Especially for tour operators who rely on many suppliers, it is not easy to keep an eye on the impact of their business activities on all people involved. Do the hotel employees receive fair wages? Will the fishermen still have access to the sea when the new hotel is built? There are many details to be kept in mind. 

Over 30 organisations from 19 countries - including Naturfriends International - have joined forces to work together for the sustainable development of global tourism. In March 2017, they prepared the Berlin Declaration "Transforming Tourism" and presented it at the international travel trade show ITB in Berlin in 2017.

Community-based tourism means participation and involvement of the local population living in tourism destinations. This ideally creates socially responsible, participatory tourism based on local structures that the local population benefits from.

Travelling triggers change … it changes the environment, the economy, and the people in the destination regions, and it also changes the travellers who gain new impressions and experiences. Every individual traveller can shape and promote sustainable tourism development with his/her decisions, activities, and behaviour.