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Promoting in the Arab Region the establishment of national and regional tourism strategies and programmes of action that adhere to the principles of Sustainable Development, ensuring that it is based on knowledge of natural resources, biodiversity conditions and environmental impacts, and is integrated with national and regional sustainable development plans, as such:
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Work with member states to ensure the development of policies in the region that avoid reactive and/or speculative tourism developments and promote the development of a diverse tourism base that is well integrated with other local economic activities and social values and needs. Also encourage sound zoning policies of terrestrial, coastal and marine areas and put forward zoning mechanisms for tourism development, confining development to specified areas of minimal environmental impacts.
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In partnership with CAMRE, develop an Arab Tourism strategy to address the trans-boundary environmental issues and problems, such as marine pollution from sea cruises and shipping, and from land-based sources of contamination/ discharges.
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Encourage the adoption of practical plans to protect important habitats and conserve biodiversity in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity. This will include the identification of areas of significance and/or sensitivities (naturally and/or culturally), and promote their classification in terms of the eco-tourism concept and establish management and protection programmes (e.g., Natural Protectorates, National Parks).
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Standardize legislation and simplify regulations and use positive incentives to encourage good practice (e.g. tax cuts).
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Consider regional collaboration for integrated tourism development, by establishing close coordination and networking mechanisms between the Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment and the Arab Ministers Responsible for Tourism, as well as between pertinent regional and international bodies.
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Establish awareness and capacity building programmes to develop and strengthen human resources and tourism institutions at all levels and in all relevant sectors. This will include:
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Support SMEs in the tourism industry, emphasizing local ownership. Also, catalyze the introduction and use of Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs) by tourism sectors or related infrastructures.
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Minimize pollution at source, by implementing prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery and appropriate management and treatment of all waste from the tourism sector .
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Develop a series of manuals on Best Practices in Tourism towards the achievement of Sustainable Tourism & Eco-tourism in the Arab region.
The Main Objective:
To catalyze the development of policy guidelines and a regional strategy for sustainable tourism and eco-tourism; and promote capacity building within the tourism sector for sustainable development (especially for SMEs and local communities).
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