IMTM Pvt. Ltd. has announced the return of the Sustainable Tourism Forum (STF) for its third edition.

The IMTM Sustainable Tourism Forum is a platform connecting stakeholders from the Maldives Tourism Industry, encouraging them to engage in dialogue on issues pertaining to social, economic, and environmental sustainability of the country’s tourism sector.

This year’s STF will take place on 17th and 18th November and will explore the theme “What is Tourism Sustainability? Interpretations and Discourses of Tourism Sustainability in the Maldives”.

Launched in 2019, the STF aims to draw attention to key climatic and anthropogenic issues related to tourism activities and attempts to seek sustainable solutions based on international best practices, local initiatives, scientific research, technology, and innovation. The forum is designed to connect the various sectors of the Maldivian tourism industry and bridges the gap between the local and international stakeholders, the Maldivian Government, independent institutions, the United Nations, relevant scientific and academic bodies to partake in multi-sector dialogue. The first edition of the STF was held alongside IMTM 2019, focusing on “Sustainable Tourism as a tool for local development”. During IMTM 2020, the company organised its second edition of the STF in the form of a webinar based on the theme of “Fostering Rural Tourism”.

Given the vulnerability of the Maldives to the adverse impacts of climate change and in consideration of the unprecedented growth of the Maldivian tourism sector, platforms such as the IMTM Sustainable Tourism Forum play a critical role. The STF is designed as a platform to share experiences and knowledge on sustainable tourism practices geared towards innovation, climate change adaptation and building resiliency of the industry and the Maldivian community. Its goal is to further stimulate understanding of the scientific elements influencing climate resilient development while identifying avenues for investment and improved livelihood of the Maldivian people.

The STF 2022 further targets to expand its scope in not only creating a space for dialogue, but a means to design and create standards for sustainable tourism in the Maldives and produce knowledge-based products that would contribute to the global understanding of sustainability within the tourism sector.

The STF 2022 will be conducted in three sessions spread across the 2-day forum.

• Session one: Concepts, Trends and Policies Relating to Sustainable Tourism
• Session two: Sustainability in Practice
• Session three: Brainstorming Session

IMTM calls upon the industry to join them and strengthen networks to foster innovation and collaborative approaches to support sustainable tourism. This is a platform designed to stimulate dialogue between key players of the Maldivian tourism industry, international partners, the Government, and the local community.