The International Centre for Responsible Tourism has launched two courses focused on how to develop responsible tourism and how to manage overtourism The ten-week courses have both been constructed by Professor Emeritus Dr Harold Goodwin who pioneered Masters’ courses in responsible tourism management at Greenwich, Leeds Becket and Manchester Metropolitan Universities. Harold’s background is in adult and continuing education and post graduate studies. “Our ICRT global courses are designed for changemakers who want to make tourism better for communities, their local economy and better for businesses,” he said. “Our responsible tourism course will look at how to create business advantages while developing sustainably. Our managing overtourism course will look at the many causes of overtourism, the range of solutions and the levers that can be used to manage them all.” Matt Callaghan, COO of easyJet holidays which is supporting the new ICRT global courses said: “We believe that education, collaboration and rapid implementation are what is needed for us to jointly invest in enhancing the places we love to visit.” ICRT global courses start from £365 for a ten-week online course including the final professional certificate. The courses include videos of lectures, interviews and conversations, written course materials and links to further reading and resourcing. It is aimed at anyone in the travel and hospitality industry, particularly middle and senior managers. It is at postgraduate level but no degree is required to take part. The first scheduled course including live seminars will begin on 30 January 2025.

The winners have been unveiled at the Global Responsible Tourism Awards sponsored by Sabre, in London.  The six Global Responsible Tourism Award winners have all already fought off competition to win gold in their respective regional awards held in Africa, Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and a rest of the world category. The 33 gold regional winners then qualified to compete for a global accolade. This is the 20^th year of the awards. Harold Goodwin, founder of  International Centre for Responsible Tourism global said, "Too often the term sustainable is used only in an abstract sense. Responsible Tourism requires us to say what we are doing to make tourism better and to be transparent about what we achieve.” That's why all the award winners we are celebrating are evidence-based, replicable, innovative and are actively influencing and inspiring others.” Tess Longfield, Sabre head of sustainability communications and award sponsor added: "Judging the Global Responsible Tourism Awards has once again left me in awe of the extraordinary work being done, day in and day out, by our finalists." The Global Responsible Tourism Award winners for 2024 are: The Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, Lodge and Foundation in South Africa wins a Global Responsible Tourism award for employing and upskilling local communities. Grootbos Lodge is an ecolodge set in 3,500 hectares of wilderness and has been conserving a growing part of the fynbos overlooking Walker Bay since 1994. The Lodge upskills, trains and mentors its staff and supports and promotes local producers. Its Green Futures College covers the training costs, uniforms, transport, food, stipends and childcare for between 20 and 24 unemployed people each year. www.grootbos.com/en Tour operator TUI UK and Ireland wins a Global Responsible Tourism Award for making tourism inclusive. TUI UK and Ireland serves more than six million holidaymakers a year. Its dedicated Accessible Holidays Strategy team has partnered with AccessAble to survey hotels and develop detailed access guides which are now available online. It has also partnered with Sign Live to provide interpreting services for British sign language users via video relay. The judges were pleased to see a major tour operator address the needs of those with access needs and hope that others will follow. Assisted Travel with TUI Jetwing Hotels, Sri Lanka wins the Global Responsible Tourism Award for climate action. Jetwing hotels currently secures 60% of its energy from renewable sources, from biomass, solar PV, solar thermal, and biogas. In 2023, Jetwing Hotels generated 1069 MWh of solar energy across its properties, equivalent to providing power for about 13,490 households www.jetwinghotels.com Crees Manu in Peru wins the Nature Positive Global Responsible Tourism Award for its work including  running tours and volunteering opportunities as both internships and learning experiences in the Manu Biosphere Reserve.  Crees works to "promote sustainable alternatives that respect human rights, intergenerational rights, biodiversity rights, and the rights of its species to ensure long-term sustainable economic development." It has reduced greenhouse gas emissions, conserved over 600 hectares of forest in the buffer zone of Manu National Park and works with educational programmes to benefit the local people and conserve biodiversity. www.crees-manu.org Sivatel Bangkok Hotel wins the Global Responsible Tourism Award for creating local sourcing and creating shared value. The hotel sources 70% of its ingredients organically and is aiming for 100% by 2030.  It achieved zero food waste to landfill in 2023, is striving for zero overall waste by 2024 and plans to integrate renewable energy by 2025. It partners with more than 50 local farmers through the "Sivatel's Farmer Friends Network and with local producers through the "Sivatel Sustainable Market," The "From Kitchen to Chicken" program is a closed-loop system, diverting food scraps to feed black soldier fly larvae, which are then used as protein for organic chickens at Tankhun Organic Chicken Farm. Uniforms are designed by Folkcharm, a local sustainable fashion brand. www.sivatelbangkok.com Rajasthan Studio in India wins the Global Responsible Tourism Award for championing cultural diversity. It curates art experiences with master artisans in Rajasthan, contributing to the preservation of the state's local traditional crafts and culture. Travellers can connect and interact with the artist. Tourists can understand the history and traditional practices of a specific art form, making a significant contribution to promoting, preserving and propagating art heritage which the judges felt was highly replicable. www.rajasthanstudio.com  

