BSPC Report on Sustainable Tourism 2018

Report onSustainable T ourismin the Baltic Sea Region2018Baltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceBSPCReport onSustainable T ourismin the Baltic Sea Region2018Baltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceBSPC2Report of the BSPC Working Groupon Sustainable Tourism© Schwerin, 2018T ext: Sylvia Bretschneider and Sara KemetterEditing: Bodo Bahr, Georg Strätker andJulien RadloffLayout: produktionsbüro TINUSPhotos: BSPC SecretariatBaltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceBodo BahrSecretary General+49 171 5512557bodo.bahr@bspcmail.netwww.bspc.netBSPC SecretariatSchlossgartenallee 1519061 SchwerinGermanyThe Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference(BSPC) was established in 1991 as a forum forpolitical dialogue between parliamentariansfrom the Baltic Sea Region. BSPC aims at rais-ing awareness and opinion on issues of currentpolitical interest and relevance for the BalticSea Region. It promotes and drives various in-itiatives and efforts to support a sustainableenvironmental, social and economic develop-ment of the Baltic Sea Region. It strives at en-hancing the visibility of the Baltic Sea Regionand its issues in a wider European context.BSPC gathers parliamentarians from 11national parliaments, 11 regional parliamentsand 5 parliamentary organisations around theBaltic Sea. The BSPC thus constitutes aunique parliamentary bridge between all theEU- and non-EU countries of the Baltic SeaRegion.BSPC external interfaces include parlia-mentary, governmental, sub-regional and oth-er organizations in the Baltic Sea Region andthe Northern Dimension area, among themCBSS, HELCOM, the Northern DimensionPartnership in Health and Social Well-Being(NDPHS), the Baltic Sea Labour Forum(BSLF), the Baltic Sea States Sub-regional Co-operation (BSSSC) and the Baltic Develop-ment Forum.BSPC shall initiate and guide political ac-tivities in the region; support and strengthendemocratic institutions in the participatingstates; improve dialogue between govern-ments, parliaments and civil society; strength-en the common identity of the Baltic Sea Re-gion by means of close co-operation betweennational and regional parliaments on the basisof equality; and initiate and guide political ac-tivities in the Baltic Sea Region, endowingthem with additional democratic legitimacyand parliamentary authority.The political recommendations of the an-nual Parliamentary Conferences are expressedin a Conference Resolution adopted by con-sensus by the Conference. The adopted Reso-lution shall be submitted to the governmentsof the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSS and theEU, and disseminated to other relevant na-tional, regional and local stakeholders in theBaltic Sea Region and its neighbourhood.3ContentsI. Introduction .................................... 4II. Follow up of the Final Report of the Working Group .... 61. Recommendations in the 26th BSPC Resolution ...... 72. Analysis of the Statements of the Governmentsto the 26th BSPC ............................. 10III. Important developments in the fieldof sustainable tourism ............................ 151. Baltic Sea Tourism Centre ....................... 152. Forums, Workshops and Conferences .............. 17IV . Prospects for a sustainable future ................... 224I. IntroductionThe Baltic Sea Region is known as an area of blue water, green na-ture, white sandy beaches and historical monuments. These are im-portant images and explanations why the Baltic Sea Region is sopopular as a tourist destination. In recent years, the tourism indus-try has become an important player in the economies of the Statesand Regions of the Baltic Sea. Therefore, it is a challenge to fosterthe potentials of the Baltic Sea region and establish the whole regionas a model for the growing market of sustainable tourism. Tourismcreates new jobs and supports economic growth even in less devel-oped regions. One of the biggest challenges, however, is to reinforceand improve sustainable tourism development in order to ensurethe long-term competitiveness of the industry. Managing tourismin a sustainable way helps to identify the limits and capacity of thetourism resources and to encourage a tourism development thatbalances optimising the immediate economic, environmental andsocio-cultural benefits, whilst also preserving the future of the tour-ism industry.The following first report on Sustainable Tourism in the Baltic SeaRegion continues the work of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Confer-ence – Working Group on Sustainable Tourism, installed from IntroductionSylvia Bretschneider Sara KemetterPresident of the Landtag Member of theMecklenburg-Vorpommern Åland Parliament52015 until 2017, and is closely linked to the final report of thisworking group, presented at the 26th BSPC 2017 in Hamburg. TheStanding Committee of the BSPC in Hamburg appointed us asRapporteurs on Sustainable Tourism after our work as chair andvice-chair of the Working Group.The overarching objective of this