Sustainable Destinations was leading theme at Global Sustainable Tourism Conference 2017

The Global Sustainable Tourism Conference 2017 in Aysén, Chile brought together 250 delegates from 29 countries, as well as viewers joining live broadcast

The Conference focused on "Sustainable Destinations", and the application of the GSTC Destination Criteria.

A panel of representatives from destinations that apply the GSTC Destination Criteria included Rosa Harris, Director of Tourism – Cayman Islands; Beatriz Barreal, Founder & General Manager – Sustainable Riviera Maya (Mexico); Dawson Ramsden, Ecotourism Marketing Executive – Botswana Tourism Organisation;  Eduardo Gomez, Director Regional – Sernatur Los Lagos (Chile); and Tamara Ullrich, Board Member – ZOIT Cchellenko (Chile).

Other topics included tourism and climate change (adaptation and mitigation strategies); marketing sustainable tourism; sustainable visitor management; indigenous tourism; sustainable food in the tourism industry; and more. Simultaneous translation was provided in English and Spanish.

Speakers came from different parts of Chile (including Mapuche and Yagan), Latin America, and from other continents such as Africa, Australia, and Europe.

Said Felipe Muñoz Narbona, Director of Ecomapu Valparaíso, a sustainable tour operator certified by Chile’s Sello S (a GSTC-Recognized Standard).

"The conference gave us the opportunity to connect with people who understand and work the sustainable tourism, not as an alternative way to make the things, rather as an opportunity and need for the future of the the world tourism," Felipe explained.

Participants included international and domestic tourism stakeholders involved in the development and promotion of sustainable tourism; including public sector, hotels, tour operators, academia, development agencies, NGOs, consultants, and more. Along with Chilean participants, international participants come from: Australia, Botswana, Canada, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Greece, Guatemala, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, UK, USA, and more.

As with previous GSTC Conferences, the carbon footprint of the event is being offset to become a ‘carbon neutral event’ by the scheme CO2 NEUTRAL SEAL through sponsorship of Green Evolution SA. Other sustainable-events practices were carried out, such as reducing paper and plastic usage to a minimum: badges were made of recycled paper, brochures were not printed at all but were being provided through pdf files, no plastic bottles were used during the conference. Vegetarian meal was the default option, and no lamb was served.

The Conference also brought direct and indirect benefits to local businesses, as the 250 participants stayed in different types of accommodations in Coyhaique, with lunches and dinners distributed to a number of restaurants that serve local food. Stands of local craftsmen and local goods were present at the venue.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Conference 2017 (GSTC2017) was hosted in Aysén Región, Chile, and was organized by Sernatur and GSTC.

Presentations from the conference can be accessed here.

Valere Tjolle

@ValereTjolle