ABSTRACT
Recognition of environmental issues in the tourism sector is the basis of a number of declarations, policies, and actions on the part of the Argentinean environmental public sector. This recognition appears in an evident way in a number of recent key policy instruments, notably in this context the Strategy for Tourism Development and the National Law of Tourism (2005). An essential principle of this law is to promote a process of continuous improvement, based on the commitment of all the actors, the development and management of tourism products, services, and related activities. At the same time, it aims to promote the generation of value and innovation through knowledge transfer, as key tools to assure the quality and competitiveness of the sector (National Secretary of Tourism, 2007). Even so, there is a clear lack of progress in some areas which has not been helped by the fact that existing tourism regulations have not been updated, many of which were promulgated some two decades ago. Conversely, progress is evident through initiatives designed to promote and coordinate the activities of public agencies at the national level, for example, between the National Secretary of Tourism (SECTUR) and the National Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development (SAyDS). Other alliances have also been established between the public and private sector, such as the joint work between IRAM1 and SECTUR. These initiatives, it is argued, have accompanied the dynamic growth in tourism that characterises Argentina today.
