A/78/162
initiatives off the ground, as the majority of Khwe San people in the Bwabwata Park
area live in situations of abject poverty and marginalization (see A/HRC/24/41/Add.1).
78. The Government of Canada, through the Ministry of Tourism, held round tables
with national, provincial and territorial Indigenous tourism organizations and several
Indigenous tourism businesses to gather input for the creation of a Can$20 million
Indigenous tourism fund, and a new federal tourism growth strategy is being
developed with Indigenous tourism partners to support the needs of Indigenous
tourism businesses. 126
79. The Government of Chile has promoted a course on authenticity and marketing
of Indigenous tourism called “Market-ready Indigenous Tourism”, whose contents
were designed with support from Indigenous organizations. It has also provided
opportunities to raise awareness of Indigenous tourism in the tourism market,
involving Indigenous representatives in the design and dissemination of promotional
material. The Government of Chile has also promoted the Indigenous governance and
co-management of the National System of State-Protected Wildlife Areas. 127
80. In Colombia, in February 2023, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and
Tourism launched a new tourism policy called “Tourism in harmony with life”, which
is aimed at preserving biodiversity, tangible and intangible heritage and the
generation of income for ethnic and local communities. In the case of ethnic
communities, the policy promotes guidelines to preserve their territories, resources
and knowledge. The policy also respects the land management plans of ethnic
communities, such as the “plans of life”, “ethno-development plans” and the “long
road plans”. 128
81. The Government of Australia offers grants for Indigenous tourism operators to
develop and extend place-based, tailored services from industry experts, to support
First Nations tourism businesses across the country. In addition, the Government
co-invests with states and territories in large-scale First Nations tourism projects to
stimulate and strengthen the economic participation of First Nations peoples in the
visitor economy. 129
IX. Conclusions and recommendations
82. The tourism industry can represent an opportunity for Indigenous Peoples
to strengthen their rights to autonomy, lands, territories and resources, selfdevelopment, social and economic empowerment, and protection of natural and
cultural heritage, knowledge and skills. These benefits can be achieved only
through the participation of Indigenous Peoples themselves in any project that
affects them and by embracing a human rights-based approach to tourism. While
the Special Rapporteur notes good practices promoted by States and the private
sector to ensure that Indigenous Peoples can benefit from tourism projects, the
existence of gross violations of human rights related to tourism shows that much
work remains to be done to align due diligence and ethical standards of the
tourism sector to existing human rights standards on Indigenous Peoples to
ensure that the tourism sector respects human rights.
83. Negative impacts of tourism activities on Indigenous Peoples include the
expropriation of their land and resources, militarization of their territory,
__________________
126
127
128
129
22/25
Submission by Canada.
Submission by Chile.
Joint submission by Indigenous Peoples Rights International and International Work Group for
Indigenous Affairs.
See https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/economic-development/first-nations-tourism.
23-13642