first report is to analyse the reac-tions and responses of the governments of the States and Regions ofthe Baltic Sea on the political positions and recommendations per-taining to sustainable tourism, which were integrated in the 26thBSPC-Resolution.The second part of this report concentrates on certain developmentsof the important Baltic Sea Tourism Centre and presents keystonesand events since the 26th BSPC according to sustainable tourism.Furthermore, the report aims to inform on certain developmentslinked to the scope of the working group, such as the state of sus-tainable tourism in the Baltic Sea Region, best practices, challengesand opportunities in sustainable tourism, and to point out potentialbenefits from sustainable tourism.22 August 2018Schwerin, Mariehamn,Sylvia Bretschneider Sara KemetterRapporteur on Rapporteur onSustainable Tourism Sustainable TourismIntroduction6II. Follow up of the Final Reportof the Working GroupThe subsequent chapter is directly pursuing the finalreport of the BSPC Working Group on sustainabletourism presented at the 26th Baltic Sea ParliamentaryConference in Hamburg 2017.The Mandate of the WorkingGroup was determined by theStanding Committee meeting inRostock, 30th August 2015, theoverarching objective of theWorking Group was to elabo-rate political positions and rec-ommendations pertaining tosustainable tourism. The Work-ing Group and its membersaimed to raise the political at-tention on sustainable tourism,for instance by pursuing thoseissues in the parliaments of themembers of the Working Group.Moreover, the Working Grouphas contributed to the exchangeof knowledge and best practiceswithin its area of responsibility. Therefore sustainable tourism is un-derstood in accordance to The World Tourism Organization Defi-nition from 2004 like the following:“Sustainable tourism development requires the informed participa-tion of all relevant stakeholders, as well as strong political leadershipto ensure wide participation and consensus building. Achieving sus-tainable tourism is a continuous process and it requires constantmonitoring of impacts, introducing the necessary preventive and/orcorrective measures whenever necessary.Sustainable tourism should also maintain a high level of tourist sat-isfaction and ensure a meaningful experience to the tourists, raisingtheir awareness about sustainability issues and promoting sustain-able tourism practices amongst them.” II. Follow up of the Final Report of the Working GroupSara KemetterPresenting the final report71. Recommendations in the 26th BSPCResolutionFrom the final report, the 26th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conferenceadopted the following points:“The participants, elected representatives from the Baltic Sea RegionStates, assembling in Hamburg, Germany, 3-5 September 2017,Regarding Cooperation in the Region, to5. elaborate a common programme based on a strategy withinthe framework of the CBSS to develop sustainable tourism inthe Baltic Sea Region, considering the following aspects• the reduction as far as possible of obstacles to cross-bordertravelling to promote the freedom of travel including pro-motion of the local border traffic regime on outer borders ofthe EU• facilitating border and visa regime for youth and organizedtourist groups• the improvement of sustainable transport and tourism in-frastructure• support for the idea of Baltic Sea Region States creating acommon Baltic Sea Brand, based on cultural and naturalheritage, to strengthen tourism competitiveness• the improvement of travel options especially for young peo-ple (e.g. interferry);Regarding Sustainable Tourism, to28. work towards the vision that the Baltic Sea Region will be-come the first eco-region in the world, conceiving the BalticSea Region as the first region where ecology and economywork together in a balanced and integrated manner to sus-tain societies and culture.29. ensure that the consequences of tourism are sustainable byadopting models and methods to save and protect natureand orient work along the principle that sustainability is theguiding principle and standard practice in all types of tour-ism in the Baltic Sea region;30. further examine the use of carbon footprints to improve the 1. Recommendations in the 26th BSPC Resolution8comparability and attractiveness of tourism products andtheir ecological and economical impacts; further improvethe transparency of tourism products as to their quality interms of sustainability, e.g by using common labels andstandards;31. promote wastewater facilities at harbours in the Baltic SeaRegion;32. improve interrailing, to promote the use of alternativesources of energy and foster a sustainable multimodal split(sea, road, rail), and to improve bike infrastructure includ-ing bicycle stands and Ebike charging stations at transporthubs as examples for ecological forms of tourism;33. jointly task a Tourism T ransport Impact Assessment Studyto analyze continuously the output of different political ac-tion to increase the level of sustainability;34. counteract the lack of skilled workers