Referred to the Committee
on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs,
for information: Reference No. 3453 (19th Sitting, 23 June 2008).
Thesaurus
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.
While considering the draft report “Sustainable development
and tourism: towards quality growth” the Committee on the Environment,
Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe found that rural tourism, a very
important kind of tourist activity with high potential in Europe,
was not included due to specific legal circumstances.
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development – “Agenda
21” – emphasises three equally significant components of sustainable
development: environmental protection, the economy and social development.
It is the compromise between environmental, economic and social
goals that paves the way to prosperity for present and future generations
within the acceptable limits of an environmental impact.
The very nature of rural tourism suggests sustainable development
in the age of intensifying global processes in Europe.
There is a close relationship between the potential of rural
tourism and natural landscape resources. Rural tourism is a family
business and has an inherent potential of conservation of rural
cultural heritage. A number of European countries can show evidence
of the problems that rural tourism experiences as a result of a misbalance
of legislative provisions on environmental protection, the economy
and social development with respect to the development of rural
tourism. If the situation is not corrected, it may have a negative
globalisation impact on human society and pose a threat to the existence
of villages and estates where generations have ensured harmony between
man and nature.
The Assembly decides to analyse the situation and make adequate
decisions to that end.
