Bizhanova A.M.

4nd year student

Specialty: "International law"

                                                           International Relations Faculty

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University

Scientific adviser:

PhD, Associate Professor of International Law

                                                                                            Baimagambetova Z.M.

 

The International legal regulation of tourist activity

 

Tourism is an important part of international economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation and, of course, takes significant place in global economy. At the present time the role of international tourism is growing: its development has become global, providing a significant impact on the national economy of many countries of the world.

It is well known that tourism is one of the most profitable businesses in the world. According to WTO estimation, it is expected that by 2020 trips to famous cities, popular resorts and the monuments of history and culture will have been made by 1.8 billion people; the revenues from travel services will amount to about 2 trillion USD. It means that new vacancies will be created and millions of people will be employed [1].

Studying the experience of the legal regulation of the states, where tourism is most developed, it should be noted, that the success of the development of tourism depends on how this area is perceived at the state level, how the industry enjoys government support [2].

Turkey can serve as example of such state, which gives privileges to local and foreign investors, tour operators. Due to the financial support of the state and local authorities of Turkey Tourism industry is booming. So, if in 1994 the number of tourists reached 6.7 million people, in 1998 it reached 9.2 million people, and income per year amounted to 8 billion 300 million USD [3].

The modern period of the development of tourism requires the formation of new mechanisms and motivations of the activities of tourism enterprises, as well as insufficiently developed sections of the legislation that directly or indirectly affect the interests of consumers, tourism enterprises and the state in the making of the private tourism sector. The analysis of the documents of international conferences on tourism  shows that "tourism should be planned by the public authorities, as well as local authorities and tourism organizations in an integrated and consistent manner" [4].

Today it is impossible to do without a national mechanism for the coordination of tourism policy at the national level. In this connection, great importance is given to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) - a specialized United Nations agency, which is the leading international organization in the area of tourism and travel. It serves as a global forum in the field of tourism policy and a practical source of tourism know-how. With headquarters in Madrid (Spain), the UNWTO plays a central and decisive role in the promotion and development of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, designed to promote economic development, international understanding, peace, prosperity, and mutual respect, unconditional observance of civil rights and fundamental freedoms. In its recommendations the WTO notes, that at the current stage of the development of tourism only state and government play in it a leading, if not the only role, and the private-business sector is involved partially. Private sector will never be able to cover the need for large investments in the development of resorts, hotels and other tourism enterprises, as well as the main elements of the tourist infrastructure. Exactly state and public authorities provide the representation of tourism in other countries, elaborate programs for the attraction of tourists and provide them with tourist information [5].

The formation of international relationships and partnership of the international community countries involve the improvement of international legal regulation in the sphere of tourism and international travelling. Easily we can say that at the present moment tourism regulation requires overall coordination from the states of all the regions. The CIS countries being aware of the need to work together in the area of tourism and the importance of its formation began to join forces and efforts in advancing this sector of the world economy.

Currently, bilateral and multilateral relationships of the CIS countries are based on economic cooperation. It should be noted, that the integration processes in the post-Soviet space are quite complex and contradictory.

In the CIS countries the coordination of the activities of the international tourism is seen in the framework of partnership in the humanitarian sphere. In the CIS Charter tourism is indicated as one of the main objectives in humanitarian partnership, the expansion of which contributes to the involvement of a wide range of humanitarian cooperation of the potential partners [6].

Tourism issues are mentioned in the Declaration "On humanitarian cooperation of states - participants of the CIS", and in signed in August 2005 for the realization of this Declaration The Agreement “On humanitarian cooperation of states - participants of the CIS”.  According to the provisions of these documents, the country intends to guarantee the achievement of specific objectives in the fields of culture, science, education, information, sport and tourism [7]; [8].

We should also note the important role of the international legal regulation of tourist activity of the Interparliamentary Assembly of countries - participants of the CIS (IPA), which received all the powers of an international organization in accordance with the Convention on the Interparliamentary Assembly of countries - members of the Commonwealth of Independent States on May 26, 1995.

One of the main problems of IPA is the formation, development and approximation of legislation of the CIS countries. After the adoption in the Interparliamentary Assembly the model legal acts are offered to Commonwealth states as the standards for national legislation.

Guided by the Manila Declaration on the World tourism of 1980, the Hague Declaration on Tourism of 1989 and other international agreements in this area, the states  signed the  agreement "On cooperation in the field of tourism " on December 23, 1993. According to the document, the states take over the obligation to promote to the creation of a joint tourist space, harmonization of legal and regulatory documents, and also the adoption of certain measures for the renewal of the traditional tourist routes and the opening of new ones [8]; [9].

Particular interest is paid to expanding and generating of public or social tourism, the simplification of passport and visa and customs formalities, the providing of the safety of tourists in the host country.

The IPA of CIS, undoubtedly taking into account the intergovernmental agreement "On cooperation in the field of tourism", in 1994 adopted the document (a single one of its kind at the time) - an advisory legal act "On the basic principles of cooperation of the countries - participants of the CIS in the field of tourism." The represented document included the formulation of the key notions in the field of tourism activities, the legal framework of tourist activity, the definition of the basic legal mechanism [10].

The IPA of CIS has established a number of programs in order to create the legal framework and the basis of interstate regulation of tourism, among which stands out the adopted on 29 May 1997 interstate target program "The Development of tourism relationships between the states - participants of the CIS."

On the basis of the experience of state-legal management of tourism in foreign countries it can be concluded that the development of tourist sphere in these countries is under significant attention of the state. There are special independent public bodies that effectively implement the management of tourism activities. The legal measures of the regulation of public relationships in the tourism sector include the privilege methods, incentives, the monitoring and creation of a favorable legal environment for the development of tourism industry.

The State control should be carried out in two ways: firstly, as the current control, aimed at assessing the implementation of plans for concrete measures to promote tourism; secondly, as a strategic control, aimed at assessing the level of achievement of the set goals. The objects of strategic control are the state and the degree of the use of the country (region) tourist potential, as well as the implementation of the planned target programs. In addition, the system of strategic control includes the monitoring of external and internal environment, changes in the economic and social policy of the state.

In order to realize the further development of tourism, examining the legal Act "On tourism activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan" dated June 13 2001, we tend to stress the necessity to improve the visa policy of the State [12]. So, in order to increase the flow of tourists in Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan should cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan so as to introduce visa-free travelling for the citizens of economically developed and prosperous countries such as Japan, USA, Germany and the UK. We also believe that it is necessary to reduce taxes for all the services provided by the tourism industry.

 

References

1. N.I. Sachenkova The impact the State on tourism // Collection of articles TISBI. - Kazan, 1998. - Vol. 1.- S.96-98.

2. V.A. Kvartalyanov Tourism. - M .: Finance and Statistics, 2000. - 320 p.

3. The nature and specifics of marketing in tourism // Tourism business newspaper. - 1999. - ¹ 3/61. - S.4-6.

4. G.B. Uahitova The role of the tourism industry in the development of the national economy // Bulletin of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan -2006. - ¹4 - P.109-114.

5. V.I. Savchenko Tourism industry - an independent governing body // The Russian tourist newspaper. - 1999.

6. The Charter of the Commonwealth of Independent States of 22 January 1993

7. The Agreement on humanitarian cooperation of the CIS member states of 26 August 2005

8. The Declaration on humanitarian cooperation of the CIS member states of 8 May 2005

9. The Manila Declaration on the World tourism of 1980

10. The Hague Declaration on Tourism of 1989

11. The agreement “On cooperation in the field of tourism” of December 23, 1993

12. The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated on June 13, 2001 ¹ 211-II “On tourist activity in the Republic of Kazakhstan”