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Well I am delighted to tell you that the Kangaroo Valley Tourist Association voted to accept the Code of Ethics proposed. It now stands proudly on the website to provide guidance to the management committee and membership. Above all it establishes our foundations to build a Responsible Destination.
Also significant and agreed was a revision to the fee structure. Those members who put time and energy into this voluntary association now will pay a lower rate than ‘sleeping’ members. It is the beginning of a more equitable arrangement.
An Indigenous Cultural Heritage subcommittee has also been established to research and consider how best to present our Aboriginal Heritage and specifically the last 200 years during White Settlement.
Happily at this time I have been voted chairman of the Shoalhaven Tourism Board. We now press ahead with funding for Locally Distinctive Performance Heritage events and have agreed to introduce ‘Yield by Sustainability’ is a key principle i.e. not focusing simply on building tourism numbers but questioning the value and impacts.
So some foundations for ‘RT Base Camp’ in this little part of the world have been laid. What sits behind this story?
•      It has taken five years to build the trust of key opinion formers to support action
•      It has also taken some years to implement a plan, a reality when a volunteer
•      Sophie and I have used our business to share knowledge and demonstrate practice
The game of ‘Nudge’ politics, as explained by Professor Harold Goodwin in his ICRT module Responsible Tourism Theory and Practice, is a game of strategy, played carefully and one step at a time. Upon reflection in the past I have always been too urgent and perhaps came across too anxious. This may not have always built others’ confidence in me. So select a project as a practical example, use it as a demonstration, ‘nudge’ others with the results.
Links:
http://www.chriswarrenonline.com.au/sustainability
http://www.kangaroovalleytourist.asn.au/dir/code_of_ethics
Chris Warren is a current student on the MSc in Responsible Tourism Management
