Resource Center

The Resource Center provides existing studies, websites, tools, databases and further information on Human Rights in general, and with focus on tourism. 

If you know further resources, please info [at] humanrights-in-tourism [dot] net (subject: Resource%20Center) (let us know) and we are glad to add them. 

Responsible Tourism in Oppressive Regimes - A Guide for Tour Operators to Put People First

Website

The printable online publication "Responsible Tourism in Oppressive Regimes – A Guide for Tour Operators to Put People First" helps tour operators with the complex question of how to offer responsible tourism in politically challenging countries as it guides through the first steps, showcases possible fields of action and offers additional links and resources.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism

Topic(s)

Due Diligence
Peace and Conflict
Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR]
Risk Assessment

Year of publication

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Addressing Children's Rights in Business

An Assessment from Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Companies can affect children’s rights in all stages of their value chains. Despite these multiple intersections between business and children, companies rarely address children’s rights specifically beyond their general commitments to human rights. This study was conducted to assess the role that children’s rights currently play for businesses in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The findings provide insights into how to support businesses to engage more specifically with children’s rights.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]
UN Global Compact Network Switzerland & Liechtenstein

Topic(s)

Children's Rights

Year of publication

Length

34 pages
more …

Advancing Women's Economic Empowerment in the Tourism Sector in COVID-19 Response and Recovery

Due to the travel and tourism industry’s pre-existing gender inequalities and women’s predominance in the sector’s workforce, women are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. This publication explores the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s economic empowerment in the tourism sector. It examines emerging research and data on these impacts, identifies innovative responses to these challenges across regions, and makes concrete recommendations for action by different stakeholders.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

UN Women

Topic(s)

Women's Rights/Women Empowerment
Equality
COVID-19

Year of publication

Length

13 pages
more …

Blue Tourism Resource Portal

Website

The Blue Tourism Resource Portal is designed to help tourism decision makers, managers, and operators make their destinations sustainable and resilient. The Portal offers hundreds of the most useful resources including guidelines, toolkits, good practices, case studies and blue tourism networks. Resources are grouped by the five pillars of destination sustainability: Culture, Environment, Health, Management, and Socio-Economic.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

The Ocean Foundation

Topic(s)

Tourism Development
Sustainability
Environment

Year of publication

more …

Business and Human Rights: Navigating a Changing Legal Landscape

January 2022

The momentum behind the introduction of mandatory human rights and environmental reporting and due diligence requirements continues to grow. There is increasing recognition by policymakers and legislatures of the value of adopting a holistic approach to driving responsible and sustainable business conduct. In this briefing, the GBI and Clifford Chance consider these developments, focusing on what companies need to know to position themselves to navigate the changing legal landscape.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

Clifford Chance
Global Business Inititative [GBI]

Topic(s)

Due Diligence
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights [UNGPs]

Year of publication

Length

30 pages
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Can tourism tread more lightly?

Travel industry pledges to clean up its act as it zooms back post-pandemic

With the travel and tourism industry roaring back to life after going into hibernation due to Covid, the Summer 2022 issue of The Ethical Corporation Magazine takes a timely look at the state of sustainability in the sector. It sheds light on each part of the industry to assess how they are responding to the challenge of getting onto a sustainable growth path after two years of lack of revenue.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

Reuters Events

Topic(s)

Sustainability
COVID-19

Year of publication

Length

47 pages
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Charting the Course: Embedding children's rights in responsible business conduct

A Brief

In a world in which business is intrinsic to the social and economic fabric, virtually all children are impacted one way or another by business activity. This brief covers the topics of business impact on children, recent progress, and charting the course for the next decade. Calling on the business world, governments, and other stakeholders to make children's rights visible, it provides a collection of concrete recommendations and actions to take.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]
UN Global Compact
Save the Children

Topic(s)

Children's Rights
Due Diligence

Year of publication

Length

16 pages
more …

Climate Action through Regeneration

Unlocking the Power of Communities and Nature through Tourism

This report sheds light on the intersection of climate change and the role of small businesses in travel and tourism. By examining the approach of nature-based solutions and regenerative tourism, the report provides 5 principles for developing effective nature-based solutions in the tourism sector.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

Regenerative Travel
Solimar International

Topic(s)

Environment
Sustainability
Climate Change

Year of publication

Length

65 pages
more …

Closing the gap

Evidence for effective human rights due diligence from five years measuring company efforts to address forced labour

Momentum is growing for mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence, with companies and investors lining up alongside civil society, workers, governments and unions to call for effective laws to oversee rights protections. This report provides new evidence of the urgent need for voluntary action to be strengthened with robust regulatory requirements for companies to identify human rights risks and prevent abuse.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

KnowTheChain
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Topic(s)

UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights [UNGPs]
Labour Rights
Due Diligence
Modern Slavery

Year of publication

Length

23 pages
more …

Decolonising tourism and development: from orphanage tourism to community empowerment in Cambodia

Tourism has been viewed as a development pathway, with alternative tourism such as volunteer tourism perceived as promising. However, critics have highlighted how white saviourism and Western ideologies of superiority may underpin both development agendas and activities like volunteer tourism. This article addresses the research question of how might we transform the paternalistic desire to “do good” found in both voluntourism and development into a practice of mutual solidarity.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

Higgins-Desbiolles F.
Scheyvens R. A.
Bhatia B.

