General Information
Activities to implement this Resolution from Activity Reports
| Relevant operative para(s) of Res/Rec | Activities Overview | Description | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Convene stakeholders/Networking | TAPAS maintains standing collaboration with UNESCO and the IUCN World Heritage Programme on tourism and visitor management in World Heritage sites. This is established as a continuing line of work in the TAPAS 2026-2029 strategy, completed in 2026. | On-going | Full activity report |
| 2 | Education/Communication/Raising awareness | TAPAS continues to work with the #NatureForAll initiative on visitation as a route to building conservation constituencies, and on communicating responsible visitor behaviour in protected areas. | On-going | Full activity report |
| 3 | Convene stakeholders/Networking | Stream 1.2 of the 2027 IUCN World Protected and Conserved Areas Congress, "Integrating PCA systems into sectoral strategies, governance and policies", is led by the TAPAS Chair and includes dedicated sessions on the tourism-protected areas interface. It provides a structured multi-stakeholder venue for exchange on preventing and mitigating overtourism. | On-going | Full activity report |
| 4 | Scientific/technical activities | A stocktaking paper on tourism and visitor management in protected and conserved areas is in preparation for the 2027 Congress, co-led by Ante Mandić and Thiago Beraldo Souza. It reviews current management practice and the available evidence base on measuring visitor pressure, and will serve as the evidence baseline for the update of the IUCN tourism guidelines. | Planned | Full activity report |
| 5 | Scientific/technical activities | Scoping is under way within TAPAS for the update of IUCN Best Practice Guidelines No. 27 (2018), mandated by Resolution 8.129 OP2. The revision addresses carrying capacity and limits of acceptable change, overtourism and visitor pressure, and climate change. It is the main vehicle for delivering the assessment tools referred to in OP2a of this Resolution. | On-going | Full activity report |
| 6 | Scientific/technical activities | TAPAS is reconciling terminology across existing tourism assessment tools and guides, so that assessment approaches can be applied consistently by protected area managers and tourism operators across different national contexts. | On-going | Full activity report |
| 7 | Fundraising | TAPAS will submit a proposal to the Commission for a resourced work plan covering Resolutions 8.075 and 8.129, including the drafting group, review process and publication budget required to deliver the guidelines update in time for the 2027 Congress. | Planned | Full activity report |
| 1 | Convene stakeholders/Networking | TAPAS maintains standing collaboration with UNESCO and the IUCN World Heritage Programme on tourism and visitor management in World Heritage sites. This is established as a continuing line of work in the TAPAS 2026-2029 strategy, completed in 2026. | On-going | Full activity report |
Actors involved from Activity Reports
| IUCN Members | IUCN Commissions | IUCN Secretariat | Other non-IUCN related organisations |
|---|---|---|---|
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Challenges / lessons learned from Activity Reports
| Challenges / lessons learned | Description | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Insufficient / lack of resources | Implementation depends entirely on volunteer time. No dedicated funding has been secured and no Secretariat counterpart has been designated for this Resolution. |
Full activity report |
| Monitoring and accountability issues | Quantifying the local environmental impacts of overtourism, as requested by OP3b, implies sustained site-level data collection across a wide range of protected areas. This is beyond what a volunteer specialist group can carry without an institutional research partner. Identifying such a partner is a priority for the next reporting period. |
Full activity report |
| Coordination issues | Resolutions 8.075 and 8.129 overlap substantially and converge on the same instruction to WCPA: the update of Best Practice Guidelines No. 27. TAPAS is implementing them as a single work package rather than as separate streams. An explanatory note on this arrangement is attached to both Activity Reports. |
Full activity report |
| Insufficient / lack of resources | Implementation depends entirely on volunteer time. No dedicated funding has been secured and no Secretariat counterpart has been designated for this Resolution. |
Full activity report |
Technical work has also commenced to support implementation objectives, including the preparation of a stocktaking paper on tourism and visitor management in protected and conserved areas, scoping activities for the revision of IUCN Best Practice Guidelines No. 27, and efforts to harmonise terminology across tourism assessment tools and guidance documents. These activities contribute to building the evidence base and assessment approaches needed to address tourism pressures in protected and conserved areas.
However, implementation remains at an early stage. To date, WCPA is the only IUCN constituent that has reported activities under this Resolution. No reports have yet been submitted by Members, National Committees, or other Commissions. Furthermore, implementation faces important challenges related to limited financial and human resources, dependence on voluntary contributions, and the need for stronger institutional support and partnerships for monitoring and research.
As Secretariat focal point, engagement with the lead actors is planned before the end of 2026 to explore opportunities for coordinated implementation, resource mobilisation, and integration of Resolution objectives into ongoing programmes and projects. This includes identifying synergies with existing initiatives where tourism represents both a driver of biodiversity loss and an opportunity for sustainable conservation outcomes, such as landscape-scale forest conservation programmes in Mesoamerica.
Key priorities for the next reporting period include establishing a clearer implementation framework, strengthening engagement with Members and partners, identifying potential funding opportunities, advancing the update of relevant IUCN guidance, and encouraging broader reporting through the Resolutions Platform.
Reported implementation highlights the importance of aligning this Resolution with existing programmes and policy processes rather than creating standalone initiatives. Resource constraints remain a significant challenge, as much of the work currently depends on voluntary contributions. The need for stronger collaboration between commissions, Members, Secretariat programmes and external research institutions is also evident, particularly to generate the evidence and monitoring systems required to assess tourism-related impacts and solutions at scale. Moving forward, embedding Resolution implementation within ongoing conservation and sustainable development projects may provide a practical pathway for increasing impact while leveraging existing funding and technical capacity.