IMTM Sustainable Tourism Forum to be held this weekend

IMTM Sustainable Tourism Forum (STF) 2022 is scheduled to take place this weekend.

The third edition of the IMTM Sustainable Tourism Forum will be held at the Manhattan Business Hotel in Male’ City, on 3rd and 4th December.

The IMTM Sustainable Tourism Forum is a platform connecting stakeholders from the Maldives Tourism Industry, encouraging them to engage in dialogue on issues pertaining to social, economic, and environmental sustainability of the country’s tourism sector.

IMTM states that the aim with this forum is to educate and inspire the industry as a whole to make the Maldives a truly sustainable tourist destination.

The STF is designed as a platform to share experiences and knowledge on sustainable tourism practices geared towards innovation, climate change adaptation and building resiliency of the industry and the Maldivian community. Its goal is to further stimulate understanding of the scientific elements influencing climate resilient development while identifying avenues for investment and improved livelihood of the Maldivian people.

This year’s STF will explore the theme “What is Sustainable Tourism? Interpretations and Discourses of Sustainable Tourism in the Maldives”.

Given the vulnerability of the Maldives to the adverse impacts of climate change and in consideration of the unprecedented growth of the Maldivian tourism sector, platforms such as the IMTM Sustainable Tourism Forum play a critical role.

IMTM states that the STF 2022 further targets to expand its scope in not only creating a space for dialogue, but a means to design and create standards for sustainable tourism in the Maldives and produce knowledge-based products that would contribute to the global understanding of sustainability within the tourism sector.

The STF 2022 will be conducted in five sessions spread across the two-day forum. Speakers will be selected from the registered participants who have expression an interest in sharing a presentation on their company’s sustainability initiatives.

IMTM states that a key outcome of the STF 2022 will be to identify criteria for sustainable tourism in the Maldivian context and identify how these can be replicated among other small island nations.

Through this forum, they seek to answer the question “What is Sustainable Tourism” and clearly define a “sustainable tourism establishment”.

In addition to this, IMTM will be compiling a thorough written report on the discussions held throughout the STF 2022 and submitting it to the government, relevant associations, and other parties to raise more awareness and help guide everyone towards a more sustainable path.

IMTM calls upon the industry to join them and strengthen networks to foster innovation and collaborative approaches to support sustainable tourism. They highlight that this is a platform designed to stimulate dialogue between key players of the Maldivian tourism industry, international partners, the Government, and the local community.