Topic(s)

Voluntourism
Community Impact

Year of publication

Length

22 pages
more …

Destination Net-Zero

The Climate Action Guidebook

This guidebook contains advice for leaders within companies of all sizes in the travel and tourism sector who are looking to start, or progress, their decarbonisation journey to net-zero. It provides sector-specific insight, examples of good practice and practical support for travel business decision-makers wanting to decarbonise and take steps towards carbon risk management.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

Deloitte
ABTA

Topic(s)

Climate Change
Sustainability

Year of publication

Length

67 pages
more …

EU ECO-TANDEM PROGRAMME

Website

The project co-funded by the European Union aims to boost sustainable tourism development and increase the capacity building of traditional tourism SMEs through transnational cooperation and knowledge transfer. Tourism SMEs need to embrace the opportunity that the new challenge of sustainability offers, as a possible driver of innovation and growth.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

THE EU ECO-TANDEM PROGRAMME

Topic(s)

Environment
Sustainability
Stakeholder Engagement
Tourism Stakeholder
Tourism Development

Year of publication

more …

European SME Going Green 2030 Report

Review and analysis of policies, strategies and instruments for boosting sustainable tourism in Europe

The comprehensive report provides an overview of Europe-wide action on the state and development of sustainable tourism at different levels, with a particular focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It informs about European policy, global guidelines for the development of sustainable tourism, and the post-COVID-19 future of sustainable tourism in Europe.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

European Tourism Going Green [ETTG] 2030

Topic(s)

Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]
Sustainability
Tourism Development

Year of publication

Length

505 pages
more …

Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines for the Public Sector in Tourism

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent impact on the tourism sector, integrating women’s needs and concerns into tourism policy is more important than ever. The Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines for the Public Sector in Tourism have been developed to support the tourism public sector to integrate gender equality considerations and women’s economic empowerment into tourism planning and implementation.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

World Tourism Organization [UNWTO]

Topic(s)

Women's Rights/Women Empowerment
Gender
Equality

Year of publication

Length

24 pages
more …

Gender-inclusive Strategy for Tourism Businesses

In tourism, the benefits of advancing gender equality are further amplified due to the high proportion of women working in the sector. The "Gender Inclusive Strategy for Tourism Businesses" contains tools to support private sector tourism enterprises of all types and sizes achieve effective and consistent strategies and programmes for gender equality across their operations.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

World Tourism Organization [UNWTO]

Topic(s)

Gender
Equality
Women's Rights/Women Empowerment

Year of publication

Length

18 pages
more …

Get The Facts: Big Ships, Big Problems

Website

The destructive environmental impacts of cruise ships on air and water quality are well-established. Safer, Cleaner Ships is a grassroots movement of everyday citizens. Their facts on the cruise industry cover a collection of negative effects on public health, the environment and marine life, and the economy. Moreover, they provide inspiration on possible solutions and two case studies.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

Key West Committee for Safer
Cleaner Ships

Topic(s)

Sustainability
Environment
Tourism Development

Year of publication

more …

How To Communicate The World

A Social Media Guide For Volunteers and Travelers

Volunteering programs are expanding rapidly. Language and images in that context can either divide and make stereotypical descriptions – or unify, clarify and create nuanced descriptions of the complex world we live in. However, it can be difficult to present other people and the surroundings accurately in a brief social media post. This is your go-to guide providing four guiding principles to ensure that you respect the right to privacy while documenting your experiences abroad.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

RADI-AID

Topic(s)

Consumer Awareness

Year of publication

Length

3 pages
more …

How to Declare a Climate Emergency & Take Climate Action

A playbook for business

The second edition of the Climate Emergency Playbook includes case studies about businesses that have declared a climate emergency and a deeper series of approaches about how to engage with key departments. Covering the topics of taking action, climate advocacy, and the road ahead, it provides recommendations for action and an outlook on future challenges and opportunities in the business context.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

B Lab UK

Topic(s)

Climate Change
Environment

Year of publication

Length

49 pages
more …

Human Rights Due Diligence

Step by step - Practical guide for companies

How can a company embed human rights due diligence in its business processes and value chain? This practical guide helps both SMEs and large companies to develop and implement pragmatic and effective human rights due diligence processes in line with the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guide- lines. In addition, it outlines the first steps companies can take when setting up a due diligence system.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

focusright

Topic(s)

Due Diligence
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights [UNGPs]

Year of publication

Length

18 pages
more …

Human rights responsibilities of multinational enterprises and States in the Cuban tourism sector

The tourism and hospitality sector has been key to the development of the Cuban economy for decades. The report addresses the State duty to protect the human rights of workers, the corporate responsibility to respect the human rights of workers, and the access to workers to remedies for corporate-related human rights abuses. Moreover, it provides recommendations to States, for business, and for civil society organisations.

Author(s) / Editor(s)

British Institute of International and Comparative Law

Topic(s)

UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights [UNGPs]
Due Diligence
Supply Chain

Year of publication

Length

63 pages
more …