in the tourism sectorin the Baltic Sea Region, e.g. by establishing an internation-al winter school to increase labour skills, language and in-tercultural skills;35. fully use the possibilities of the circular and fair sharingeconomies creating new jobs in the service sectors;36. foster a joint promotion by private and public stakeholdersof the Baltic Sea Region as a tourism destination especiallyin new source markets and to foster cooperation in the re-gion as a main key for the successful development of theBaltic Sea Region;37. better use the potential of digitalization in promoting sus-tainable tourism and further support the development ofthe Baltic Sea Tourism Center into a permanent platformfor information and exchange of know-how at the transna-tional level, especially with regard to the long-term priori-ties of the CBSS;38. sustain a sound environment, safeguarding the recreationalquality of natural and man-made landscapes and integrat-ing natural, cultural and human environments within theBSR so that tourism activities do not endanger the naturaland cultural heritage of the BSR and instead actively con-II. Follow up of the Final Report of the Working Group9tribute to their preservation;39. promote and sustain the competitive quality and efficiencyof the tourism business while also creating satisfactory so-cial conditions for tourists, the workforce and the localpopulation;40. involve citizens in the development of tourism strategies.”Furthermore, the Conference integrated the following recommenda-tions in the introduction of the resolution according to the encour-agement of the Working Group, based on the good experiences:“continuing involving youth into the procedures of the BSPC work-ing groups. Especially during the second half of a two-year mandateof a working group the vivid debate with young people nominatedby the member parliaments can be an enriching also with regard tothe annual conference;” 1. Recommendations in the 26th BSPC Resolution102. Analysis of the Statements of theGovernments to the 26th BSPCDue to the fact that the governments of the states and regions distrib-uted their answers concerning the implementation of the 26thBSPC-Resolution, the following chapter gives a policy analysis on theimplementation of the recommendations regarding sustainable tour-ism. This approach contains the available answers of the governmentsof Åland, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hamburg, Latvia, Lithuania,Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Norway, Poland and Russia.The eleven submitted statements vary concerning the scope, the-matic depth, and structure. Also the strength and the clear focus ofpriorities differ between the governments. But overall it becomesobvious that the governments are in general in favour of sustainabletourism and are working actively on this topic. Especially the fol-lowing topics are relevant issues in the responses and therefore willreceive more awareness.A fact to be welcomed is, that in nearly all answers the governmentsrespond to promote wastewater facilities at harbours in the BalticSea Region and give certain information on the status of the imple-mentation of these facilities often with concrete details (Paragraph31). Some countries already completed the installation of receptionfacilities and others are currently installing new systems.To implement a more sustainable tourism, many governmentsadopted specific plans or agendas, like Åland – “tourism strategy forthe years 2012-2022”, Latvia-“Tourism development guidelines”,Finland-“Parks & Wildlife Finland” or Norway-“ExperiencingNorway – a unique adventure”. Also labels and management sys-tems like “Green Key”, “Blue Flag” and “Certified Green Hotel” aregetting more attention for the improvement of transparency in re-gard to sustainability (Paragraph 29, 30 & 38).Several governments, i.e. Estonia, Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Vor-pommern, inform on their activities to improve sustainable trans-port infrastructure like cycle paths or bicycles stands (Paragraph33).Moreover, a great number of governments express their support tothe Baltic Sea Tourism Centre and positively refer to the meetings,activities and network of this Centre (Paragraph 37). The topic ofcooperation also plays some role in the answers of the governments(Paragraph 36). This is quite remarkable due to the fact the tourism II. Follow up of the Final Report of the Working Group11sector is a competitive market and the struggle for own profit ofcompanies and regions. However, in a few answers - like fromMecklenburg-Vorpommern - the conflict between ecological re-quirements and economic development still plays an important role(Paragraph 28).But there are also paragraphs and issues which are evaluated differ-ently between governments. For example concerning the paragraph28 to work towards the vision that the Baltic Sea Region will be-come the first eco-region in the world, the government of Estoniaclearly expresses, that the Baltic Sea Region can hardly be consid-ered as the first eco-region