The World Tourism Forum was a big international event that was held in Brazil between the 24th and the 26th of October in Rio de Janeiro. Its main focus was the necessary conditions for peace and sustainable development in developing countries, therefore including Brazil. The aim of the forum was to develop tourism in order to promote peace, social development, cultural diversity, preservation of biodiversity, and economic development. This would associate mass tourism with sustainable tourism, and the positive results could be used in the development of tourism to create numerous employment opportunities in the world today, one of the key aspects of tourism.

Sustainable tourism is a means of development for many areas, and it is not only theoretically important as it has become a necessity in certain places. Rio offers a suitable example: popular tourist areas such as Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Carnival, the World Cup, Copacabana etc. could be used to help local underdeveloped communities with basic necessities such as education, new employment opportunities, poverty eradication, the fight for social justice, adequate living conditions, prevention of sexual exploitation (particularly of minors) and the promotion of peace.

In my opinion the two most interesting moments were a speaker called Jennifer Seif, the Executive Director of Fair Trade in Tourism of South Africa, and the speech about Iko Poran, which works with international volunteers in Brazil. In both cases, the speakers looked at different, specific examples for sustainable tourism in what are developing countries. Each one backed up their idea by showing positive effects of work undertaken towards sustainable development.

Brazil is slightly different as racism and other such problems are less visible, and unlike in South Africa mass tourism was able to develop here in the past. This being the case, Brazils extensive positive aspects (cultural diversity, biodiversity, pleasant climate, as well as a welcoming population) have been and remain abused and exploited. Nevertheless I had the opportunity to learn a lot and to meet various people who work not only in tourism but also on behalf of those who are socially underprivileged. There was an extensive mix of races, peoples, and cultures at the forum, but everyone had the same mindset: to use tourism as a tool for a better world without borders or frontiers. As a result of the forum I now view tourism in a different light as before I had little real explanation of the term “sustainable” and hence did not know much about it related to tourism. I believe that tourism and sustainability are the beginnings of a better, fairer, more equal world, including Brazil.