an intersting feed-back from India …. There was a clear accent on eco tourism, sustaiblable travel and green hotels in the 24th Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) Annual Convention, on August 7-10 in India.

“Sustainable tourism” is not a discrete or special form of tourism, rather “all forms of tourism should strive to be more sustainable”, said Oliver Martin , the Associate Director — Strategic Intelligence Centre from PATA.

Mr Martin covered a lot of subjects including economic and geo-political drivers impacting the long-term sustainability of the tourism industry.

He highlighted the outcomes obtainable from well managed corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes. “Indian operators can implement relatively painless CSR policies,” he said. “These can positively differentiate company brands, enhance corporate reputation, boost employee motivation and decrease bottom line costs.” “The key for your organisation is to develop an internal policy which is both achievable and demonstrates your leadership among consumers, suppliers and partners,” said Mr Martin.

Interesting move from http://www.lastminute.com/, a leading European online travel agency.

They are highlighting on their website a few actions they are taking for a greener tourism. That comprises of promoting the train between Paris and London, and some internal actions such as using a green taxi company and offseting all their “business travel” carbon emissions.

I found this quite remarkable so here is the full text of their website:

” At lastminute.com we wouldn’t claim to be the greenest company on the planet.However, we are striving to be as environmentally friendly as possible, while also giving our customers the information to make informed choices as to how they travel. A great illustration of this is lastminute.com’s relationship with Eurostar. lastminute.com bagged Eurostar’s ‘Top Online Sales Partner Award’ for phenomenal sales of the cross-Channel service from our dedicated Eurostar pages. Following this, lastminute.com has joined forces with Eurostar to highlight the environmental benefits of taking the train between London, Paris and Brussels. Other examples of lastminute.com’s range of green initiatives include: The double award-winning carbon offsetting scheme carbonwise Launched in November 2006, carbonwise gives flight-only customers the opportunity to offset the CO2 emissions from their flying.More than 15% of customers have chosen to offset the CO2 emissions of their flying, which equates to over 15,000 tonnes.All households in the UK would have to turn their lights off for more than two and a half hours to save as much CO2 emissions as lastminute.com’s customers have offset.Carbonwise’s success has seen it scoop the 2007 Agent Achievement Award’s Travel Innovation of the Year and e-retailing body IMRG’s Large Retailer Online Green Award. And at lastminute.com, we do our bit too… lastminute.com offsets the carbon emissions of all business air travel lastminute.com’s corporate taxi company is the environmentally-conscious Climatecars, which emits 60% less CO2 emissions than traditional black cabs We use a green (hydro) electricity tariff in our buildings and offset emissions from our gas usage”

 

More on http://www.lastminute.com/site/help/about_us/green.html

 

On last minute you can book any type of hotel, flights – and even lofts in Paris

An interesting initiative from Jakarta, indonesia. The Sari Pan Pacific hotel, part of the Pan Pacific hotel group, has conducted, in April 2008, the Green Globe Program and will distribute trees to their employees to be planted at their homes.

“This Environmental Care Program is our contribution to create a greener living environment. We hope that this program can inspire and motivate people to increase their awareness of caring for their environment and protect the Earth.”said Sisa Primashinta – Public Relations Manager of the Hotel.

This program is actually split within the year. The tress will be given to the employees on the occasion of their birthdays, retirement, weddings etc.

Seven variants of trees will be distributed: Pinus Mercusii, Zorrea, Syzygium polyanthum, Nepheliunt logans, Baringtonia Asiatica, Stelechocarpus burahol and Filicium Decipiens.

This is supported by the Green Globe Environmental Program.

Have a look at http://www.panpacific.com/Jakarta/Overview.html and http://www.greenglobe21.com/

The 2008 Responsible Travel & Tourism Forum will occur in Toronto, Canada on October 14/15 this autumn.

The forum will last for two days and feature both formal sessions and workshops.

The workshops will be on green commissions, green meeting and event planning, sustainable best practices, corporate social responsibility, emerging green travel trends.

The speakers will be both Canadian and international, from the private and public sectors (and university experts). A lot of case studies and resource guides will be used to show solutions.

