AG/RES. 1517 (XXVI-O/97)

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

(Resolution adopted at the seventh plenary session, held on June 5, 1997)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN:

Resolution AG/RES. 1426 (XXVI-O/96), "Support for OAS Tourism Activities," in which the General Assembly considered the declaration and agreements of various subregional entities in the area of tourism and called upon the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) to support the Inter-American Travel Congress in the preparation of a plan of action for integral and sustainable development in the Hemisphere; and

Resolution CIDI/RES. 17 (II-O/97), "Sustainable Development of Tourism," in which CIDI instructed its Permanent Executive Committee (CEPCIDI) to analyze and review the Plan of Action for the Sustainable Development of Tourism in Collaboration with the Private Sector (TURISMO/doc.35/97 rev. 1), approved at the Seventeenth Inter-American Travel Congress, and the Declaration of San José (TURISMO/doc.34 rev. 1) and requested the General Secretariat to continue supporting CEPCIDI’s efforts in the tourism area;

RECOGNIZING the important role tourism plays in the economic development strategy of the member states and the need to sustain economically viable, environmentally sound tourism development for the benefit of present and future generations; and

CONSIDERING:

The Plan of Action for the Sustainable Development of Tourism in Collaboration with the Private Sector, which seeks to strengthen the Inter-American Travel Congress and its Permanent Secretariat in order to make them more dynamic and relevant, and encourage greater public/private sector coordination in the development of coherent policies and collaborative activities; and

That sustainable development of tourism is a priority of the Strategic Plan for Partnership for Development 1997-2001,

RESOLVES:

1. To reaffirm the importance of tourism for the integral and sustainable development of the member states and to support the implementation of resolution CIDI/RES. 17 (II-O/97), "Sustainable Development of Tourism."

2. To instruct the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI): (a) to establish a working group to prepare a draft Inter-American Program on the Sustainable Development of Tourism within the framework of the Strategic Plan and taking into account, inter alia, the need to strengthen horizontal cooperation and to promote greater public- and private-sector collaboration in this area; (b) to convene a meeting of tourism experts to contribute to the preparation of the draft Inter-American Program on the Sustainable Development of Tourism; and (c) to present the draft Inter-American Program to CIDI for consideration at its next regular meeting.

3. To instruct CEPCIDI to give special attention to the sustainable development of tourism and to promote and execute cooperation activities in this area within the framework of the Strategic Plan for Partnership for Development 1997-2001.

4. To instruct the General Secretariat to provide support, through its appropriate entities, in particular the Intersectoral Tourism Unit, and under the coordination of the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development, for the preparation and follow-up of the various CIDI and CEPCIDI decisions in this area.

5. To request the General Secretariat to present the 1998 annual program of activities of the Intersectoral Tourism Unit to CEPCIDI by September 30, 1997, for its approval, and to present quarterly progress reports on the said program.

6. To direct that the mandates in the preceding paragraphs be executed within allocated resources approved in the program-budget and other resources.

7. To request CIDI to report on the implementation of this resolution to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth regular session.