in the world and that many other eco-re-gions are already in place.The importance of the paragraph 34 to counteract the lack of skilledworkers is also evaluated differently. Thus, Latvia points out thatthere is currently no request from employers for such specialists’trainings. On the other hand, Estonia expresses the importance ofexciting offers like different hospitality and tourism schools in vari-ous Baltic Sea Region countries which currently provide regulartrainings to increase language and intercultural skills. However italso supports a greater cooperation between these schools and pro-grams in tackling the shortage of skills. Mecklenburg-Vorpommernalso clearly expresses the shortage of specialists and young staff asone key topic in tourism policy.Approach for a special view and summary on country-specific answers of the governments:The government of Åland informs to support sustainable tourismespecially by the tourism strategy for the years 2012-2022 with achapter on sustainability and accessibility. The government worksin several networks to achieve more sustainability; especially labelsand management systems like “Green Key” and “Blue Flag” areused to certificate the activities of, for example, companies or estab-lishments. These labels are also collaborated with the “Åland Societyfor Nature and Environment”, “Visit Åland” and the governmentof Åland. Furthermore the government of Åland intends to increaseconcentration on organic food and the reducing costs for tourismcompanies due to less resource waste.The government of Denmark informs that Denmark has introducednew regulations for cruise ships wastewater treatment and is active-ly engaged in the current revision of the EU Port Reception Facili-ties Directive. As the Policy Area Coordinator of the Policy Area for 2. Analysis of the Statements of the Governments to the 26th BSPC12Clean Shipping and the Policy Area for Maritime Safety, Denmarkis continuously contributing to the aim of making the Baltic SeaRegion a model of region for clean shipping. The Danish govern-ment supports Baltic Sea tourism by including collaboration onsustainable tourism and coordinating activities through the Nordicand European tourism collaboration. Denmark is further support-ing the Baltic Sea Tourism Centre.The answers from the government of Estonia show the importanceof improving port reception facilities to reduce vessel waste andsewage reception according to the International Maritime Organi-zation, which were completed 2017 at the port of Tallinn. Further-more the green key label is also used in Estonia to standardize sus-tainability principles, and further common new labels were notforeseen. Inter-modality of various modes of transportation is seenas an important area of development and a special focus is laid uponthe improvement of cycling-structure. Regarding the necessity ofskilled workers, different hospitality and tourism schools provideregular trainings to increase language and intercultural skills. Esto-nia supports the development of cooperation between the schoolsin the Baltic Sea Region and programs that tackle the shortage ofneeded skills. Estonia also acknowledged the progress of the BalticSea Tourism Centre and pointed out the importance of this Centreto improve the competitiveness of the Baltic Sea Region, as well asto increase the visibility of the region as an attractive tourist desti-nation. The answers also refer to the situation of overtourism andthe need to evaluate how local communities and citizens perceivetourism development in their regions.The answers of the government of Finland focus on importance ofrenewable energy sources such as biomass, solar, geothermal, off-shore wind and the modernization of the maritime industry infields such as autonomous shipping, intelligent ships and logistics.The “Parks & Wildlife Finland” has established a set of principles toguide sustainable tourism operations in the national parks, naturesites and historical sites.The Senate of Hamburg informs on activities like the “HamburgTourism GmbH” which advises hotels and tourist service providersoffers with regard to sustainable tourism and arranges for strength-ening the network of service providers. To improve transparency inregard to sustainability, the recognition of “Certified Green Hotel”or the certification of sustainability of cruise trips might be offered.Furthermore, the Senate aims to markedly improve the bike trafficinfrastructure in Hamburg, and the “Hamburg Alliance for BikeT raffic” includes the completion of the bike-routes network andnew construction. II. Follow up of the Final Report of the Working Group13The Government of Latvia informs on the “Tourism DevelopmentGuidelines” and “T ransport Development Guidelines 2014-2020”.According to these guidelines a modernization of rail passengertransport has been implemented; the objective of this is an integrat-ing cycling in the common transport system and to promote the useof environmentally friendly means of transport. Regarding the de-velopment of sustainable tourism, Estonia has developed a