Sustainable Tourism 21 Mar 2023 Dubai Youth Hub

Applicable recommendations during the current time period

Switzerland Toursim showed how combining new innovations from Switzerland with Tourism e.g. electric vehicles, train systems, land-based transport can benefit the whole industry. Their Swisstainable initiative aims to change the motives behind travelling to focus on connecting with new environments and nature by promoting its preservation. The three essential factors are visitor streams, all-year tourism and the length of stay. One of the companies from the private sector that participated was BWTR. They have created a technology to make water consumption durinng traveling more sustainable all around the world and specificall in local hotels. The Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Mall of the Emirates also presented how they are reducing their environmental footprint in the hospitality industry. In addition, Matteo Boffa, a serial entrepreneur, promoted modern technologies enabling sustainable solutions that are often more profitable than traditional ones as using less resources is mostly cheaper. The Dubai Sustainable Tourism Initiative promotes the collaboration with tourism agencies to help companies from the private sector become more sustainable.

Additional ideas and suggestions from youth to apply in the future:

• Promote local projects and programs through tourism, thereby inspiring people from around the world to change their lifestyle to become more sustainable.
• Use and improve more land-based travel systems e.g. solve luggage issues on trains, especially the lack of space
• Make travel easier for people with disabilities and special needs
• Make sustainable tourism more cost efficient