Armalygal is a traveler's camp that, since its opening in 1991, decided to express itself under the concept of sustainable tourism when it was still unknown. Nowadays, according to UNWTO, the principles that define sustainable tourism are:
-
Natural and cultural resources are conserved for continued use in the future, while providing benefits;
-
Tourism development is planned and managed in a way that doesn’t cause serious environmental or socio-cultural problems;
-
Environmental quality is maintained and improved;
-
It seeks to maintain a high level of satisfaction of visitors and the destination retains its prestige and commercial potential;
-
The tourism benefits are widely distributed throughout society.
These characteristics make sustainable tourism a strategic tool in local and national economic development. On the one hand, tourism is a great opportunity in some urban and rural areas, where there are no other alternatives for economic activity. At the same time, as part of the services sector, it offers more opportunities for the emergence of local companies (it must be considered that even in the most developed countries, this sector is mainly made up of SMEs). And despite being a sector that requires heavy investments in infrastructure and equipment, it also uses labor intensively, thus offering numerous job and business opportunities, without distinction for men, women and young people. This tourism trend called Sustainable Tourism is also supported by UNESCO, who argues that "The development of sustainable tourism must be ecologically sustainable in the long term, economically viable, as well as ethically and socially equitable" (BRESCE, 2009).