NordicBaltic Cooperation Plan which integrates all the tourism relatedquestions in one solid activity plan; this includes common tourismmarketing activities, Baltic Tourism Committee and organizationsof the Baltic Sea Tourism Forum. According to the situation ofworkers in the tourism sector, Latvia informs there is currently norequest from employers for such specialists’ trainings.The government of Lithuania informs that in 2015 Lithuania waselected to represent Europe in the Committee on Tourism andSustainability of the United Nations World Tourism Organisa-tion. The committee’s activities mainly deal with the 10-YearFramework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption andProduction. To turn the society’s attention to the topic of sustain-able tourism, Lithuania organized the 5th Lithuanian TourismForum, the 1st National Sustainability Award, and ordered a sur-vey on the Development of Sustainable Tourism. This surveypointed out that the implementation of sustainable tourism goalsneed to be strengthened in subjects such as accessibility, smallbusiness development in regions, better cooperation betweentourism information centres and tourism business. Moreover,2017 started the implementation of the project “From SDGs to-wards sustainable tourism in the Baltic Sea Region” with the aimto track down the status quo of sustainable tourism and identifybest practices, trigger process, gaps and differences in order to de-velop, provide and communicate solutions. In 2018 Lithuania or-ganises the European Congress on Rural Tourism.The government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern supports the ideaof a common Baltic Sea brand and sees the Baltic Sea TourismCentre as a project to develop the Baltic Sea Region as a destina-tion regarding culture and nature tourism in a professional way.The creation of a necessary balance between ecological require-ments and economic development is seen feasible and will dependon the concrete design of this approach. The provision of recep-tion facilities for ship sewage usually requires the construction ofstationary plants with the possibility of discharging into the mu-nicipal sewerage network. Necessary adaptions of the port infra-structure in the context of the acquisition of treatment plants can,if appropriate, be subsidized in the framework of port infrastruc-ture funding by the state. Furthermore, the shortage of specialist 2. Analysis of the Statements of the Governments to the 26th BSPC14and young staff has great consequences for the service quality inthe Baltic Sea region and is therefore seen one of the key topics intourism policy.The government of Norway responds on the importance to addressthe issues relating to sustainable tourism. In 2017 the NorwegianGovernment submitted a white paper on tourism entitled “Experi-encing Norway – a unique adventure” to the Norwegian Parlia-ment. This sets out the overarching objective of Norwegian tourismpolicy like increasing the value within a sustainable framework. TheNorwegian Parliament responded to the white paper and requestedadditional measures from the government. They also began plan-ning to draw up a strategy in cooperation with the tourism industryfor extending the tourism season which will help to make the Nor-wegian tourism industry more sustainable. But the responsibilityfor addressing challenges relating to tourism is seen primarily withthe tourism industry itself.The government of Poland informs that Poland supports ongoingprojects in the Baltic Sea region concerning Sustainable Tourism.The polish ministry of sport and tourism has cooperated with Gdy-nia University on working out the concept of European TourismAcademy, an expert cooperation network from scientific institu-tions in the Baltic Sea region, which will serve as an exchange of sta-tistic data and scientific studies in the region. Furthermore, the in-vestments in the biggest polish passenger ports (Gdynia, Gdańskand Świnoujście) are currently ongoing in order to upgrade capaci-ties of the sewage infrastructure to receive waste water from the larg-est cruise vessels and ferries. The Maritime University of Szczecin iscurrently taking part in a project titled “South Coast Baltic – estab-lishing durable cross-border boating destination management onthe basis of the Marriage cooperation network” with the idea tomake the cross-border boating region durably attractive through es-tablishing a comprehensive cross-border destination management.Thiswould combine joint marketing with the improvement of boat-ing services and infrastructure.The answers of the Government of Russia contain information onthe development and reinforcement of the “Saint-Petersburg Initia-tive” as an international platform for the public-private Partnership,which helps to develop cross-border cooperation and projects forthe better Baltic environment. In these initiatives, a number of pro-jects have been prepared and are being implemented on a widerange of issues, such as on waste treatment, biodiversity, conserva-tion, green shipping and raising environmental