Ratification would represent a definite follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to the 2002 International Year of Eco-Tourism and to the Agenda 21 Process for Sustainable European Tourism.

This resolution, which was inspired by the United Nations initiative designating the year 2001 as International Year of Volunteers, is part of the Youth programme, which includes a component on European Voluntary Service.

R. whereas 1999 has been declared International Tourism Year; whereas tourism plays an important role in the attempt to reduce disparities between regions, and whereas culture makes a significant contribution to the promotion of traditional and alternative tourism,

[31] 6th Session of UN Forum on Forests: proposal to declare 2010 as the International Year of Forests.

The Court of Auditors' Special Report No 3/96 analyses the budgetary management of DirectorateGeneral XXIII in relation to the European Year of Tourism (1990), the 1993-1995 action plan in favour of tourism, the coordination of tourism policy with other Community policies and the promotion of tourism as part of the Community's structural policy.

- Since 1983, no less, this Parliament - and not only its Committee on the Environment - has been calling for a Community policy on tourism which would, inter alia, take full account of the importance of the need to protect the environment and natural resources in any tourist policy. In its resolution based on the report by the Committee on the Environment concerning the European Year of Tourism, Parliament recalled that 'the quality of the environment is the basic resource of a tourist economy', which principle was included, alongside important aspects of consumer protection, in Mr McMillan-Scott's report for the Committee on Transport ...[+++]and Tourism, and subsequently, in Parliament's final resolution on the European Year of Transport aforementioned.