Have a look at the event site http://rttf.ca/

A large and popular tourism destination, Australia is also home of a number of programs and labels of eco-tourism that promote eco-tourism, nature tours and green hotels.

A good example is Ecotourism Australia. They have set up their own criteria stated within the Eco Certification Program and they cretify more and more Tourism operators in Australia – that then have their tour, attraction or accommodation accredited under the ECO Certification Program and can genuinely claim to provide authentic ecotourism product.

They also edit a travel guide (see picture) : Ecotourism Australia’s Green Travel Directory launched at Australian Tourism Exchange, May 2007.

The directory lists more than 700 ECO Certified operators, and covers the whole nation.

More info at http://www.ecotourism.org.au/

A great push for eco-tourism in Australia !

Another government is investing in ecotourism, another great sign of dynamism in the field …

The NZ Government has decided to dedicate NZ$3m to Sustainable Tourism

The New Zealand government is committing an extra $2.83 million over the next year for the implementation of the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015, Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor announced Tuesday last.

The allocation of fund has been described as follows:

– tourism workforce initiatives,

– sector research,

– improving Maori tourism capability,

– environmental initiatives including the promotion of new Qualmark Green criteria to international and domestic visitors.

“Tourism’s future depends upon sustainability and delivering greater value from each and every visitor to this country. Its sheer size and its potential to help transform our economy into one which is more sustainable and of higher value means it is a priority sector for government attention”. said the NZ governement representative.

However there is some controversy on some of the items:

“Basically, we’re concerned it doesn’t go far enough,” Ecotourism NZ chair Brian MacKenzie said. “There’s nothing to distinguish ecotourism operators from mainstream Qualmark members, like hotels and camper van companies, or reflect the extra lengths they go to.”

“Qualmark’s new environmental criteria are a good first step but its standards aren’t far reaching or high enough for ecotourism”, added a representative at the upcoming Ecotourism NZ Conference.

So, again, eco-tourism is in a development stage and discussion is widely open !

The other day, I was in Bangkok, Thailand talking to a hotel owner. He is holding a weekly green committee in his team, to review the green practices of the hotel – hopefully to drive towards things that are more responsible and sustainable …

And why are doing this ? I asked openly … Because my customers ask for it , he replied … Quoting mainly B2B customers such as BMW or Unilever who do have to get some kind of guarantees from their travel suppliers in terms of their commitment to the environement …

Interesting, no?

I do believe firmy that, contrary to what some people still believe, being a greener, more responsible tourism operator can increase revenues, but also business efficiency, cut energy costs, increase customer and staff satisfaction …

Another reason to take good, positive, eco and responsible measures when looking at tourism …

Always good to hear that people who make efforts will be awarded…. nothing better than a good incentive to motivate people on eco-tourism and responsible travel …

90 companies have been nominated for the first Green World Travel Awards.

Awards are in different categories:

– World’s Leading Conservation Company

– World’s Leading Eco-friendly Airport

– World’s Leading Eco-Lodge

– World’s Leading Green Destination

– World’s Leading Green Hotel

– World’s Leading Green Resort

– World’s Leading Green Tour Operator

– World’s Leading Green Transport Solution Company

– World’s Leading Responsible Tourism Scheme

– World’s Leading Sustainable Tourism Scheme

There are also regional categories for Africa, Asia, Australasia, the Carribean, Central America, Europe, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, North America and South America.

The event will take place in Slovakia, the gateway to the “Alps Of The East” and a region packed full of history, culture, sights and fun. The event is to be held at AquaCity Poprad, a luxurious resort, virtually self-powered using geothermal water and the suns energy.

We will announce more details as we get more information on the event …

More info at http://www.worldtravelawards.com/

Hi there,

Just a short note for you to not forget to pencil this date in your calendar: ESTC 2008 ~ Greening the Tourism Industry in the US and Canada will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada October 27-29, 2008.

That is the leading Ecotourism & Sustainable Tourism Conference.

Speakers are great , have a look at the list on ecotourismconference.org

To learn more about the conference sessions, please see the Conference tracks and themes here: program