Johnny Edmonds (Ngapuhi Maori) is the Director for the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA), a global Indigenous organisation established in 2012 by national Indigenous tourism organisations operating in Australia, Canada, Nepal, New Zealand, Sweden and USA. WINTA was established by Indigenous leaders in tourism, to promote the empowerment, dignity and well-being of the Indigenous peoples of the world, by advancing Indigenous human rights through tourism consistent with the standards articulated by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The role of Director has enabled Johnny to engage with Indigenous communities in a range of countries and to encounter world views distinctly different from the dominant populations of their countries. The promulgation and now the implementation of the SDGs is an important agenda item for WINTA. The need to reflect an Indigenous world view of the implementation of the SDGs presents challenges that have yet to be overcome.
Tourism and the SDGs 