4th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations- Oman 10-12 Oct2010

March 8th, 2010

The Ministry of Tourism will be hosting the 4th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations in Muscat 10-12 October 2010.

The 4th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations has four themes

  1. Tourism, Livelihoods, Local Economic Development and Human Resources
  2. Responsible Tourism in a World of Finite Resources
  3. The Responsible Tourist, Tangible and Intangible Heritage -
  4. Responsible Destinations and Marketing  Read the rest of this entry »

Keep it real: market and communicate your credentials to engage your customers

February 26th, 2010

The aim of the report Visit England has commissioned ICRT to write  is to encourage companies that do good sustainability work to not be shy about communicating it, and to understand the value it can have in engaging with customers before, during and after their trip. We aren’t looking at communicating sustainability as a separate aspect of normal business, but how it can be integrated, mostly implicitly but possibly also explicitly, in the way you market and communicate. Read the rest of this entry »

Responsible Cruising Conference – 10am-4pm, 12th March, Leeds

February 9th, 2010

Lecture Room D in the Rose Bowl (RD538)

Leeds Metropolitan University, Portland Crescent, Leeds, LS1 3HB

Map and Parking http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/Full_Maps_1April09_Web.pdf

Catch the Free Bus from the Railway Station or walk up either East Parade or Park Row, the new Rose Bowl is behind the City Hall.

 

Register Now

If you plan to attend register your interest by emailing Andreas Walmsley at responsiblecruising@googlemail.com

Free one day event with keynote speaker Prof Ross Klein, Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. Ross is an international expert with knowledge of cruising out of the UK, North America and the Caribbean, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Harold Goodwin will be talking about Responsible Tourism in Antarctica. This conference is an opportunity to explore what we mean by Responsible Cruising and to begin to work towards a definition of it.

10:00 Opening and Introduction setting the Agenda Harold Goodwin

10:15 Setting the Agenda: Economic Issues Ross Klein Chaired by Harold Goodwin

Economic Responsibility for example:

  1. the bargaining power of cruise operating companies over landing and berthing fees when they have exceptional mobility and are able to play one port against another.
  2. the capturing of value in highly vertically integrated companies which often own or part own their handling agents and “local” retailers in the ports.
  3. the ability of cruise line operators to influence and  manage the purchasing decisions of their passengers.
  4. the extent to which the supply chains of the cruise lines benefit the local economies of the destinations they use.
  5. Is it true that the destinations do not capture an appropriate share of the value of the cruise – the cruise lines are largely “free loaders” with no investment in the destination.

Social Responsibility for example

11:00 Setting the Agenda: Social Issues Ross Klein Chaired by Harold Goodwin

  1. the impact of large numbers of tourists, often inappropriately dressed, coming ashore and dominating the destination to the detriment of locals and other visitors.
  2. the impact of intensive large group visitors on the aesthetics and visitor experience at natural and cultural heritage sites.

 

11:45 Setting the Agenda: Environmental Issues Ross Klein Chaired by Harold Goodwin Environmental Responsibility for example  

  1. Discharge of waste – within the 12 mile limit and beyond
  2. Solid waste disposal ashore
  3. Green House Gas Emissions
  4. High intensity, high volume low value visitor pressure undermining conservation at natural and cultural heritage sites.

 

12:30 – 13:30 there is modern attractive cafeteria in the Rose Bowl

13:30 What is the agenda for river cruising? Fran Hughes, Travel Foundation

14:00 Shaun Russell Director Welsh Environment Hub, Bangor University, Tourism in the Falklands and Antarctica

14:30 What would Responsible Tourism in Antarctica look like? Harold Goodwin

15:00 Cruising for people with disabilities. Craig Grimes and Andreas Walmsley ICRT

15:30 Reflections on Responsible Cruising, John de Vial of ABTA will close the day with some reflections on what has been learnt from the day

Back to basics- eco-savings through energy management in hotels

February 5th, 2010

The UNWTO event “Energy solutions for hotels” at Fitur (Madrid’s tourism fair) was a timely reminder of the long road ahead to reducing CO2 emissions in the hotel industry. Most of what the 23 speakers covered in 5 hours has been evolving for a decade, and yet the sector (and particularly small firms) have failed to change their behaviour. Why?

The business case made for energy management is eco-savings- yet none of the presenters showed return on investment periods that would be sufficiently tempting. Instead each speaker went off on different directions to present less focused reasons for behaviour change, with few showing a product that is more experiential as a result.

