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Transparency & Solutions
It was nearly fifty years ago, in 1972, that in the UN system, the first conference was held in Stockholm on our problematic relationship with our environment. Next year we shall mark 20 years of Responsible Tourism, a response to slow progress towards sustainability, launched in Cape Town in 2002. From the outset, the Responsible Tourism Movement has valued transparency, asking that people claiming to have taken responsibility, explain what they have done, and why, and crucially report the outcome and impact. Only thus can greenwashing be minimised.
Progress in Responsible Tourism
What solutions can we point to that make tourism better? Solutions that have been tried and tested and proven to deliver results? How much progress have we made? What should be our priorities for the next decade? How can we achieve more?
1. Moderator: Harold Goodwin, WTM's Responsible Tourism Advisor
2. Shannon Guihan, Chief TreadRight & Sustainability Officer, The Travel Corporation, USA
3. Niki Glen CEO, Africa Ignite, Namibia
4. Tim Harris CEO Wesgro
5. Eugenio Yunis, Former Director of Tourism and Sustainable Development UNWTO
6. Manisha Pande Managing Director Village Ways India
What role for certification?Â
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council was established to ensure a consistent baseline across the wide variety of schemes that emerged to empower travellers and holidaymakers to make more informed choices and drive sustainable tourism development. Reflecting on the last two decades, what have we learnt about what works and why? How can we increase the effectiveness of certification in delivering sustainable tourism?
1. Moderator: Harold Goodwin
2. Lee-Anne Bac, Director, Strategic Development and Advisory, BDO Advisory Services
3. Kelly Bricker, Professor and Chair Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism - The University of Utah
4. Andrea Nicholas, Chief Executive & Co-Founder, Green Tourism
5. Olivia Ruggles-Brise, Director at Greenview
In large parts of the world, the charismatic megafauna man asserted dominion driving species locally to extinction. The Big 5 in the National Parks and Conservancies of Africa is a significant draw, perhaps the major draw, for Africa's tourism. The pandemic and the halting of tourism have revealed how vital tourism is to funding conservation across the African continent and providing livelihoods for the communities living as neighbours. How can tourism generate sufficient value to sustain wildlife and people?
Tourism and Biodiversity, Friend or Foe?Â
Post Covid-19, how can we reset tourism's relationships with nature to contribute positively to conservation and contribute more significantly to the livelihoods of the communities who bear the opportunity costs of maintaining the wildlife and other species that the tourism industry sells? UNEP has produced a report, Making Peace with Nature, about what we need to do as one of the species on the planet to make our peace with nature. We know how what we need to do to reduce extinctions and to tackle the issues of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and to improve the livelihoods of those living most closely with wildlife.
1. Moderator: Shaun Vorster, Advisory Board of World Tourism Forum Lucerne & Professor Extraordinaire, University of Stellenbosch Business School
2. Dr Luthando Dzib, Co-Chair Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Service
3. Professor Emma Archer, Associate Professor in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Pretoria
4. Paul Simkin, Founding member of Nkwichi lodge
5. Michael Lutzeyer, Owner of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
6. Richard Anthony Vigne, Managing Director, Ol Pejeta Conservancy Group, Kenya
How can tourism create more value for local communities?
Inclusion and reducing poverty are as crucial as tackling climate change and biodiversity loss as post-Covid we struggle to realise the Sustainable Development Goals' aspirations. We've brought together a panel of practitioners to share their experience of how best sufficient we can create sufficient value to raise the living standards of local people in the areas that attract tourists.
1. Moderator: Harold Goodwin, WTM's Responsible Tourism Advisor
2. Adama Bah, Founder, Institute of Travel& Tourism, The Gambia
3. James Fernie, Director at Uthando, South Africa
4. Rupesh Kumar, State RT Mission Coordinator, Government of Kerala, India
5. Glynn O'Leary CEO, Transfrontier Parks Destinations, South Africa
6. Salifou Siddo CEO: SME TradeLinks
Africa's Cultural Diversity – Whose is it?
Africa is the world's most diverse continent – are we selling it right? Years ago, a UK-based communications consultancy was tasked by a group of charities to critique their portrayal. Africa. Their report was accusatory: You made Africa boring. As Pliny the Elder wrote in the first century, "There is always something new from Africa? "How well is our industry doing in communicating Africa's wealth of diversity?
Africa's diversity and storytelling
Whose diversity is it?Â
There has long been an academic critique of the ways in which out industry commodifies cultures and cultural artefacts. At the heart of Responsible Tourism is the principle that communities should use tourism for their sustainable development rather than be used by it. We aspire to create meaningful connections between hosts and guests, what does that mean for practice? How can we celebrate diversity better?
1. Moderator: Harold Goodwin, WTM's Responsible Tourism Advisor
2. Uwern Jong, Experientialist-in-Chief, OutThere, UK & Malaysia
3. Judy Kepher-Gona Sustainable Travel & Tourism Agenda- STTA
4. Aziz Abu Sarah Explorer at National Geographic & CEO MEJDI Tours, USA
5. Siyabulela "Sabu" Siyaka Ubizo Events & Tours , Langa, Cape Town
Stories Bring Experiences Alive
We need to think about the stories we tell in the itineraries and places we recommend and market. We need to have more diversity in the experiences and stories we tell. We need to take responsibility if travel is to broaden the mind rather than reinforce prejudices. Only through storytelling can we realise the ambition of Responsible Tourism to provide "more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues."
1. Moderator: Harold Goodwin, WTM's Responsible Tourism Advisor
2. Toroga Denver Breda, First nation KHOE language and cultural kuwiri, xoa-khoen aka activist and writer based in Xhui-Qhae or Cape Town.
3. JoAnna Haugen Founder of Rooted: Sustainable Tourism + Storytelling + Social Impact Ukraine
4. Dirk Pienaar of the Khomani San
