Reflection on the Binding International Legal Framework for Sustainable Tourism in Line with the New Regulatory Paradigm

Mousavi, Seyyed Fazlollah; Lohrasbi, Amir

doi:10.22054/qjpl.2026.86987.3132

Reflection on the Binding International Legal Framework for Sustainable Tourism in Line with the New Regulatory Paradigm

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Seyyed Fazlollah Mousavi ¹

amir lohrasbi ²

¹ Professor, Public Law Department, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

² Ph.D. Student in International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/qjpl.2026.86987.3132

Abstract

Abstract

The tourism industry, despite its pivotal role in the global economy and the enhancement of cultural interactions, increasingly faces substantial environmental, social, and cultural challenges that underscore the urgent need for an effective and legally binding international regulatory framework to ensure its sustainability. Nevertheless, the existing legal instruments governing sustainable tourism are predominantly embedded in non-binding soft law arrangements and therefore lack the necessary clarity, enforceability, and regulatory capacity to adequately address the adverse impacts of tourism activities on the environment and local communities. Employing a descriptive–analytical methodology, this study critically examines the structural deficiencies of the current international legal regime applicable to sustainable tourism and demonstrates its inability to institutionalize fundamental principles of international environmental law. The primary contribution of this research lies in proposing a redesigned governance model for sustainable tourism based on a gradual transition from soft law to binding hard law mechanisms. Grounded in the normative and institutional capacities of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the principle of intergenerational equity, the study advances the development of an international, legally binding supplementary protocol as an effective means to ensure full compliance of tourism activities with environmental obligations for present and future generations.

Keywords

International Environmental Law, Hard Law

Soft Law, Sustainable Tourism, Treaties,

Subjects