THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FIELD OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF CRUISE SHIP TOURISM

In each segment of the economy there are various non-governmental organizations whose aim is to ensure the development of a particular sector of the market, to determine the standards of products and services, to represent the interests of members affiliated to local authorities, Government and international institutions, but also to develop policies and codes of ethics in business. In recent years, a variety of activities undertaken by these organizations focuses on the idea of sustainable development and preservation of the cultural heritage and environmental protection. In the case of cruise tourism market, the natural environment of the seas and oceans and also coastal tourist destinations handling the cruise ships and passengers are subjects of the protection. In the cruise tourism sector, there are a great number of entities whose members are among the others: cruise ship-owners, tourist agents, the boards of seaports and local authorities of coastal destinations. Their objective is to develop the cruise tourism market, to promote marine voyages and tourist values of coastal destinations, but first of all to generate the largest economic revenues. However, the international law regulations regarding environmental protection of the sea and oceans and applicable standards of the CSR enforce on those entities to work out solutions for the sustainable development. The purpose of this work is to identify the entities working for the sustainable development of cruise tourism and to evaluate their commitment in this regard. The research is based on the analysis of scientific papers and reports and also source materials of leading organizations. In this study, a few methods of data collection were applied, i.e.. desk research. method, exploratory method and also a deductive reasoning. The study results may constitute a source of knowledge for territorial authorities and tourist companies in coastal areas and also for cruise ship-owners about advantages arising from the membership in various non-governmental cruise tourism organizations.