World Green Tourism

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First of its kind for Abu Dhabi

The first of its kind, World Green Tourism Congress, which will run from November 22 to 24 at Adnec, Abu Dhabi, UAE, is designed to provide travel and tourism industry leaders and investors a greater insight into sustainability within the sector and how it can be used to enhance business outcomes.

It is the first meetings industry initiative to emerge from the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and Advantage Abu Dhabi (AAD) incentive programme which launched earlier this year to drive new business tourism and meetings concepts.

According to the UNWTO, sustainable tourism today is estimated at 11.4 per cent of global consumer tourism spend and this is evident with the large number of government officials, regional and international tourism authorities, environmental agencies, industry leaders, urban city planners, architects, developers, institutional investors and financiers, airlines, tour operators, green product suppliers, universities and academics due to come together to examine the issue.

Speaking to TTN, RICK THEOBALD from the UAE’s Streamline Marketing Group, which will organise the event with the ADTA, said the event will see leading international speakers debating issues including carbon offsetting and ‘drill down’ in discussions about whether such initiatives are the best way forward or whether there are better alternatives.

As the region’s first global event in the development of sustainable tourism, what can we expect to see?

"Our main focus will be the development and management of responsible tourism in the region. Over the three days, delegates can expect a conference-led programme, with international sustainable leaders like Bruce Poon Tip, founder of Gap Adventures, the world’s largest adventure travel company, and ministers of tourism from Thailand, Jordan and Egypt, academics from universities and NGOs including the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation)."

"We will also have speakers from a commercial level like James Hogan of Etihad and Gerald Lawless of Jumeirah, Sarah Rooney from the Rezidor Hotel group and JP Bergkvist from Sleepwell in Sweden. So, it will be three days of sharing of knowledge that will allow Abu Dhabi and the broader Middle East as well as the world to take the next step of developing the challenge of a responsible tourism industry."

Why Abu Dhabi? What kind of role has the emirate played towards sustainable tourism?

"The key thing to remember is that the summit aims to tackle the issues of sustainability around the world; however Abu Dhabi is the ideal place for this because of ADTA’s commitment towards making and developing its tourism sector responsibly. ADTA has established its own Environmental Health and Safety Management System (EHSMS) which has become a world-first in being on the only one of its kind which embraces an entire tourism segment. The system asks hotels to have proper management systems with annual targets for water, energy and waste-to-landfill savings."

"There are the forthcoming Green Hotels guidelines too, developed in line with Estidama, which itself was created with the Urban Planning Council (UPC), which will ensure future hotels built in Abu Dhabi will be green buildings. These are all good case studies that will be examined at the conference and also show the continued commitment of Abu Dhabi and the executive council to take the next step."

"There is a lot of work being done within the responsible tourism sector in the UAE and the broader Middle East. At this conference, people will get to see this and it’s definitely a myth we want to dispel that the region has not made any effort."

Do you believe the region has scope for new type of travel and tourism?

"You can already see that happening here. There are plenty of tour operators offering responsible tours with activities like kayaking through mangroves, low-impact desert safaris and operating far more efficient versions than the five-star deluxe that the region is known for. Hotels like Al Maha Desert Resort, which has a business model of high-end luxury tourism, but is responsible – it looks after the natural environment, it is low-impact and is commercially very successful. The Al Ain Wildlife  Park & Resort is another natural project and this is a changing sort of business model you will see commercially."

"The market is definitely there. Responsible business is the biggest growth segment in the tourism industry year-on-year and has been for the last five years and therefore there is a commercial drive behind looking after our resources and the country is taking these initiatives."

"At the same time, the definition of what is responsible or green or eco-tourism differs and one of the things you will see at World Green Tourism is debates and lively discussion on these varying definitions. For example the definition in the Middle East – is the preservation of nature or culture enough to be called responsible tourism?"

Who are the key speakers at the show this year, and what do you expect them to bring onboard?

"I am hoping they will bring a lot of excitement because we want people to have the attitude that this is an exciting time to be in the tourism industry. There are challenges and solving them will be rewarding. Guys like Bruce Poon Tip, founder of Gap Adventures, are people who can be leaders in that respect and can invigorate the industry to proactively wanting to do that. At the same time they bring a lot of experience and we can learn from the challenges they faced elsewhere."

"The programme is full of interesting speakers from Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan who will open the conference to Ahmed Al Nuaimi from the Qatar Tourism Authority and Louis Hakim from Philips ME. On the third day we have a very interesting session called Preparing Green Tourism Champions that is aimed strongly at local students and graduates who will be in the very near future progressing into a career in the tourism sector, we want them to be inspired and consider sustainability as a must-have. Elham Al Qassimi the first Emirati and Arab woman Antarctic explorer will address this session."

How can tour operators and travel agents make a difference?

"Tour operators can make a difference by looking at their business and seeing ways in which they can reduce the impact on the environment of their product. The travel agents need to be fully aware of the importance of the business of responsibility and be aware of the work that is being done by different hotels and airlines and then talk to their customers about the impact of their travel choices. A lot more customers will be asking their online travel agents as they become choosier with their travel choices. Tourists are willing to pay a little bit more to know that their holiday is having a low impact on the country they are travelling to."

SOURCE: www.ttnworldwide.com/articles.aspx

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Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite: EXTRA SPECIAL OFFER at: www.travelmole.com/stories/1144671.php