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Responsible Tourism by Harold Goodwin
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Responsible Tourism is what we do to make tourism more sustainable, it is about how we use tourism to create sustainable development to benefit communities and destinations

Sustainability is the ambition; Responsible Tourism is about what we do as producers and consumers to realise the aspiration. Too often sustainable is used only in the abstract sense. Responsible Tourism is not the same as sustainable tourism. Responsibility requires that we say what we are doing to make tourism better and that we are transparent about what we achieve.   The agenda is broad across the three pillars of economic, social and environmental responsibility a wide range of resources are available. Responsible Tourism is about using tourism to make better places to live in and better places to visit. Overtourism is the opposite, a consequence of a failure to manage tourism sustainably. Overtourism describes destinations where hosts or guests, locals or visitors, feel that there are too many visitors and that the quality of life in the area or the quality of the experience has deteriorated unacceptably.  Often both visitors and guests experience the deterioration concurrently. There are a variety of causes and solutions. Aviation is the Achilles heel of the travel and tourism sector. If you are buying offsets, take care, you may be jeopardising your reputation, particularly if you are selling them to your customers. If something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Carbon offsetting is too good to be true. There is more here about the questions to ask of any carbon offset. It is important to begin now to develop alternative fuels to maintain aviation. Harold Goodwin drafted the Cape Town Declaration in 2002, the founding manifesto of the Responsible Tourism Movement. Since 2004 Responsible Tourism Awards have recognised good practice and spread awareness of what can, and should, be done. There are International Centres around the world and annual conferences to share and promote Responsible Tourism. Harold is the WTM’s Responsible Tourism Advisor with programmes at the trade shows in London, Cape Town, Dubai & Sao Paulo

Responsible Tourism News Monthly

November 5, 2022
RT News: WTM Special: Latest Developments in Responsible Tourism 11/2022

The 2022 Responsible Tourism Charter signed on Magna Carta Island on 6th November The WTM Responsible Tourism Awards Climate Change is accelerating - how is the industry responding? Conversations on the Stage at WTM, London 7th & 8th November India is now the World's Leading Responsible Tourism Destination Consumer Demand and Marketing Responsible Tourism Why […]

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October 19, 2022
RT News: Latest Developments in Responsible Tourism 10/2022

The next edition of RT News will be published on November 3rd and contain full details of the Responsible Tourism programme at WTM, London. Register for free entry to WTM, London here  1. The Rest of the World Regional Awards & the WTM Global Awards will be presented on Monday 7th 2. The Responsible Tourism […]

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September 8, 2022
RT News: Latest Developments in Responsible Tourism 09/2022

1. 2022 ICRT Awards 2. Aviation: Google & Hydrogen 3. Nature-positive tourism and zoos 4. TUI adopts Science Based Targets to reduce emissions 5. Is the age of cheap air travel over?  6. The "Big Issue" on aviation  7. Marine life in the Red Sea surveyed before coastal development  8. American Airlines orders "sons of […]

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August 15, 2022
RT News: Latest Developments in Responsible Tourism 08/2022

1. Hydrogen  is the step change aviation needs 2. The ICRT India's Responsible Tourism Awards will be presented in Bhopal on September 7th 3. RT at WTM London 7-9 November 4. Now, we must adapt to Climate Change 5. Overtourism 6. The Travel Corporation (TTC) 7. Consumer Trends 8. Conscious Travel in Kerala 9. The […]

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July 13, 2022
RT News: Latest Developments in Responsible Tourism 07/2022

1. Greenwashing threatens our future, it is way more serious than merely misselling. 2. Dutch government issues the first cap on flights  3. Venice is planning to introduce charging  4. Beyond Ecotourism, eight years left to save nature 5. Let's Scale Back That Revenge Travel, Shall We? 6. Number of holiday-let homes in England up […]

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June 5, 2022
RT News: Latest Developments in Responsible Tourism 06/2022

1. The Global Responsible Tourism Awards - time to apply 2. The Travel Corporation has launched its first progress report on its Sustainability Strategy to 2025 3. Responsible Technology for Travel & Tourism  4. RT Alumni Event in London 24th June  5. The Business of Conservation: Tourism and Wildlife Conservation working with the African Leadership […]

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