Managing change : the public-private partnership as a key factor of success Scope and limitations for the implementation of sustainability Tourism as a paradigm for the implementation of sustainability Tourism offers a good example for a discussion of how to implement the concept of sustainable development. Travel makes people more aware of the need to protect the shrinking areas of the world where nature remains more or less intact. Tourism brings people into direct contact with the physical world and what we call the "environment" and makes the changes that have occurred visible. At the same time it brings new prosperity to problem areas and it can be an incentive to make development sustainable. Tourism is also a sphere in which the often conflictual relations between the conservation and development of resources can clearly be seen. For indeed tourism depends to a great extent on unspoiled landscapes and favourable environmental conditions. Ironically, unspoiled landscapes and a healthy environment are the essence of tourism attractions, rating high on the list of preferences of the average visitor. The most popular of all attractions are those that are also the most ecologically fragile - the mountains and the seaside. Tourism development therefore often leads to ecological damage which can be irreversible. Tourism is unique among human activities in the way it allows us to see the advancing deterioration in our environment, and changes in society at first hand. Visitors are often quicker to notice the insidious destruction of mature cultural landscapes and societies than local residents. And regular visitors to the same places develop a sixth sense for changes that are unwanted. Growing numbers of visitors and higher agglomeration costs usually lead to greater awareness of the concept of sustainable development among the populations of tourism destinations directly concerned. Indeed the " Tourism Summits of Chamonix Mont-Blanc " are a result of this growing awareness. Sustainable development is a conscious objective for both the local population and the authorities of this tourism resort, which is the most extensive in the Alps. Chamonix Mont-Blanc would like to share the knowledge and experience it has gained in this area with the rest of the world. Individual freedom and state involvement Tourism is one of the last remaining ways in which ordinary citizens can experience the joys of individual freedom. Travelling and getting away from the workaday world is for many a rare and welcome occasion. The holiday resort is a magic place that is ideally free of any negative social and regulatory constraints. In this sense tourism is regarded by individuals as a private affair that is to be respected as such. Travel is made possible by goods and services that are provided by a variety of tourism-related sectors of the economy. Operating mainly in the conditions of a market economy, tourism needs the greatest possible room for manoeuvre to produce and market worldwide the collection of experiences that we call tourism. Due to its extensive internationalisation tourism is dependent on liberalisation at national boundaries. And it needs the most tourism-friendly framework conditions possible within the national boundaries in order to satisfy the many demands of visitors. Sustainable development only makes sense in tourism when the interests of visitors and residents and those of the economy both receive the attention they deserve. It should be borne in mind that in post-industrial societies travel is now one of the basic necessities of life. No modern society can function without allowing its citizens to make their escape on a regular if brief basis from the daily routine of the workaday world. It should also be borne in mind that only a flourishing economy is in a position to invest in the benefits of sustainable development. It is for this reason that the principle of dual subsidiarity has acquired great importance. The state should intervene only at the lowest possible level and only then in cases where individual citizens or entrepreneurs would otherwise be unable to cope. The state as a co-producer Despite these reservations it must be acknowledged that the state plays an indispensable role in the tourism sector, where it functions as a kind of co-producer. Only the state can provide such quintessential infrastructure as airports and roads. It also oversees regional planning and conservation of the countryside. And the state ensures peace and quiet, law and order, security, and good behaviour. Its style determines much in the image a country projects. The tourist depends on public services, for which he usually pays nothing. Tourism-related sectors of the economy develop and market products which often depend on the prior existence of these public goods and services. The public authorities also play a fundamental role in regional planning. Government planning instruments help to make sure that the development of tourism can proceed in an orderly fashion, particularly at the level of local government. This above all means striving to achieve the optimum between positive and negative agglomeration effects. Sustainable development in tourism also requires the most favourable possible framework conditions at the level of the central power. In conditions of global competition it is also important that central government provide support for the destination marketing of the heavily fragmented tourism industry, which at the destination level is made up of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).