Tunis, May 11 — There is the impossibility of continuing with the current model of tourism across the world, said former minister of tourism and Tunisia's candidate for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary-General position Habib Ammar. This pattern will cause the tourism industry to collapse in some eighty years.
The current model is non-eco-friendly, Ammar further said in an interview with TAP, and will have an adverse impact on the sector's sustainability that could even result in its collapse.
Beach tourism for instance, he highlighted, would most likely disappear in Europe.
It is of critical importance to boost the sector while not breaking with classical patterns, he added. The sector's environmental sustainability hinges on the development of eco-friendly products.
It is also important to think about economic sustainability as only ten countries across the globe account for over 40% of international tourism receipts (7 countries in Europe, 2 in the Americas and 1 country lying between Europe and Asia). Hence, Tunisia's candidate added, the need for a fair distribution of tourism activities while taking into account the importance of developing more destinations.
