FROM SUSTAINING TOURISM TO TOURISM SUSTAINABILITY

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the efforts, in the form of the implementation of voluntary policy instruments, of different marine based tourism firms in Galapagos are working in a coordinated fashion towards the development of sustainable tourism. The results suggest that the use of voluntary policy instruments for tourism sustainability may be effective when they are implemented in conjunction with a well developed and functional framework synchronized with the efforts of the local government and NGO''s. The study provides a pragmatic analysis of several voluntary policy instruments currently used to develop sustainable tourism and demonstrates that these policy instruments are not all equally suitable for use in the Galapagos Islands. Keywords: Galapagos Islands, sustainable tourism, voluntary policy instruments