Nominations for this years Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards closed last night. There were 1,756 nominations this year, nearly 100 more than last year.
There were 594 unique nominations, up a few on last year. As usual a few businesses and individuals had encouraged their nomination this does not affect the judging process, either way. The nominations are not votes.
Students, alumni and associated of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism now begin the hard work of sifting through the nominations and developing the lists of those who go to the next stage.
Result will be announced at World Travel Market in November on World Responsible Tourism Day.
Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards nominations now closed
June 16th, 2010Leonardo Intership placement available to work with Tiger Tourism
May 10th, 2010ICRT will be working with Travel Operators for Tigers to prepare a fundraising plan to raise the sustainability practices of tour operators and their suppliers working in tiger tourism in India. This project allows the participation of an European person holding a Leonardo scholarship and looking for a host institution, with conservation/development/ forestry/ tourism/ business backgrounds. 
A recent article from The Times reporting plans to stop tiger tourism in India blamed tourism for the increasing pressure put on the ecosystem that tigers rely on. While the Indian government has since confirmed they have no intention to stop tiger tourism, it has fuelled a new round of questions about the sustainability of managing tiger reserves, showing once more the conflict in objectives between conservationists, tourism companies and the local population.
Travel Operators for Tigers has been working for years with their supply chains to introduce sustainability standards to both raise awareness and change behaviour. TOFT is a unique project and to date has been self funded. The next phase of TOFT has to be moving from a small scale demonstration project to achieving the critical mass to demonstrate there is another way to manage tiger tourism.
If you are interested in taking part in preparing a business plan for TOFT’s growth, with fundraising at the centre of it, speak with Xavier at x.font@leedsmet.ac.uk
Leeds Met wins prestigious British Council grant
May 4th, 2010After recent visits to Indonesia building on several years spent living and working there, Dr. Janet Cochrane is delighted to have won funding from the British Council to develop a joint Masters programme with an Indonesian university. The grant is to develop a collaboration between Leeds Met and the Bandung Institute of Tourism to train professionals in the planning and management skills needed for a successful tourism and hospitality industry. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Ride Yorkshire’ starts at a gallop
May 4th, 2010ICRT’s Janet Cochrane has been instrumental in setting up the new ‘Ride Yorkshire’ association, which held its inaugural meeting at the end of April. By chance, Janet met the chairman of Visit York – John Yeomans – whilst trail-riding in the North York Moors, and they quickly realised they could use their personal and professional interests to encourage many more people to enjoy the superb Yorkshire landscapes from horseback. Read the rest of this entry »
Developing cycle tourism in Northumberland
April 23rd, 2010We are now some six months into our contract to raise the profile of cycle tourism in Northumberland, England’s wildest and most northerly count. Our project officer, Anna Waddilove – an ICRT graduate – is doing an excellent job identifying new bike routes that link cycle-friendly accommodation providers, public transport links and the area’s many tourist attractions including forts that form part of Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site, castles, panels of Neolithic rock art and local food producers. As part of the ‘Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall’ event that took place on 13th March, Anna organised a celebratory cycle tour that took participants through part of the WHS and that ended up at a cheese farm where everyone had a hearty meal whilst watching the beacons slowly come alight along the line of the wall. Read the rest of this entry »
A Manifesto for Rebellious Tourists has been launched
April 14th, 2010Responsible Travel.com is supporting a campaign launched on its website by an unknown hacker. A Rebellious Touristmanifesto has been launched.
“We like it, we’ve kept it and we want to share it. It reinforces our core message – responsible travel is not only a better was to travel but a more enjoyable way – for you and your holiday destination.
We’ve decided to give the Manifesto its own page because it helps us lift the lid on responsible travel. For too long there’s been this misconception that responsible travel is somehow weighty, worthy and just no fun. We know that’s not true and being rebellious is in fact a founding principle of responsible tourism. Using your curiosity to get behind the tourism “stage” and create change for the better will ensure that the positive impacts of tourism always outweigh the negative.
From today we will be holding up the Manifesto as a mantra for today’s responsible traveller. A way to hit the reset button on the way we travel – to save us all from predictable and unimaginative holidays. If your holidaying has gone a bit Simon Cowell then the Manifesto is as refreshing as Rage Against the Machine!
The Rebellious Tourist claims to know how to reinspire us:
“You’re tired; you’re spent; you’re overworked. You need to switch off. YOU NEED A HOLIDAY. The year-on-year formula of one sun lounger, two books, three bikinis and a several cocktails has left you cold. You have just two precious weeks to refocus and recharge. You are not convinced your holiday destination should hang on the exchange rate, the weather or the cheapest flight offer. In fact you know its worth comes from the experiences you’ll get and how invigorated and human you feel when you get home. You’re not against breaking a few rules – if that’s what it takes to break away from bland holidays – you just need a nudge in the right direction.”
The straight-talking Manifesto is here to help you take charge with our Rebel urging us to:
“Throw down your sombrero; hold that order for a Pina Colada and step away from the tour bus. Down with the nanny state and prescriptive holidays, open your eyes, join the revolution and bring back your stories from the frontline of tourism!”
This campaign builds on Krippendorf’s approach when back in 1987 he called for rebellious tourists and rebellious locals – rebel.
You can debate the initiative and post examples at
http://www.artyforum.info/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=530&PID=710#710
MSc scholarships to study in the Gambia
March 29th, 2010COMMONWEALTH DISTANCE LEARNING SCHOLARSHIPS IN THE GAMBIA
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
A partnership between the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT) at Leeds Metropolitan University (UK), the University of Gambia and ICRT-West Africa has been awarded funding for 15 Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships to study in The Gambia for a Masters degree (MSc) in Responsible Tourism Management. This part-time course starting in September 2010 will be taught by staff from ICRT in Leeds and run in partnership with the University of Gambia through the School of Business and Public Administration at the Management Development Institute (Kanifing). The Scholarships will cover the costs of all tuition fees but do not include any allowance for living costs.
We are now seeking applications from mid-career professionals who currently work or teach in a tourism-related field, and who are well-placed to apply their learning from this course for delivering and teaching responsible tourism in The Gambia for the benefit of local communities (i.e. to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals). The course’s approach enables students to develop professional networks and apply their learning to implementing changes in their own workplaces and practice responsible tourism to ‘make better places for people to live in and for people to visit’. Read the rest of this entry »
2010/11 course dates now live for MSc responsible tourism management
March 15th, 2010Planning to apply for the MSc responsible tourism management masters, or take individual modules as continuous professional development? All dates for courses are now available, from Sept 2010 to July 2011. http://www.icrtourism.org/2010-11Coursedates.shtml
Publishing next year’s dates has increased enquiries for this September start, both for full time study based in Leeds and part time distance learning for professionals. The economic slowdown has actually increased the number of full time applications using the course to retrain, and also the use of part time study as a mentoring process.
If you want to know more about how to make the most of our learning opportunities email Xavier on x.font@leedsmet.ac.uk for a skype or telephone discussion.
4th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations- Oman 10-12 Oct2010
March 8th, 2010The 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
- Tourism, Livelihoods, Local Economic Development and Human Resources
- Responsible Tourism in a World of Finite Resources
- The Responsible Tourist, Tangible and Intangible Heritage -
- Responsible Destinations and Marketing Read the rest of this entry »
Keep it real: market and communicate your credentials to engage your customers
February 26th, 2010The 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 »