One of the major challenges facing our industry is the sustainability of the tourism sector.

Sustainable tourism means many different things to many different people – as a result, it is often very difficult to produce a clear concise definition of what it means, and once we have that definition, what we can do to achieve it.

In the UK, we can define sustainable tourism under the three following areas:

Firstly, and most importantly, we must have economically sustainable tourism, where the conditions exist to enable tourism to continue to grow and visitor numbers to rise.

In the short-term, this could simply mean looking towards London 2012 Olympic Games as a generator for inbound visitor numbers.

In the long-term, however, this means using London 2012 to develop and drive the UK forward as a destination in the years following one international sporting event, and ensuring that the flow of tourist traffic is not restricted to a one-way circuit of the streets of London, but out into the regions of England, Wales and Scotland.

It also means, allowing more investment. In the past month alone a large shadow has been cast over the viability of achieving this by the outgoing Chancellor’s last budget, which removed the Hotel Buildings Allowance, which in one fell swoop scrapped the single largest incentive to investment in our industry.

Add to this the large tracts of legislation and regulation which over the past 10 years have pushed up the cost of travel within and you have a destination which on the global market is dangerously close to being overpriced.

What we want to see, and what we have always argued for, is less bureaucratic red-tape to tie the hands of investors and proprietors, fewer regulations which complicate that which should be simplified, and better economic conditions to enable sustainable, long-term investment in our industry.

Secondly, an essential pillar of any responsible tourism programme must be its environmental sustainability.

Not for the first time in UK and international politics, green issues are high on the agenda. Our government has already signalled its commitment to pursuing a policy of conserving energy and cutting emissions, and like it or not, the industry will be expected to do the same.

Eco-savvy consumers across the globe are increasingly examining the ‘carbon footprint’ of their lifestyles, and many are looking to more sustainable alternatives to traditional holidaymaking. If it means more domestic tourists, so much the better, but it may also mean fewer inbound tourists. Our industry must move to encourage this shift in consumer behaviour.

And we must have a socially sustainable tourism. Anthropology aside, we must have a tourism sector within which new employment opportunities are being created for young people in Britain, and that craft skills and customer service standards are improved within the domestic workforce.

Moreover, stronger marketing of our regional produce, landmarks, cultures and people will encourage a stronger link between local economies and global tourism, and will enable UK tourism to develop hitherto undiscovered niche markets. Arguably, tourism can never be completely sustainable as there will always be a variety of pressures from outside the sector which will impact upon it, such as terrorism, war, and disease.

However, in spite of these international pressures, we can work towards making UK tourism more sustainable.

From an administration which once professed a commitment to ‘joined-up government’ we now need a policy which will develop economically, environmentally and socially sustainable tourism by linking up the Treasury, DEFRA, DCMS and the DEFS to produce a coherent response to this major challenge.