dossier sur le tourisme et le développement durable

68
Political scope
the representation for local interests. In Italy, the tourism policy is essentially a regionally
governed one. In Spain, the creation of Autonomies upset the system of tourism control and
allowed the Balearic Isles for example to re-examine their objectives in the development of
tourism. More generally, in the European Union, recent changes tend to reinforce regional
competence rather than State control.
These problems, however, are emerging in some south and east Mediterranean countries in
which tourist policy is still centrally controlled. However, there seems to be a tendency in these
countries, too, towards the taking into account of local interests.
When decentralisation is carried out too intensively, the overlapping of decision-making bodies
can bring about a situation of confusion. In France, a statute of 1992, tried to share competence
for tourism between the State, the regions, the counties and the communes, but this did not
solve the problem of competence and coordination conflicts.
2.3. The various levels of involvement and their articulation
Tourism control of is not limited to action centred on destinations. The destination is the basic
unit for tourist development, and it is at this level that the success or failure of the policies made
at other levels can be measured. But, it should not be concluded that the contribution of tourism
to sustainable development in the Mediterranean depends solely on action at this level.
Indeed, the destination itself is not always the appropriate rung in terms of assessment and
solutions, especially when some problems are external to its framework. For example,
promotion requires action at regional level (NUTS 2 or NUTS 3 or equivalent), national or even
international level; the problem of access to holidays can only be well assessed at national
level; transport of tourists is a problem at all levels of involvement. And the list continues.
Besides this, an over-local approach could neglect some external factors of tourism
development. Tourism in a particular destination could be considered as sustainable at local
level, but it could induce road congestion, put heavy pressure on the maintenance costs of a
neighbouring area or be the cause of greenhouse gas emissions on the tourists’ route to their
destination. In the same way, issues like the effects of tourism on erosion of bio-diversity could
be insufficiently taken into account in the Mediterranean or elsewhere because those involved in
tourism do not feel that they are directly concerned.
Policies that enable tourism to contribute efficiently to sustainable development in the
Mediterranean should, therefore, combine several approaches at various levels. Apart from at
local level, they should intervene at national and regional levels (NUTS 2 or equivalent) with
regard to transport policies, holiday aid, promotion for tourist investments, protection of the
environment with laws for the protection of the coastline and the natural heritage, and so on.
They should also have international scope to combine cooperation efforts because the
Mediterranean countries have a mutual interest: the promotion and enhancement of the
Mediterranean as a destination in view of competition from other regions of the world. There is
also a lot to be done at international level concerning development aid, the transfer of
technologies, the fight against worldwide environmental problems (greenhouse effect, water
resources, desertification, forests and so forth).
2.4. A traditionally little controlled sector
Link between tourism and sustainable development
Slogans have always flourished such as “an industry without factories” or the environment as
“the raw material of tourism” in order to give tourism the image of a service activity that does not
have a noticeable impact on society and the environment. Enterprises in the tourist sector could
be naturally led to environmental protection as it would be in their direct and immediate interest.