Program Overview

What is sustainable tourism? Why should I study it?
In October 2019 Greta Thunberg rejected the Nordic Council environmental award because “the climate movement does not need any rewards”, she says rather convincingly. At CBS, we applaud her as we believe the climate movement needs stewardship more than anything else. But how do we ensure that tourism business development and sustainable growth can be managed concurrently?

According to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), sustainable tourism can be defined as:

“Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”

Sustainable tourism at a glance

• Optimizing environmental resources in ways that constitute a crucial element in tourism development while maintaining essential ecological processes, helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
• Respecting the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserving their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values while contributing to transcultural understanding and tolerance.
• Ensuring viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.