The term sustainable tourism has been widely used and has been “officially
recognized or ‘institutionalized’ among organizations both internal and external, of the
tourism sector.” “The European Commission, for example, has identified sustainable
tourism as one of the five priority areas in the Fifth Community Programme for
Environment and Sustainable Development, while its environmental policy wing has
developed a European Charter for sustainable tourism in protected areas. Deliberations
took place through the Commission during 2003 toward the articulation of a formal
sustainable tourism policy for the European Union.”