Sustainable Tourism efforts — definitions, world forums, articles, current initiatives and protection of our special National Parks and Heritage Sites.

SUSTAINABILITY ARTICLES Robin Tauck at National Park Service - Sustainable Travel

The White House Preservation Award was a great honor and continues to inspire us as we move forward as an industry to preserve and protect at home and abroad.

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Fun Facts about UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites

The UNESCO Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted in Paris on November 16, 1972. By signing the Convention, 187 nations pledged to protect World Heritage Sites and their own national heritage.
There are currently 890 protected World Heritage Sites, including 690 cultural, 175 natural and 25 mixed sites.
Italy has the most World Heritage Sites (42) , followed by Spain (40), China (38), Germany (33) and the U.K. (28).
Two of the most successful and grand World Heritage Site restoration projects are Angkor in Cambodia and the Old City of Dubrovnik in Croatia.
The majority of new countries that have ratified the World Heritage Convention are in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Over the years, 26 international safeguarding campaigns have been organized for World Heritage Sites at a total cost of $1 billion.
The World Heritage Committee’s strategic objectives are known as the ‘5 Cs’: strengthening the credibility of World Heritage; ensuring effective conservation; promoting effective capacity-building; increasing awareness and support through communication; and, the important role of the community.
Key advisory bodies to WHC include the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In 2001 a Sustainable Tourism Programme was enacted as part of the World Heritage Mission. Focus and partnership programs are growing.