TM Responsible Tourism Insider 1

Thursday, 26 Sep, 2002 0

A message from Richard Hammond, Editor-in-Chief, TravelMole:

Today we celebrate the launch of a new e-publication –
The Responsible Tourism Insider.

Responsible Tourism has gained significant momentum in the
industry over recent years, particularly in two destinations –
South Africa and The Gambia – and also as a result of an
increasing number of travel companies adopting responsible
tourism practices.

The aim of this newsletter is to keep all our subscribers up to
date with how the latest developments in Responsible Tourism are
affecting the travel and tourism industry.

As with the main TravelMole Insider e-newswire, the Responsible
Tourism newsletter is free for TravelMole members. We intend to
send it out once every 3/4 weeks.

If you would like to contribute to future issues, please do
contact me.

Best wishes

Richard Hammond
mailto:[email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0)20-7627 8548

The Responsible Tourism Insider, Issue 1
News on Sustainability in the Travel and Tourism Industry
26 September 2002

LATEST NEWS
1. What is Responsible Tourism?
2. What is Pro Poor Tourism?
3. Tourism and poverty elimination addressed at Earth Summit
4. World Tourism Day: ecotourism and sustainable development
5. Sustainability heads Environment Day at WTM
6. Eleanor Puet joins International Hotels Environment Initiative
7. Prince of Wales celebrates 20 years of responsible tourism
8. International Ecotourism Standard to be released
9. SA Government releases ‘Responsible Tourism Guidelines’
10. New faces at Fair Trade in Tourism SA
11. NRI publishes report on responsible tourism in The Gambia
12. Responsible tourism investment opportunities in Namibia
13. Scottish tourism’s wild ideas about wildlife
14. Responsibletravel.com announces partnership with FOC
15. Green Globe launches new Responsible Tourism website
16. Australia Ecotourism Conference: ‘A world of difference’
17. Planeta.com hosts NGOs in Tourism and Conservation Conference
18. Sabah organises largest ecotourism conference in Asia
19. Majorca to host next ‘RT in Destinations’ conference

See TravelMole’s list of Sustainable Tourism organisations:
http://www.travelmole.com/item/21063

EDITORIAL COMMENT by Harold Goodwin
Dawid de Villiers, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Tourism
Organization said at the Cape Town Conference on Responsible
Tourism in Destinations last month that he understood
Responsible Tourism “as the commitment to implement the
principles of sustainability – guided by the [WTO’s] code of
ethics – at the local or destination level.” Quite so.

Responsible Tourism is not a new form of tourism – all forms of
tourism can be responsible. It is a commitment by individuals,
enterprises, companies and governments (at all levels) to act
and to do so in practical and measurable ways. It is about
committing to do things across the triple bottom line of
economic, social and environmental sustainability and then doing
them. It is about making commitments and honouring them and
reporting progress in a transparent way; it is about meeting the
regulations and doing something more.

It is about making a difference, not about insisting that it is
for some other group ‘the industry’, the UN, government or NGO’s
to make tourism sustainable – Responsible Tourism is about
taking responsibility. It is about making the changes necessary
to make better experiences for holidaymakers and travellers and
to make better places for local communities to live in.

This new e-newsletter will make a useful contribution to the
Responsible Tourism Movement.

Harold Goodwin
International Centre for Responsible Tourism
University of Greenwich

RESPONSIBLE TOURISM NEWS ARCHIVE:
http://www.travelmole.com/news/sustainable

1. What is Responsible Tourism?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Responsible Tourism takes many forms – and includes addressing
the triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental
responsibility. Here follows a detailed definition…
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91523

2. What is Pro Poor Tourism?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A number of recent initiatives described as ‘pro poor tourism’
have focused specifically on linking tourism and poverty
reduction. Here follows a description of what it involves…
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91531

3. Tourism and poverty elimination addressed at Earth Summit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Johannesburg Earth Summit earlier this month, Francesco
Frangialli, Secretary-General of the WTO, specifically
identified the importance of tourism, particularly eco tourism
as a vehicle to help in the central global problem of poverty
elimination in developing countries.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91535

4. World Tourism Day: ecotourism and sustainable development
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The WTO General Assembly has select “Ecotourism, the key to
sustainable development” as the theme for tomorrow’s twenty
third edition of World Tourism Day.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91483

5. Sustainability heads Environment Day at WTM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘Destination Sustainability’ will be the key subject at this
year’s WTM Environment Day, which has the support of WWF, ABTA,
UNEP and Green Globe 21.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/89427

6. Eleanor Puet joins International Hotels Environment Initiative
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The International Hotels Environment Initiative (IHEI) has
appointed Eleanor Puet as the new IHEI Programme Development
Manager.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91294

7. Prince of Wales celebrates 20 years of responsible tourism
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The contribution that the UK travel and tourism industry has
made towards protecting the world’s fragile habitats and
endangered species has been acknowledged by HRH The Prince of
Wales.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91534

8. International Ecotourism Standard to be released
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An International Ecotourism Standard is due to be formally
released at the International Australian Ecotourism Conference
in Cairns late October 2002.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91529

9. SA Government releases ‘Responsible Tourism Guidelines’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
has recently produced a set of ‘National Responsible Tourism
Guidelines’.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91374

10. New faces at Fair Trade in Tourism SA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) has appointed two key
new members at its Pretoria offices.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91208

11. NRI publishes report on responsible tourism in The Gambia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Department for International Development Tourism Challenge
Fund Report on ‘Harnessing Tourism for Poverty Elimination in
The Gambia’ has just been published by the Natural Resources
Institute.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91533

12. Responsible tourism investment opportunities in Namibia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Namibian Community-Based Tourism Agency (NACOBTA) and the
World Wildlife Fund-LIFE Project (WWF) are inviting interested
parties to promote joint venture lodge operations in communal
areas in Namibia.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91373

13. Scottish tourism’s wild ideas about wildlife
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wildlife and the natural environment will receive a higher
profile in the VisitScotland (Scottish Tourist Board) new brand
portfolio according to the recently appointed Head of Brand
Marketing, Alistair Gronbach.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91362

14. Responsibletravel.com announces partnership with FOC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Responsibletravel.com has announced it will donate to Friends of
Conservation (FOC) GBP 1 from every booking made through its
website.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91464

15. Green Globe launches new Responsible Tourism website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Green Globe 21 has launched a website to allow its members to
sell certified responsible tourism products online.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/89128

16. Australia Ecotourism Conference: ‘A world of difference’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The International Australian Ecotourism Conference in Cairns (21-
25 October) will be wrapping up the events the International
Year of Ecotourism, particularly in relation to policy,
planning, operation, business, marketing and awareness for the
future development of ecotourism.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91380

17. Planeta.com hosts NGOs in Tourism and Conservation Conference
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mexican-based ecotourism website Planeta.com is to host a
conference on ‘NGOs in Tourism and Conservation’ from 22 October
to 8 November 2002.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91587

18. Sabah organises largest ecotourism conference in Asia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sabah is set to host the largest ecotourism conference in Asia,
the Asia Pacific Ecotourism Conference (APeco 2002), 3rd-6th
October, as part of Malaysia’s program for the International
Year of Ecotourism.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91466

19. Majorca to host next ‘RT in Destinations’ conference
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Following on from the Cape Town conference, the next conference
on ‘Responsible Tourism in Destinations’ will take place in
Calvia (Majorca) in May 2004.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/91372