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WTM: ‘No-one wants holidays that abuse human rights’, travel industry told
Tourism Concern will today urge the global tourism industry to take a human rights approach to doing business.
Launching a new briefing paper at World Travel Market in London, Tourism Concern director Tricia Barnett will tell the travel industry that integrating human rights into company policies and activities is "the right thing to do".
Briefing tour operators at ExCel, Barnet will tell them that sustainability can only be realised if the development and operation of tourism is embedded upon a respect for human rights, including the rights of marginalised communities in destinations that suffer the negative impacts of tourism.
“No-one wants to go on holiday thinking that they are part of a process that could be abusing human rights," said Barnett. "Of course they would never know. Human rights abuses are
hidden. Who would think that the water that’s filling their pool might mean that locals can’t access clean water for themselves? We hold governments responsible
when they fail to uphold the rights of their citizens. And we hold the travel businesses responsible when they don’t pay due care to respect human rights.
"There is an onus on them to ensure that they are not complicit in rights violations. Our new report highlights new thinking in this area and seeks to begin a dialogue on how
to move forward”
Tourism Concern said the adoption of a human rights approach would align the tourism industry with wider international business consensus. It will present its briefingm Why the tourism industry needs to take a human rights approach: The business case, at WTM at 11am in North Gallery Room 8.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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