Human rights and tourism to be debated

Tourism Concern roundtable 29 May: Frameworks for Change – The Tourism Industry and Human Rights

The Institute for Human Rights and Business and Tourism Concern invite have organised a one-day roundtable to explore the challenges, risks and opportunities around integrating human rights into tourism development and management.

The roundtable will offer a key space for tourism and other interested stakeholders to explore what it means for the industry to take a human rights approach, and why this is integral to true sustainability.    
Building on Tourism Concern’s recent briefing, Why the tourism industry needs to take a human rights approach: The business case, the meeting will make clear the need for the sector to continue to constructively engage and align with international human rights standards, in particular, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Through a series of presentations and panel discussions that will draw on the diverse expertise and experience of participants, the meeting will attempt to demonstrate how effective human rights due diligence and the UN ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework’ are useful tools for achieving this alignment.

Key challenges facing the sector will also be explored in relation to three pertinent areas:

• The right to water
• The right to land and indigenous peoples
• Labour rights

The roundtable will also provide an opportunity to discuss existing tourism sector initiatives that could be built upon by drawing on the frameworks for change offered by the UN Guiding Principles, and which could serve as useful guidance for others. Perspectives and experience from other business sectors will also be presented.

Confirmed speakers include Kuoni, ABTA, Tribes Travel, International Business Leaders Forum, International Labour Organization, Water Aid, and Minority Rights Group.

Join the roundtable and your participation and input will contribute to what should be a valuable and interesting day. There has been considerable interest in the event already.

To secure a place, please email [email protected] or call +44 (0)207 133 3800.
Please note that in order to encourage open and frank exchange, the meeting will be conducted under ‘Chatham House Rules’, which means that comments and discussion will not be attributed to individual participants in the meeting report.

Valere Tjolle

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