WTM Portfolio is leading the way in tackling the climate crisis by hosting a symposium of top scientists who are working on ways to decarbonise aviation. Harold Goodwin, WTM’s Responsible ... Read more
The global pandemic has revealed how important tourism is to so many developed and developing countries. COVID-19 has had very different impacts on guests and hosts.
Learning to live with the threat of COVID-19 will take time. As this month’s Responsible Tourism News goes to press some states in the USA are halting re-openings.
Last week I was able to interview Derek, I began by asking him about how important tourism was to creating a more just and equal society post-apartheid.
Now as our industry enters a different phase, where we are tentatively reopening again, it is good to see examples appearing of governments and private sector initiatives introducing vouchers and ... Read more
As international travel comes to a standstill with closed borders and struggling airlines, experts around the world are looking up to domestic travel as a means to kickstart the recovery ... Read more
As many of you will already be aware, we opened entries for the World Responsible Tourism Awards a couple of weeks ago. The aim of this year’s awards is to ... Read more
For our industry, where much of the conversation of the last few years in tourism has focussed on the issue of over-tourism, this question is especially pertinent. What comes next?
The World Responsible Tourism Awards 2020 are dedicated to acknowledging those in travel and tourism who have taken remarkable steps to address the multiple challenges brought to our industry by ... Read more
As we look at ways to achieve a sustainable future for tourism, we should ask what tourism can do to support a sustainable future. How can we redesign our industry ... Read more
Recent tourism initiatives and campaigns give me hope that the industry’s recovery can be marked by the same generosity and resilience that has been shown through the early stages of ... Read more
These are extraordinary times, a return to business as usual looks improbable. The IMF is predicting that the ‘Great Lockdown’ will result in the worst recession since the Great Depression, ... Read more
When the post-mortems begin to be done on the different ways the pandemic was handled in different countries we shall learn a great deal about what works and what doesn’t. ... Read more
We have been forced to stop travelling, to repatriate our guests, do what we can for those that depend on us, and only then try to find the time, the ... Read more
The World Health Organisation is providing data on the spread of the virus; national governments are determining their response. Governments around the world have acted to advise against and then ... Read more
Coronavirus dominates the news, but one doesn’t have to look very far to see people making connections between the current emergency and sustainable tourism.
I have explained why carbon offsetting is part of the problem, it is not part of the solution. Most carbon offsets do not deliver for the environment, but they do ... Read more
As the sustainable travel sector continues to grow, more and more travellers are seeking out holiday experiences that align with their own values on sustainability. What’s more, with statistics from ... Read more
Originally published at abeta.tur.br “A tropical country that’s beautiful by nature, and how beautiful!”, as a Brazilian song puts it! You must already know that Brazil is full of exuberant ... Read more
Early this July, the Jazz Night Express will take a trainload of passengers from Rotterdam to Berlin. Along the way passengers will be able to enjoy live jazz acts, spoken ... Read more
By Marta Poggi We live in the era of digital transformation in various economic sectors and it’s no different in tourism. The businesspeople and managers of tour companies deal on ... Read more
56 businesses and individuals working in tourism have joined Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency accepting that this “requires immediate and radical action by our governments, our industry and our business.” ... Read more
My vegetarian wife says that when I met her 15 years ago I pretended to be a vegetarian to impress her. She says I was pretending, because within months of ... Read more
I am writing this in Binsar, in the foothills of the Himalaya in Uttarakhand. I was Delhi for the presentation of the India Responsible Tourism Awards, I took the train ... Read more
This New Years Eve, a group of friends and I were having dinner. At someone’s prompting, we all shared our five favourite moments of 2019. Two things stood out. First, ... Read more
There is little doubt that, assuming war does not break out, that climate change will be the dominant story of 2020. COP 25 was, to say the least, disappointing. The ... Read more
I reckon the sustainability of tourism has been in the headlines more in 2019 than ever before. So for my final blog of the year, I have gathered 55 of ... Read more
At best, the tourism sector can address its own resilience. We often hear talk about the resilience of a destination, its ability to bounce back from adverse circumstances. In the ... Read more
Most people I know suffer from imposter syndrome. Most of us believe that any second now, we’ll be found out as frauds, hypocrites, or simply as completely out of our ... Read more
We are failing to reduce and mitigate – resilience requires that we adapt. We have not even begun to slow the rate of growth in greenhouse gas emissions Ahead of ... Read more
“The Bramble Cay melomys was a little brown rat,” said the director for the Wilderness Society, Tim Beshara. “But it was our little brown rat and it was our responsibility ... Read more
At World Travel Market, London this year the focus on World Responsible Tourism Day was on the challenge of decarbonising our industry. Carbon emissions from our fossil-fuelled economies are causing ... Read more
Don’t miss the World Responsible Tourism Awards 11:00 – 13:00 today in the Europe Inspiration Zone 11:00 – 11:15 Opening of WRTD Europe Inspiration Zone EU80 WTM World Travel Market Means ... Read more
