With the help of www.gentle-tours.org, the International Friends of Nature aimed to stimulate tourism to develop in the direction of sustainability. With this in mind Hannah Feigl is going to give the idea a further devolpement. Tourism can be viewed as sustainable, if it

• reduces to the lowest possible level, such ecological strains as the use of the natural environment, energy, water and air pollution, especially tourist traffic.

• builds on the experience of local culture and heritage and contributes to the protection and development of this heritage.

• accounts for the needs of the local population and includes these in development decisions.

• encourages local business i.e. local business circles.

The respective ecological profiles of touristic offers should not in themselves be taken as absolute for rating purposes, but on the one hand should inform the user of the level of sustainability of the offer, and on the other hand, show the supplier where they can improve. We hope with the help of www.gentle-tours.org, to be able to assist consumers in planning their holiday destinations and their leisure time in a more informed way, as well as helping to develop and support the increasing number of sustainable tourism offers.