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This is the new format of Responsible Tourism News published at the end of each month, a newsletter of record carrying the 10 most important stories of the month. Please forward to those you think may be interested – you can subscribe here. If you wish to contribute a story email harold@haroldgoodwin.info or post it on our RTNews Facebook page.
New categories and an amended process this year. Companies need to make their submissions on line - encourage those you admire to submit a nomination or nominate yourself.
The judges can only select from amongst those for whom they receive nomination forms.
This 10th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations provides an excellent opportunity to explore the ways in which a local authority can manage tourism for sustainability and to examine the roles of different stakeholders in achieving the necessary changes. This conference provides a unique opportunity to look back over 20 years of development since the ECOMOST intervention. Calvià is a destination where the major European tour operators are still very important. Conference Programme Conference website to book
The 11th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations(RTD11) presents an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved in Cape Town, South Africa and elsewhere around the world, to document good practices applied by different producer groups, and set the agenda for change for the next 10 years. The conference will result in Responsible Tourism Practitioner’s guide to realizing Responsible Tourism in destinations – reflecting the input on what works from keynote speakers, panellists and delegates. This conference, like the one in 2002, aspires to review practice and set the agenda for the next decade and to identify the best answers to the question: How can tourism be used to make better places for people to live in, and better places for people to visit? Conference Programme Registration
This is the first year of the Irish Responsible Tourism Awards and the judges were heartened by the strength of the nominations in all categories. The Irish Responsible Tourism Awards are part of the family of Awards which use the same criteria and judging processes as those used in the World Responsible Tourism Awards which have run since 2004. Many of those recognised in the Irish Responsible Tourism Awards are world class reflecting the strength of Responsible Tourism in Ireland. Details of this year's winners can be found here
The London WTM Responsible Tourism programme attracts 2000 participants every year. Responsible Tourism now features across the WTM portfolio at WTM Africa (15 - 17 April) which has the 11th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations co-located with it; WTM Latin America (22-24 April) and Arabia Travel Market (4-7 May).
ResponsibleTravel.com has published the first league table of tourist boards graded by commitment to responsible tourism as published on their websites. The aim of their league table is to highlight the information that tourist boards are providing to customers looking for information on responsible and sustainable tourism. Our questions are designed to, not only look for mentions of responsible or sustainable tourism, but also evidence of actual policies and actions in place. We believe it is the responsibility of the tourist boards to clearly and transparently demonstrate the country or regions commitment to responsible tourism for potential visitors to read and then make an informed decision about whether or not to visit. It was just such a league table which started the Responsible Tourism movement amongst UK tour operators in the 1990s. Read more
If enough of us decide that climate change is a crisis worthy of Marshall Plan levels of response, then it will become one argues Naomi Klein. "The temperatures in the summer of 2012 were indeed unusually hot. (As they were the year before and the year after.) And it’s no mystery why this has been happening: the profligate burning of fossil fuels, the very thing that US Airways was bound and determined to do despite the inconvenience presented by a melting tarmac. This irony – the fact that the burning of fossil fuels is so radically changing our climate that it is getting in the way of our capacity to burn fossil fuels – did not stop the passengers of Flight 3935 from re-embarking and continuing their journeys. Nor was climate change mentioned in any of the major news coverage of the incident." Read more
San Francisco has become the first city in America to ban the sale of water in plastic bottles. Over the next four years, the ban will phase out the sales of plastic water bottles that hold 21 ounces or less in public places. This is a welcome first step towards tacking the plastic bottle plague. Whilst tourism is not the only cause of this form of pollution, it is a very obvious one – many tourists carry around bottled water and are not always careful about disposal. Read more
Barbara Ellen argues in The Guardian that "the true responsibility lies with the host districts and, specifically, those companies who cynically exploit the gullibility of young people, who’ve not yet learned how to handle intoxicants. While some might raise issues of “free will” and “self-responsibility”, how much do these concepts register when you’re young, green and trashed? Certainly, the majority of these holidaymakers look young enough that it makes sense for companies to behave responsibly on their behalf."
Even if some behave recklessly, it doesn’t mean that they should be mocked and dehumanised by censorious rubbernecking fellow Britons. They’re just young people making mistakes; same as it ever was. Before changes such as those made in Magaluf, this behaviour was facilitated by host districts and holiday companies who provided the drinking culture because they wanted their money. So join the annual “sneer-a-thon”, if you must, but remember – those vomiting, scapegoated young tourists aren’t causing the problems alone." Read more
The new ICRT West Africa facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/icrtwestafrica) and website (www.icrtwestafrica.org) have been launched. Show your support by liking, sharing and following the updates.