We have a full programme of Responsible Tourism events today with some of the most high profile panels on The Challenge of Building Sustainable Hotels with the International Tourism Partnership ... Read more
WTM London is the largest Responsible Tourism event in the world. We focus on the solutions with a programme designed to help businesses and destinations thrive in increasingly difficult circumstances ... Read more
Do you love adventure? Does African wildlife inspire and amaze you? Do you want your children’s children to be able to see wild elephants? Yes? You sound a lot like ... Read more
On 5 December 2016, the Australian city of Darebin, a municipality in the suburbs of northern Melbourne, was the first place in the world to declare a climate emergency. Since ... Read more
By John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea Development Company We have entered a new age of travel. An age in which technological advancements making travel even more attainable, coupled ... Read more
By João Almeida Watch dolphin shows, swim with pink dolphins in the rivers of the Amazon region, touch these animals and take selfies with them. It all sounds harmless, but ... Read more
By Teresa Llusá There is growing evidence that consumers expect business and destination governments to ensure that consumers are offered more sustainable holidays. According to World Travel Market, 76% of ... Read more
By Gustavo Pinto The day São Paulo became ‘night’ at 3P.M.: only after the biggest city in South America felt direct impacts from the Amazon fires with the smoke and ... Read more
This year at WTM London, we are addressing some of the major sustainability challenges and asking who can do what about them. We need businesses and destination governments to step ... Read more
A friend of mine called last week for holiday advice. It’s not the first time someone has done this, but it is the first time that a friend has done ... Read more
We announced the finalists in the 2019 World Responsible Tourism Awards two weeks ago, they will be presented with Gold or Silver Awards at WTM London on November 6th, and one of ... Read more
Each year at WTM London on World Responsible Tourism Day, the first Wednesday in November, we present Awards to those businesses, destinations and organisations which our panel of judges have ... Read more
To imagine what tourism should do next in my ongoing quest for ‘tourism’s new stories’, I found that the Shambala Festival is one of the best examples around
As the UK’s Tourism Concern pointed out in a long-running campaign “We take our holidays in other peoples’ homes.” Way back in 1994 Colin Marshall, at the launch of the ... Read more
By Gustavo Pinto The rules for visiting Machu Picchu changed in 2019. One of the top cultural destinations in the whole of Latin America (which in 2018 received more than ... Read more
Overall indices in terms of satisfaction and return to the event are up WTM Latin America, the leading B2B event for the Latin American travel industry, presents the indices in ... Read more
By Gustavo Pinto The first edition of the WTM Latin America Responsible Tourism Awards is taking place in 2020. This widely-renowned award has been held since 2004 during WTM London ... Read more
There are still places where locals are surprised to see tourists, although there are fewer each year. And of course, many businesses are pleased to see them arrive, but there ... Read more
Across Europe, the beginning of August signifies the beginning of the long summer holiday. Children are all off school for several weeks. Parliaments shut for a while. Stuck for anything ... Read more
The Archers will be familiar to many UK readers of this post. It a radio soap with over 5 million listeners and a further million listening online. Launched in 1951 ... Read more
For a long time, those making a case for accessible tourism for people with disabilities have argued that there is a large market composed of those with special needs and ... Read more
As the sector bumps up against the limits to growth in a finite world, we need to focus on solutions. From global warming to overtourism, from flooding and potable water ... Read more
Climate Perks is a new pilot scheme that has just been launched by 10:10, the UK-based climate solutions NGO. As its new website explains, “Climate Perks employers offer paid ‘journey ... Read more
By Gustavo Pinto M.A. in Responsible Tourism – Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Advisor in Responsible Tourism for WTM Latin America Director of Inverted America Journeys The travel and tourism sector ... Read more
By Gustavo Pinto M.A. in Responsible Tourism – Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Advisor in Responsible Tourism for WTM Latin America Director of Inverted America Journeys Since its first edition in ... Read more
The problem is not plastic, the problem is waste plastic. Attenborough’s Blue Planet exposure of plastic waste in our oceans has raised awareness of the issue, and there has been ... Read more
Not a lot apparently. Next week is the annual Responsible Business Summit Europe. Organised by Ethical Corporation, it brings together senior executives from some of the biggest companies in the ... Read more
It is official. Yesterday the 34-member Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) determined that we have now entered, in geological terms, the Anthropocene: the Age of Man. The group is still to ... Read more
Last Friday, the Guardian newspaper announced that it was updating its style guide “to introduce terms that more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world.” The paper’s editor Katherine ... Read more
Just yesterday we heard that Victor Vescovo had descended some 11km to the deepest place in the ocean, the deepest dive ever. He discovered new species of prawn-like crustaceans and ... Read more
By Sharon Conceição Addressing climate change in the adventure travel industry isn’t an easy task. At times, it can even be quite overwhelming, especially for tour operators running small businesses. ... Read more
