available in the United States,163 China,164 and many other countries. Although the UNWTO cannot mandate such a program to be established in every member state, the UNWTO can provide a set of endorsed guidelines which as many member states as possible are encouraged to follow.

When businesses become unable to offer their employees jobs in any form, governments can resort to relocating affected jobs into temporary positions—such as moving airline cleaning services to hospital cleaning services in the midst of a pandemic, or administrative remote working duties in government jobs. However, an employee’s skills should still be somewhat transferrable to the new occupation. These kinds of initiative have yet to be

162 Employment and Social Development Canada, “Employment Insurance (EI),” Government of Canada, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei.html. 163 “How Do I File for Unemployment Insurance?” U.S. Department of Labor, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/unemployment-insurance. 164 “Guide to China’s Social Security System – Who Pays What?” HROne, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.hrone.com/guide-chinas-social-security-system-pays/.

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thoroughly studied and no examples of this concept exist. Again, the UNWTO is unable to mandate such an initiative and can only advocate for a guideline which integrates the concept of employment relocation.

Diversification Programs

Diversification programs focus more on prevention rather than relief. The UNWTO can support programs that diversify economies via education in different, more diverse fields and promote inclusive work environments that are non-discriminatory in the recruiting process—allowing for equal opportunity for all candidates. Studies have shown that targeting sources of income which are related to the dominant sector (e.g., tourism, petroleum) at low economic levels and progressing to more unrelated sources of income is the optimal way to diversify economies.165 These aims have already been implemented in the UNFCCC and SDGs as discussed previously but could be more thoroughly implemented through a ratified agreement with UNWTO member states. However, diversification programs provide essentially zero immediate relief and thus, must be coupled with solutions that address more immediate needs.

Eventually, the international community should seek to reduce the need for relief programs and focus more heavily on crisis prevention. Delegates can look to both the SDGs and UNFCCC economic diversification page for inspiration. Moreover, it is paramount that member states communicate with each other on experiences and lessons learned pertaining to economic resilience and diversification. An example of an economic diversification program is Canada’s Western Economic Diversification Program which focuses on investing in different ethnic communities and small businesses, as well as underdeveloped sectors. Members of the UNWTO can similarly look at small businesses present in the economy and analyze underdeveloped industries to determine opportunities for diversification within a specific national context. In particular, the transition to sustainable energy may also present an opportunity for economic diversification while simultaneously addressing environmental issues.

Bloc Positions

Non-Tourism-Dependent Countries with Highly Diverse Economies

Countries with highly diversified economies who do not rely on the tourism sector as a critical part of their economy may be particularly reluctant to support any funding or contingency fund programs—for the simple reason that they may not ever need these funds. Member states in this category include the majority of large world powers, such as China, the Russian Federation, and Japan. These countries can serve as examples of the goal of tourism-reliant countries within the realm of economic diversification and can provide guidance in achieving these goals. It is, however, important to note that these countries are often some of the most economically strong and stable nations and thus, would be expected to supply the most funding to any contingency fund.

This bloc may also need to consider the nuances of tourism-dependent local economies, as opposed to tourism-dependent national economies. Many communities in these countries—for example, Cancún in Mexico,

165 “What is the optimal way to diversify an economy?” MIT Media Lab, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/strategic-diffusion/overview/.

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Orlando or Las Vegas in the United States, Macau in China, and Venice in Italy—rely heavily on the tourism sector and have significant amounts of the local workforce employed in tourism-related businesses.166 While these local economies may be miniscule from a national perspective, countries in this bloc must acknowledge the impacts which solutions proposed by the UNWTO may have on their citizens.

Tourism-Dependent Economies

Nations which are heavily tourist-dependent may be hesitant to provide any monetary assistance to contingency funds but are directly facing many of the issues encompassed within this topic. For the vast majority of heavily tourism-dependent states, tourism reliance is a product of geography and size, with small island or archipelagic nations—like the Bahamas, the Maldives, the Seychelles, and other tropical destinations—falling into this category. As there were initially limited opportunities for economic diversification due to limited natural resources and land for development, past governments sought to invest in and develop the tourism sector.