awareness. II. Follow up of the Final Report of the Working Group15III. Important developments inthe field of sustainable tourismThe following chapter aims to inform on certain developments re-garding sustainable tourism in the Baltic Sea Region. This mainlyincludes the activities of the Baltic Sea Tourism Centre and appro-priate meetings and conferences.1. Baltic Sea Tourism CentreAccording to the 25th and 26th BSPC resolutions, the promotionand support for further development of the Baltic Sea TourismCentre is a central demand of the parliamentarians around the Bal-tic Sea. At the beginning of the year 2018 the profile of this Centrewas enlarged and the focus was put on three main emphases: part-nerships, insights, and skills, which were developed in an intensiveprocess together with stakeholders. Currently, the development ofconcepts for the Baltic Sea Tourism Centre network and businessplan is compiled. Initially, cross-border working groups accordingto the Centres emphases should be established under the topics of:Sustainable Tourism (Skills), T raining & Capacity Building (Skills),Market Research (Insights) and Politics & Lobbying (Partnerships.These working groups should work continuously and bring inter-ested partners into contact.The Baltic Sea Tourism Centre furthermore realized the webpagewww.bstc.eu as a “business to business” platform with key informa-tion for sustainable tourism cooperation. To achieve more publicity,the web-page www.balticsea.travel went online as a “business to cus-tomer” page with information for guests on relevant topics of tour-ism. This page will be extended to cover the whole Baltic Sea Re-gion.A key role concerning the topic of sustainable tourism has been theproject with the title “From the Sustainable Developments Goalstowards a Sustainable Tourism in the Baltic Sea Region. This projectwill last for the duration of one year until the 31. August 2018 un-der the leadership of the Tourism Board Mecklenburg-Vorpom-mern (Tourismusverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern e.V.) withgovernmental and non-governmental project partners from Lithua-nia, Germany, Estonia, Finland and Belgium. This project is III. Important developments in the field of sustainable tourism16targeting the priority area “Sustainable development for a prosper-ous Baltic Sea Region” of the Council of the Baltic Sea States andwill also be a great step forward to implement the recommendationsof the BSPC Working Group on sustainable tourism. After theadoption of the Global Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Develop-ment Goals in 2015, this projects analyses what happened in recentyears in this topic and how tourism has fared in terms of a more sus-tainable development. The project will describe the status quo ofsustainable tourism and analyse best practices, gaps and differencesin the Baltic Sea Region in order to develop, provide and commu-nicate solutions. Furthermore, there seems to be only little knowl-edge about the underlying political processes of implementing theSustainable Development Goals in the countries and regions. Theproject also aims to clarify the understanding of “sustainable tour-ism development” and overall to make the tourism in the Baltic SeaRegion more sustainable.During the project period, four workshops were organized on thedevelopment of sustainable tourism on a regional level in T urku,Finland and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, as well as on the nationallevel in Estonia and Lithuania. The aim was to get an overview onthe status quo of certain activities and to acknowledge commonchallenges. A paper on the measurability of sustainable develop-ment in the Baltic Sea Region and an analyses on examples of sus-tainable tourism were written. An international workshop on sus-tainable tourism was arranged at the 10th Baltic Sea Tourism Fo-rum 2017 in T urku (see Chapter III. 2). Furthermore, a concept foran award for sustainable tourism in the Baltic Sea region was estab-lished in preparation for the Baltic Sea Tourism Forum 2020 inLithuania. The main output is to use the documentation of the pro-ject results to evolve political recommendation and to establish aflagship process under the chairmanship of the EU Strategy for theBaltic Sea Region in the policy area of tourism.III. Important developments in the field of sustainable tourism172. Forums, Workshops and Conferences2017: The International Year of Sustainable T ourism forDevelopment© 2016 World Tourism Organization2017 was a very significant and active year for the field of sustaina-ble tourism across the globe with projects and programs expandingon every continent. As globalization and technology take the reinsof the international community into the future, the world begins tolook smaller and people’s eyes grow wider with the curiosity to ex-plore. Countries have been intensely researching and implementingstrategies to adapt to patterns of tourism in ways which also pre-serve the environment as well as safeguard the economy. This is noeasy feat, considering the rising