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Gran maestro of sustainable tourism calls for ecotourism profits and geodesign
Megan Epler Wood says that ecotourism needs profits to survive, the world needs geodesign for regional tourism projects and calls for women’s empowerment.
The director of the International Sustainable Tourism Initiative at the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, teacher, consultant, founder of TIES said "Ecotourism is a pipe dream unless it can deliver profits, not massive profits, but profits to small and micro enterprises that need to be connected to either global or regional supply chains."
And with climate change ramping up, the need to establish benchmarking and visualized projections is urgent. Megan calls for regional projects to undertake geodesign measurement systems in advance of large scale development that are paid for with public private funds.
"This will give local decisions makers the data they need to understand how ecosystems and social systems are faring during the next phase of rapid tourism growth" She said
"With tourism reaching 9% of global GDP, and 6 billion air travellers expected to travel annually in the next decade, the time is now to define new systems for the travel and tourism industry to grow while also benefitting human health and the environment."
"Entrepreneurship is at the heart of how sustainable tourism can benefit local people, says Megan "Women are incredibly important potential beneficiaries."
"Women in tourism generally earn about 80% of a male’s wage. Notwithstanding these disadvantages to women, there has been a broad increase in the participation of women in the tourism industry worldwide. Women want these jobs and they want to enter the work force."
Read the full interview with Sustainabiity Leaders HERE http://sustainability-leaders.com/megan-epler-wood-gran-maestra-sustainable-tourism/
Valere Tjolle
@ValereTjolle
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