The greatest disappointment did however come from the floor- from a maximum audience of 150, half the room was empty and this worsened as the event progressed. This first ever Fitur event on sustainable tourism failed to capture the attention of industry in a way that WTM and more recently ITB have.

www.hotelenergysolutions.net is set to be however a valuable tool for hotels aiming to reduce their operational costs, and the UNWTO plans a second and final event at Fitur in January 2011 to conclude their three year project. My concern is that we seem to have failed to understand how and why small businesses take decisions and what can contribute to positive behaviour change.

Presentations will be available on the UNTWO project’s website

Commonwealth Shared Scholarships Scheme for MSc responsible tourism management

February 4th, 2010

The Shared Scholarship Scheme is a joint initiative between the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (with funding from DFID) and UK universities, to support scholarships for students from developing Commonwealth countries who would not otherwise be able to study in the United Kingdom, to study the MSc Responsible Tourism Management (contact Jo Jagger) Read the rest of this entry »

Travel Law Quarterly to be edited in partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University

February 4th, 2010

Visiting Professor David Grant joins Leeds Met and brings with him The Travel Law Quarterly, the only journal which specialises in travel law and aimed at travel industry professionals, travel lawyers, regulators, academics and students of travel law – both in the UK and abroad. It covers all aspects of travel law: travel agency, tour operations, cruise law, air law, timeshare, hotel law as well as the regulation and licensing of the travel industry.

The Travel Law Quarterly has been adopted as the ‘Official Journal’ of the International Bar Association Leisure Industries Section. ICRT will be working with Prof Grant to publish, research and train on the relationship between responsible tourism and the law. www.tlq.travel

The customer experience of Whitbread’s Good Together Strategy

February 3rd, 2010

ICRT staff Dr Xavier Font will form part of the challenging review of the customer experience that Whitbread branded cafes, restaurants and hotels offer of their CSR strategy Good Together. Whitbread is the UK’s leading hospitality company, with household brands Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Costa Coffee, Table Table, Taybarn and Premier Inn.   

The aim of the review is to understand how Whitbread’s CSR strategy can be made more meaningful to the customer experience. The review is headed by PWC and will use site audits to develop innovative ways to improve CSR actions, better communicate current actions and improve customer engagement. The study takes place throughout February and March 2010.

Dr Xavier Font

Greening the Asian Beach Games

February 3rd, 2010

I visited Oman over the New Year, to present to various Omani authorities about greening the Asian Beach Games. I found it to be a beautiful, welcoming and hospitable country.  It has a modern infrastructure, developed over the last four decades under the guidance of its thoughtful and forward-thinking leader, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. It is in large part attributable to him that Oman is simultaneously international in outlook, while embracing its traditions and cultural heritage. Read the rest of this entry »

ICRT at the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum Conference, Sofia

February 2nd, 2010

I (Lucy McCombes) have recently returned from speaking at a conference in Sofia, Bulgaria on The Business Case for Responsible Tourism. I was invited to attend by the organisers, the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum who we have been working with to submit a EU funding proposal to support a network of organisations in Eastern Europe wanting to take a more responsible approach to tourism development.

The conference was successful in bringing a range of stakeholders together and it was a very interesting insight into the experience of trying to deliver responsible tourism in the face of some serious challenges. On the second day three developers who are working on ski, sea and golf resorts were put under the spotlight by the “international experts” to answer questions on what they were doing in practice in terms of responsible tourism which led to vibrant debate.

During the conference the Bulgarian Association of Alternative Tourism (www.baatbg.org) and Odysseia-In Travel Agency (www.odysseia-in.com) were very welcoming and kindly took the time to show me a few sites of Sofia. They are doing a lot of great work on the ground in rural and mountain areas which is well worth taking a look at. All in all the conference was a great opportunity to start to get to know our Bulgarian partners in person and hopefully we will be hearing more from them in the future.

Former ICRT student, Veronica Tonge, who has founded www.responsibleskiing.com, also went down very well as there was a great deal of discussion about how skiing can be made responsible and she made some useful contacts who were interested in her work in this area.

On the last day I was lucky enough to have some time being a tourist in Sofia which included stopping off at the Russian market outside the Sveta Nedelya Cathedral to buy a painting of an icon….I chose St Christopher – the patron saint of travel! (see photograph)

What would Responsible Cruising look like?

February 1st, 2010

What would Responsible Cruising look like? What would be the characteristics of a Responsible Cruise?

Cruising is growing rapidly driven on by technological advances, the attractiveness of the moving, multi-activity, all inclusive, floating resort and the luxury, perceived safety and isolation of the cruise experience.  Read the rest of this entry »