EXCLUSIVE – Erika Harms of UN Foundation for Sustainable Development Talks to VISION

The top lady –Executive Director of UN Foundation – behind the global movement for sustainable tourism criteria and certification talked last week at the ITB Berlin and after – exclusively to VISION on Sustainable Tourism outlining her hopes and fears for the future.

The Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC Partnership) is a coalition of 27 organizations working together to foster increased understanding of sustainable tourism practices and the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles.

A list of the organisations involved in the steering committee of this movement, emphasises the breadth, scope and power of their plans:

American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA); American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA); Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST); National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations (CSD); Condé Nast Traveler: Conservation International (CI); The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD);Ecotourism Society of Kenya (ESOK); ECOTRANS; Expedia, Inc.; Federation of Tour Operators (FTO); Gesselchaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, GmbH (GTZ); HM Designs; International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH&RA); The International Ecotourism Society (TIES); National Geographic Adventure; Rainforest Alliance (RA); Sustainable Travel International (STI); Tourism Concern; Travelocity®; Travel Weekly; United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP); United Nations Foundation (UNF); United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Q About sustainable tourism…
“Sustainable tourism shouldn’t be and isn’t a luxury, a ‘nice to have’ an ‘add-on’ a ‘value-added’. It is a NEED TO HAVE. It rates up there with quality and health, and may even be directly connected.”

“There are two major considerations that lead us to believe that sustainable tourism is a need, excluding the environmental impacts which are clearly apparent to most of the industry. Through my work at the United Nations Foundation, I have seen two clear ways in which responsible business practices have directly improved the bottom line of the tourism industry. First, collective efforts to sustain the integrity of irreplaceable tourism destinations and to improve the livelihoods of the local population have ensured that these sites will continue to act as a draw for tourists in the future. Second, consumers are becoming more savvy in their ability to find new travel opportunities and more conscious of the effects their travel has on the planet. By showing that they share the same concerns, more responsible service providers have seen an increase in this new – and fastest growing – tourism segment.”

Q About the current storm…
“What I do know is that it can’t be business as usual and that in doing so considerations about the impact both on the environment as well as the people we do business with is a key.”

“The industry needs to get healthy again. It needs to grow so many economies rely on it. It needs to look at efficient growth and look at environment, socio-economic and cultural impact while it does so.”

“Our focus (at UN Foundation) will be in finding the way in which the industry can become sustainable, on preserving destinations and educating travellers not only to travel responsibly but to the demand the same responsibility from the tourism businesses they support.”

Q About Carbon and GHGs…
“The whole topic of GHG and carbon is relevant to each one of us. It is not something any industry or individual has the luxury to ignore, as demonstrated by the outrage against air travel. Travel needs to exist; it is fundamental to many economies and conducive to peace. But because tourism may not be viewed as an essential need it comes under attack easily. While it may not be the biggest contributor to GHG emissions it is an easy target. Being proactive in this field will be the key.”

Q About the future…
“There are a number of challenges that we as humans have to address quickly. The most pressing because of its nature and long term impact is climate change, but we need to deal with adequate management of natural resources which are finite, with population and poverty alleviation if we do wish the earth continues to exist as we know it. There are pressing issues that affect our day-to-day lives like the economic situation that need to be dealt with. All of these present an enormous opportunity to change for the better. To look at how to best use resources to increase efficiencies and reduce waste, which should translate to economic gain. It is also a good time to look at our footprint and how, if we need to rethink how we do business we can do it in a way that will have a positive impact on out planet. Rethink what we do to reduce our waste, starting with carbon emissions, efficiently use natural resources and how we can address poverty to ensure economic well being, health and prosperity to all.”

“What this year has taught us is that everything can change in a very short period of time. I tell you what we will aim to do and that is that by 2020 the word sustainability will be in the nature of the business like quality and health. That the travel industry will be the example of how an industry can make a positive change in a destination while working with it to maintain its character and that my children get to enjoy in a much more effective and sustainable way the same places I was able to enjoy.”

Q About Certification…
“The Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism Criteria has been a great success, leading towards the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council which, when constituted as such, will act at a global accreditation agency – that is to say a body accrediting local, regional and global certification schemes – of which we estimate that there are some 75-130.”

“We have an investment in ‘Sustainable Tourism’ as a term – it means so much more than ‘Green’”

Valere Tjolle