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  Completing the shortlist for the Global Responsible Tourism Awards   Community experiences in Borneo, an iron age museum in Scotland, accessibility services delivered by a major tour operator and a sustainability tool to help travel businesses reduce greenhouse gas emissions have all won gold in the Responsible Tourism Awards, rest of the world regional awards.   Emeritus professor Harold Goodwin, managing director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership and chair of the judges said: “All our Rest of the World Responsible Tourism Award winners competed in a very tough field and are all outstanding examples of initiatives which will provide inspiration for other destinations and organisations to learn from.”   The Rest of The World gold winners now go onto be considered for a prestigious Global Responsible Tourism Award sponsored by Sabre which will be announced on 4 November. They will be competing against gold winners from Africa, Latin America, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia and the full shortlist can be read here: 2024 Global Award Finalists - ICRT GLOBAL   The Rest of the World Responsible Tourism Award winners unveiled today are:   Borneo Adventure, a specialist tour operator based in Malaysia has won a gold Responsible Tourism Award for working with the local Iban communities in Sarawak in a way which has increasing local sourcing and created shared value. In the award submission the company said: “there is no point talking about conservation when communities are trying to overcome poverty.”   Forty families in the region are now involved in tourism in a way which visitors are welcomed as guests on their terms. Tours to the area focus on conservation and the environment and Borneo Adventure also contributes to a community longhouse fund through a tourist tax and headman levy for each tourist that visits Ulu Ai. The money from tourism has broken the subsistence agriculture cycle and stimulated a cash economy in the area. www.borneoadventure.com   The Scottish Crannog Centre wins a gold Responsible Tourism Award for creating shared value. This open-air museum recreates an Iron Age village on the banks of Loch Tay and sources as much as possible from within the travelling distance of the museum.   The museum is growing its own food for the café and developing coppice sites to harvest natural materials to maintain the building. Four apprentices work on site, ensuring that skills are available locally to maintain the museum. Crannog Centre said: “We are owning our future ourselves as a community—exactly what people 2,500 years ago would have done.” www.crannog.co.uk   Tour operator TUI wins a gold Responsible Tourism Award for making tourism inclusive. TUI UK and Ireland serves more than six million holidaymakers a year. Its dedicated Accessible Holidays Strategy team has partnered with AccessAble to survey hotels and develop detailed access guides which are now available online. It has also partnered with Sign Live to provide interpreting services for British sign language users via video relay. The TUI specialist team regularly achieves 9.5/10 customer satisfaction scores. The judges were pleased to see a major tour operator address the needs of those with access needs and hope that others will follow their example. Accessible Holidays | TUI.co.uk  and Assisted Travel with TUI | TUI.co.uk   Wise Sustainability wins a gold Responsible Tourism Award for its work in tackling climate change. Wise Sustainability assists businesses in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by “turning the invisibility of energy, water, food, and materials use into visible, measured, monitored, and controlled consumption that reduces the use of finite supplies.” Applying the principle that you can only manage what you can measure, Wise Sustainability uses technology to measure use, identify the profligate use of resources and enable management to reduce resource use. The company has developed subscription-based services, including a live reporting widget that provides real-time, transparent, and independently verified sustainability progress. www.wisesustainability.com   The judges also awarded two silver awards:   Six Senses, Zighy Bay in Oman wins a silver Responsible Tourism Award for employing and upskilling local communities.  The hotel has worked in partnership with the Dibba Women’s Association to create a new immersive experiences for called “Sense of Oman through a Woman’s Eyes”. Guests can learn  the tactile art of date palm weaving, and how  to create intricate designs of pottery decorating and henna painting.  Funds raised contributes to Dibba Women’s Associations work including the sponsorship of a local school.  Zighy Bay demonstrates what an enlightened resort can achieve when it upskills its staff and empowers the community. www.sixsenses.com   Costa Navarino in the southwest Peloponnese of Greece is awarded a silver Responsible Tourism Award for its nature-positive approach. This collection of five-star hotels, golf courses, conference and spa facilities, funds activities which could be replicated by similar developments. Examples include the Navarino Environmental Observatory collaboration with Stockholm University and the Academy of Athens. Since 2009 more than 1,800 students have visited, and more than 200 scientific papers have been published. Through the observatory, research projects have been supported on the Natura 2000, Gialove Lagoon. www.costanavarino.com   In addition, the judges commended three “ones to watch” with award finalists who are showing great promise for the future. These are:   Pitchup.com is commended for its work surveying 2000 disabled people to understand their thoughts experiences and challenges in accessing outdoor holiday accommodation such as camping, caravanning and glamping. More than half of disabled travellers said they avoid outdoor holidays all together and 39% said authentic photos of accessibility features and users reviews would improve their ability to decide on a trip. As a result, Pitchup, which is an outdoor accommodation booking platform offering more than 5,600 campsites and parks in 67 countries has now launched 13 accessibility filters, an accessibility hub and accessibility guides. www.pitchup.com   Broughton Sanctuary in Yorkshire is commended for the scale of its vision and ambition to be a regenerative space though rewilding including plans to introduce rare breeds and reintroduce beavers. The rewilding project at Broughton Sanctuary began five years ago with native tree planting and habitat restoration at a scale of 1000 acres and by the reintroduction of iron-age pigs. A “ Lens on Nature” and “Guided Star Gazing” engage visitors and guests with nature, complementing the hospitality provided in the Hall and the spa. www.broughtonsanctuary.co.uk   Vegan Travel Aisa is a Texas-based company offering culturally immersive and responsible vegan travel experiences across Asia. It is commended as one to watch for the significant effort it is taking as a niche company to measure and reduce its greenhouse gas emission. Vegan Travel Asia uses land transportation to reduce emissions, low impact accommodation, reusable water bottles. It estimates that an 8-day tour with an omnivore diet would emit approximately 46 tons of CO2, whereas its vegan tours emit only 23 tons. www.vegantravelasia.com   Detailed citations for all winners can be read on The Responsible Tourism Partnership website https://responsibletourismpartnership.org/2024-row/