DUBAI, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Workshops on Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) are held here with hotels, tourism agencies and environmental organizations taking part, Dubai Tourism announced on Tuesday.

The event reviewed the progress of the DST initiative, which aims at raising professional awareness of the tourism entities in protecting the environment, the United Arab Emirates state news agency WAM reported.

Connecting 40 leading hotel operators, owners and representatives from hotel establishments and environmental organizations, the event offered an interactive platform to discuss the feasibility and implementation of timelines for 19 new industry sustainability standards developed by DST.

The move shows Dubai Tourism's continuing commitment to promote sustainable tourism and achieve the goals set out in the Tourism Vision 2020.

The best results can only be achieved when the private and public sectors work together to ensure the industry is operating at the highest standard, said Dubai Tourism.

The standards and policies introduced to the industry through the DST initiative are not only aimed at supporting effective resource management but also providing guidance on what enhanced sustainability measures look like in a concrete and practical way.

"In the coming years, we expect these standards to pave the way forward for Dubai's tourism and hospitality sectors to continue to implement innovative standards," said Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director of Dubai Tourism.

Dubai attracted in 2017 15.8 million tourists, up 6.2 percent year on year, said Dubai Tourism in a statement released earlier this year.

The emirate aims to welcome up to 25 million visitors in the six-month Expo 2020.