I wanted to write about May Day. I wanted to write about working less and remaking our connection to the earth. I really didn’t want to write about climate change. ... Read more
Last week the UK’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Michael Gove, admitted that “we have not done nearly enough” on man-made climate change. Gove went on, “Suddenly in the ... Read more
This Monday – April 22, is Earth Day. It’s the 49th anniversary of the event, first celebrated in 1970. And this year, the theme is “Protect our Species”. What should ... Read more
The strikes by school children demanding government action in climate change are growing, reflecting the next generation’s concern about the impact on their future, as they become voters expect to ... Read more
“Hamstrung by the idea that any mention of eco-problems would make audiences switch off, and the broadcasters’ preferred strategy of hoping that sharing incredible sights around the world would inspire ... Read more
Beware of Greenwash – Why Awards Matter. The World Responsible Tourism Awards open today for nominations. The judges can only choose from amongst those that apply. So, if you know ... Read more
Some good news for a change. Two high profile marketing campaigns, for two very different destinations, show the time is increasingly right for stories about sustainability to inspire. For a ... Read more
In a crowded market place it’s important to stand out from the crowd. WTM’s World Responsible Tourism Awards enable you to do just that. In a market place where increasing ... Read more
Innovators and pioneers working in tourism are encouraged to enter this year’s WTM World Responsible Tourism Awards. Today (Tuesday 19 March) the six categories, chosen to highlight those companies, organisations ... Read more
A wave of climate protest is sweeping the planet, and those of us working in tourism would do well to reflect quickly on how it will impact our industry, and ... Read more
In the Responsible Tourism Awards each year we see many examples of businesses which have made real efforts to benefit local communities by sourcing goods and services in the local ... Read more
This blog takes a different approach to normal, because when it is 20 degrees on a February morning in London, apparently the hottest February day ever in the UK, things ... Read more
This year we are focussing on climate change and carbon emissions at all tour WTM shows. Some of you will recall the stark presentation made by Professor Kevin Anderson at ... Read more
At the beginning of this month, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) published a series of detailed maps revealing that 36% of England’s population live too far away from ... Read more
I was privileged to spend last week in India, first in Kerala and then in Delhi, for the 4th India Responsible Tourism Awards – one of the family of awards ... Read more
“Gradually, then suddenly”. It’s how a character in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, describes how he went bankrupt. I was unaware of the phrase until last week. Yet when ... Read more
Way back in 2011 the issue of orphanages in Cambodia was raised by Michael Horton during one of our Responsible Tourism sessions at WTM London. Michael reported that tourism was ... Read more
While it is always risky to make public predictions, I think this year we will see a lot more discussion about aviation and climate change. The reason I say this ... Read more
Over the last twenty years there has been a marked change in the significance of the European source markets. While there is a global market for travel and tourism there ... Read more
Fifty years ago on December 24th 1968 the Apollo 8 astronauts took the famous Earthrise photograph as they orbited the moon, the first image of Earth captured by humans from ... Read more
In a year where the accelerating breakdown of the world’s climate got yet more headlines (if not yet enough action), the travel industry also discovered that it was responsible for ... Read more
In 2018 there has been very little discussion in the Responsible Tourism programme across WTM’s portfolio of trade shows in Cape Town, Dubai, London, Sao Paulo about the decarbonisation of ... Read more
Catch up on the Responsible Tourism sessions from WTM London right here… 1. Business Taking Responsibility for Security, Health and Safety At the heart of the responsibility agenda is taking ... Read more
Today at the UN Climate Conference in Katowice Poland, David Attenborough’s People’s Seat initiative will see the 92yr old naturalist use his position to share the voices of the many ... Read more
There is more coverage of the issue of overtourism in the mainstream press than in the trade press. Understandably destination marketers and many governments dislike the word “overtourism” being associated ... Read more
Few people see Black Friday as a day for reflection. Along with its online sibling – Cyber Monday – It’s the apotheosis of consumption – a no-holds-barred scramble to ‘get ... Read more
The Responsible Tourism programme of talks, presentations, discussions and interviews held across all four WTM shows reflects the broad agenda of Responsible Tourism. At WTM London last week there were ... Read more
Organised by WTM London To become a Finalist in the World Responsible Tourism Awards is a significant achievement, it marks you out as a leader in Responsible Tourism; it carries ... Read more
Few people can have missed this week’s pictures of a flooded Venice, and the video of the pizza restaurant that channeled the Titanic’s violinists and kept serving pizzas with the ... Read more
Every year many of the world’s leaders in Responsible Tourism gather at WTM London and participate in the Responsible Tourism programme which forms a major part of the show, culminating ... Read more
Last week Bhutan held only its third general election. And for the third time in a row, the Bhutanese people voted in a different party. And though this election got ... Read more
Tomorrow is Global Ethics Day, inspired by Earth Day and established by the Carnegie Council. It is an opportunity to explore the meaning of ethics in international affairs. Much of ... Read more