issues of climate change, pollution,market fluctuations, and the diversity of the tourism industry itself.For the great efforts and accomplishments made toward creatingsystems of sustainable tourism, the United Nations 70th GeneralAssembly was excited to announce 2017 as the International Year ofSustainable Tourism for Development. This recognition will notonly raise awareness of sustainable tourism’s contribution to the de-velopment among both private and public sectors, but also strength-en the cooperation of stakeholders in making sustainable tourismthe catalyst for positive, long lasting change.Sustainable tourism developments in the Baltic Sea region havebeen particularly interesting and innovative the past year. One eventwhich took place was the Sustainable Tourism Media Contest heldin Gdansk, Poland on from January to March 2017. The objectiveof the contest was to spread environmentally-engaged ideas of local 2. Forums, Workshops and Conferences18tourism through different social mediums, such as press articles, ra-dio podcasts, and television programs. This movement helped in-crease the awareness among stakeholders, especially citizens andtravellers visiting the Baltic region, of the impacts of tourism on thelocal ecosystems as well as on natural resources and climate on aglobal scale. Participants primarily took away strategies on how topromote sustainable transport through responsible travelling behav-ior and appreciate the local environmental without harming it.More news on sustainable tourism came in the very beginning of2017, when the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diver-sity (CBD) decided the theme of the international Day for Biolog-ical Diversity will be “Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism.” Toshow their support of this initiative, the Swedish Ecotourism Socie-ty partnered with the Staffans family, World Wildlife Found(WWF), and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to es-tablish a special award for sustainable nature tourism and natureconservation. The award will be given in the memory of StaffanSvanberg, who offered an appreciated mix of boat trips to Haparan-da Sandskär, seal safaris, guided hikes and overnight stays at the topof the Bothnia bay. The memorial prize was made possible by a gen-erous anonymous donation received by the Swedish Ecotourism So-ciety in 2017. With cooperation from the Svanberg family and localrepresentatives of residents around the national park, the criteria forfuture prizewinners has been designed and agreed upon.Information on the Participation of Sylvia Bretschneider at the27. Economic Forum in Krynica-Zdrój, PolandThe 27th Economic Forum took place from the 5. – 7. September2017 in Krynica-Zdrój, Poland. This forum is the biggest III. Important developments in the field of sustainable tourismSylvia Bretschneider at the 27th Economic Forum19international meeting in Eastern Europe of economic and politicalleaders as well as scientists and representatives from NGO ́s andmedia. Several thousand people participated at this conference withthe title: “Project Europe – what recipe for the next decade?”. SylviaBretschneider was invited to participate at the panel discussion onthe topic: “Fighting Stereotypes - the Influence of the National andRegional Image on Tourism and Economic Development.” Tourismexperts from Moldovia, Ukraine, Switzerland, Portugal and Polandalso participated. Sylvia Bretschneider used that opportunity to in-form the other participants, stakeholders and guests on the develop-ments on sustainable tourism in the Baltic Sea Region and deliveredthe printed final report of the BSPC Working Group on SustainableTourism to the interested audience. She pointed out in her speechthat: “the tourism sector is a competitive market in which every re-gion and every tourism provider competes traditionally for his orher own profits. However, to promote tourism regions in a globaliz-ing world it is important to work together. [...] cooperation and theexchange of experiences are the keys to achieve this goal. To pro-mote a regional abroad, we must be visible and therefore we need acommon approach and we need to cooperate. Against this back-ground of an apparent contradiction between competition and co-operation, the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference for examplelaunched in 2015 the Working Group on Sustainable Tourism. [...]After two years of intensive work, the Working Group was complet-ed in Hamburg with the presentation of the final report. This reportcontains concrete political positions and recommendations pertain-ing to sustainable tourism and leads to stronger cooperation in theBaltic Sea Region.”Information on the 10th Baltic Sea T ourism Forum 2017The annual Baltic Sea Tourism Forum was held in T urku, Finlandon the 2-3 November, 2017. At the meeting, 140 delegates fromthe Baltic Sea states came together to discuss many important, di-verse topics under the thematic umbrella of ‘The Future of BalticSea Tourism.’ The main subjects of the meeting included sustaina-bility, digitalization, education, tourism funding, and cooperationamong regional actors and governments.A highlight of this forum was the participation of experts who gavepresentations detailing their professional insights and experiencesregarding sustainable tourism practices. One of these speeches camefrom Ms. Anke Domscheit-Berg, a member of the Federal Parlia-ment in Germany, who gave input into ‘Digitalization and the 2. Forums, Workshops and Conferences20Future of T ravel.’ She noted as the rate of change in technologicaladvances accelerates, it becomes more difficult to make predictionson problems that will arise and how to address them. The revolu-tion of technology is affecting all industries, and Domscheit-Bergparticularly mentioned how 3D printed autonomous cars are be-coming the future of local transport. It was important to her to in-vest in the human experience and make travel more accessiblethrough technology, such as Virtual Reality and T ravel Apps.Another key contribution to the forum came from Mr. FrankCuypers, Senior Strategic Consultant of the consulting agency“DestinationThink.” This concept is meant to stimulate the discus-sion on ‘The future of Destination Marketing Organizations(DMOs)’ and sustainable funding models for DMOs. Cuyperswent over how to build and manage brands, create reputation for aplace, and promote tourism with a long-term, sustainable strategies.Furthermore, the Forum became a platform for transnational coop-eration. This was best demonstrated through the participants layingout plans and showing support for the Baltic Sea Tourism Center(BSTC). The BSTC is intended to: bridge the gap between politicsand business operations, collect data through research and collabo-ration, and voice the interests of the tourism sector on a macro-re-gional level.The Forum also released the results of the “Questionnaire on futuresof BSR tourism 2030.” The purpose of this exercise was to get par-ticipants to recognize future challenges, drivers and barriers of III. Important developments in the field of sustainable tourism10th BSTF from 2 – 3 November 2017 in Turku, Finland,© Mika Okko21sustainable tourism in the Baltic. It also helped gather insights andgenerate discussion about futures. 120 responses on the desirabilityverses the probability of six statements related to the SustainableBlue Growth Agenda for Baltic Sea Region were collected and ana-lyzed. All statements were seen as rather desirable (mean 5,8 on ascale 1 -7) but a little less probable (mean 4,6 on a scale 1 -7). Themost probable (and least desirable) statement was that in 2030 thecustomer experience will be increasingly digital, using virtual andaugmented reality. The least probable statement was that destina-tions and actors will cooperate in a cross-cutting and horizontalmanner across the Baltic Sea region.In addition, the Forum included a pitching session, which gave theopportunity for projects to present their innovative ideas of transna-tional and cross-border initiatives and for programs to improve thevisibility of existing sustainable approaches of international cooper-ation. Looking toward the future, a tighter cooperation with theWorld Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Council of theBaltic Sea States was envisioned.2. Forums, Workshops and Conferences22IV. Prospects for a sustainablefutureIn continuing the path to develop the Baltic Sea Region into aneco-region where ecology and economy work together in a balancedand integrated manner to sustain societies and culture, it is neces-sary to further support and strive for the implementation of the po-litical recommendations of the BSPC Working Group on sustaina-ble tourism. Fruitful contacts with relevant institutions, organiza-tions and other actors in the Baltic Sea Region have been estab-lished and should be maintained. One of these close contacts is withthe Baltic Sea Tourism Centre. With this centre we have the strongstrategic connection from politics and the tourism economy with allits facilities. Hopefully the Baltic Sea Tourism Centre will become apermanent establishment beyond the end of the funding period in2019; however this requires further political support from the wholeBaltic Sea Region.An important upcoming event will be the 11th Baltic Sea TourismForum from 14. - 15. November 2018 in Riga. The 11th Forumwill “focus on the exciting yet challenging times of change in tour-ism and politics, the forum will address how to be prepared for andthese changes in order to make travelling better, smarter and morevaluable – for visitors, locals, heritage, and nature.” A position pa-per concerning the cooperation on sustainable tourism after 2020will be evolved for that forum. Furthermore the results and the finaldocumentation of the project “From the Sustainable DevelopmentsGoals towards a Sustainable Tourism in the Baltic Sea Region” (seechapter III. 1) will be integrated in the forums resolution. IV . Prospects for a sustainable futureBaltic Sea Parliamentary Conferencewww.bspc.netBSPC SecretariatSchlossgartenallee 1519061 SchwerinGermany