However, for these economies, climate change threatens to devastate the tourism sector and related businesses, offering major incentives for new attempts at economic diversification. Generally, these nations may not have the economic capacity or political will to invest in contingency funds which may be allocated to other nations, as the challenges pertaining to climate change are already overwhelming domestic concerns for these governments. Instead, these nations will likely favour plans and guidelines that simultaneously seek international investment in contingency funds, offer provisions for dealing with rising sea levels and other climate change-based issues, and promote economic diversification amidst limited natural resources. Implementing employment-based contingency funds—such as employment insurance—may also be in the interest of these nations and their economies, where those working in the tourism sector and related sectors often form large segments of the workforce and are most vulnerable to fluctuations in the tourism industry.

Countries with Major Tourism Sectors

Although not entirely dependent on tourism within their economies, the tourism sector still comprises an integral part of the economy for member states within this category—especially in attracting foreign currency. Nations like Egypt, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam fall under this bloc. For example, the Egyptian tourism industry—driven by famed historical sites and Red Sea resorts—is smaller than the country's petroleum or agricultural sectors, yet still made up 11.3% of the Egyptian GDP in 2014, supported 14.1% of total employment,167 and accounted for 14.4% of Egypt's foreign currency revenues.168 These nations often face other contingencies—apart from climate change—which contribute to fluctuations in the tourism sector; for Egypt and Thailand, political instability and mass demonstrations have turned away tourists, while in the Philippines, complicated public safety concerns contribute to declines in tourist numbers. Each of these nations' tourism

166 Oliver Smith, "Cities most reliant on tourists for their economies named: Highest percentage of GDP from tourism," Traveller Australia, October 24, 2018, https://www.traveller.com.au/cities-most-reliant-on-tourists-for-their-economies-named-highest-percentage-of-gdp-from-tourism-h1717r. 167 "Egypt: Tourism in the economy" OECD, n.d., http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/17561/attachments/13/translations/en/renditions/native. 168 Matt Smith, "Egypt tourist numbers to rise 5-10 pct in 2014 -minister," Reuters, September 11, 2014, https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/11/egypt-tourism-idUSL5N0RC3CF20140911.

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industry was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic but not to the same extent as other, more tourism-reliant nations. These nations generally have the economic capacity to invest in contingency funds and would be strongly supportive of additional international investment into such funds; these funds will be valuable in the case of non-climate contingencies which these countries tend to be vulnerable to. The size of the tourism-related workforce in this bloc will also lead to support for employment insurance initiatives in order to provide aid for individuals impacted by contingencies. However, economic diversification is of less importance to these countries, as their economies are generally well-rounded enough to prevent total economic collapse in the case of a major event or disaster and there is limited political will to reduce the size of the tourism industry.

Discussion Questions

1. How diverse is your country’s economy? If it is diverse, how did it come to be that way? If not, what is stopping it from being more diverse?

2. How able is your country in terms of helping other countries to recover from economic crises?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of helping countries suffering economic crises?

4. Is your country’s economy tourism-reliant? If so, what issues and vulnerabilities is it facing? Are they issues pertaining to climate change, or political policies?

5. What is the ideal immediate relief to allocate to countries that are currently going through economic crises? Why?

6. What experience and lessons can your country provide in terms of economic diversification and resilience?

Additional Resources

MIT Media Lab: What is the optimal way to diversify an economy? [video]: https://youtu.be/7hoqUHQmxgA. MIT Media Lab: What is the optimal way to diversify an economy? [web page]: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/strategic-diffusion/overview/. Nature Communications: Optimal diversification strategies in the networks of related products and of related research areas: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03740-9. UNWTO: Tourism for SDGs: http://tourism4sdgs.org/.

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