Human Rights in Tourism

Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

Preamble – The Universal Declaration of human rights

Human rights are those basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. Once legally established, a human right becomes the means by which an individual – as a right–holder – can bring legitimate claims against others – duty-bearers - when that right is not enjoyed or has been violated. In this way, those who have obligations and responsibilities – duty – bearers – can be held accountable.

The most widely accepted statement of human rights is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It states that governments have promised to uphold certain rights, not only for their own citizens, but also for people in other countries. In other words, national borders are no barrier to helping others achieve their rights.

Human rights and tourism

In the name of development, human rights are often neglected and violated. Tourism is no exemption from this and becoming a more serious human right issue in destinations. For meeting the innumerable requirement and demands of tourists and business, local communities frequently suffer severely. Tourism activities are usually based on existing unequal, exploitative relationships and consequently, the poorer and more vulnerable groups in the destination suffer from the negative impacts of tourism. Its impact on the environment, life and livelihood of vulnerable communities and their culture are immense. The inequalities and exploitation of the poor by powerful rich is inherent to the worst form of tourism practices. This results the serious violation of various rights of the local communities.

In mainstream tourism development, local resources and economic activities are mainly using for the development of the industry and not for the well being of the communities. The local communities do not have any role or say in the development taking place in these destinations. Local communities in these destinations feel that their fundamental human rights are taken away by the industry. Local communities right to land, water, natural resources, health care, education and housing is often denied by the tourism industry or tourist activities. They do not have any say in the development and kicked away from their land and livelihood. The communities’ especially marginalized communities are often forcefully evicted from their land for big tourism projects. Their agriculture and occupational land will be used for developing tourist infrastructure such as hotels, resorts and golf courses. Their land becoming the recreational space for the tourists.

Government policies and programmes are most of the time biased to the industry and facilitating human right violations instead of protecting the rights of the communities. In this context it is very important to place human right issues in tourism to a larger framework. As a civil society group we strongly call for:

• A stringent regulatory and right protection mechanism from governments that can ensure the human right of the communities in destinations.
• Implement the existing laws and legislation in favor of the local communities
• Ensure communities’ right to say no tourism development in their locality
• Access to all information (both negative and positive).
• Right to access and participation in policy making
• Right of the people who are working in the industry (both formal and informal sector)
• To monitor the accountability of the corporations and industry.
• In countries like India voluntary mechanisms are a welcoming step but not sufficient to monitor the human right violations.