Good news in tourism September 6 – 12, 2020
Because it ain’t all bad! 🙂
Published every Sunday, “Good news in tourism” is the perfect pick-me-up for the start of a new week in travel & tourism … everyone’s business.
This week’s good travel & tourism news menu:
(Click / touch an item to go straight to it.)
- “Good Tourism (“GT”) news
- Tourism policy & governance
- COVID ops
- Tourism training
- Nature-based tourism
It’s “Good Tourism”. And go!
“GT” news
Sustainable tourism is a complex puzzle with lots of moving parts. Toss in regenerative principles and it becomes even more confounding. Fortunately there are those who think deeply about important parts of the puzzle, such as animal welfare consultant Daniel Turner of ANIMONDIAL. In a fresh “GT” Insight, Mr Turner shares how our industry might “build back better” for nature, wildlife, and the animals that are part of the travel & tourism experience.
“GT” Destination Partner WeAreLao.com reports that despite the brakes put on tourism due to COVID-19, more than 1,400 Lao tourism and hospitality staff can look forward to further training. With a range of topics from housekeeping to bartending, front office to general management available, the courses are free or heavily-subsidised thanks to the Skills for Tourism Project co-financed by the governments of Laos, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Fun fact: All three countries are landlocked.
September 25 will see the virtual launch of “GT” Partner SUNx — Strong Universal Network’s UNFCCC-linked Climate Friendly Travel Registry, which will “help tourism companies and communities become “climate-neutral” by 2050. Prof Geoffrey Lipman said the Registry is dedicated to “the memory of our inspiration, the late Maurice Strong; climate activist and sustainable development pioneer. And for our grand kids”.
World Tourism Day, September 27 will this year be themed “Tourism and Rural Development”. This may be one of the reasons why Peter Semone’s “GT” Insight from 2017, “Rural tourism: Delighting tourists, developing communities”, is “GT’s” most visited post.
The importance of good partnerships
Many commentators would like to see destinations recover from the COVID-19 depression focused on quality rather than quantity. That would be nice, of course, particularly if host communities want that. However, some or many extant tourism stakeholders will likely go out of business. Don’t let one of those be you.
Seek out good partnerships with those who make you their priority. “GT” is a good partner. Please verify that with a “GT” Partner and then ask about partnership opportunities. There’s a “GT” partnership opportunity for everyone — big or small; public or private; commercial or not-for-profit — because travel & tourism is everyone’s business.
Tourism policy & governance
Spokespeople for Valentia Island off the west coast of Ireland and Rathlin Island off the north coast of Northern Ireland support the idea of an ecotourism- and hydrogen-based economy, which is being tossed around by politicians.
Scotland’s government will invest more than GBP 500 million in “active travel” — walking and cycling — infrastructure over five years as part of its COVID-19 recovery plan. This is one of a range of measures to transition to a net-zero economy. Another is the construction of a zero-emission drivetrain testing facility to support research and development, pool academic capability, and enable collaborations.
Tourism New Zealand chief Stephen England-Hall reckons they’re “growing up a bit”. “We’re becoming more mindful of the impact of business and consumption on the planet, and not just on the natural habitat but on our social and cultural environment and our community.” Kiwi tourism operators are being encouraged to look at regeneration; ensuring that for every customer, there is “some kind of by-product benefit on the environment as a consequence”.
In India, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani announced his state’s first heritage tourism policy; a five-year plan to open up ancient palaces, forts, and other heritage monuments to international and domestic visitors.
Timothy O’Donoghue of the Riverwind Foundation in Teton County, Wyoming, USA reckons the “community’s interdependent environmental, social and economic values and priorities must drive the future of tourism” not vice versa. Riverwind is coordinating the Jackson Hole & Yellowstone Sustainable Destination Program.
Friends indeed
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COVID ops
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reports that more than half (53%) of the world’s nations have started easing travel restrictions. Of the 115 destinations that have eased travel restrictions, only two have removed them all.
Assuming no further waves of coronavirus infection, Cultural Tourism Association treasurer Ehab Abdel Aal expects Egypt’s tourism sector to recover by the end of Q1 2021; especially in Luxor and Aswan. “We are not in a phase of promoting or marketing, rather we are seeing countries give permissions for their citizens to travel, which will see tourists return,” Abdel Aal said.
Nigeria’s private-sector tourism stakeholders are picking up “the bits and pieces of their businesses after months of lockdown”. A group has emerged that is developing a new roadmap for domestic tourism. The group’s chair Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye welcomes anyone to participate.
New Zealanders are spending more than ever on domestic tourism, according to Hamilton & Waikato Tourism chief Jason Dawson. Kiwi domestic travellers are acting like international visitors: “They are staying in our commercial accommodation. They are buying tours. They are going on trips with their family.”
Tourism Australia has launched its ‘COVID Safe Travel in Australia’ portal to help make travel planning easier. It brings together key information about travel restrictions and guidelines from across the country.
Jammu and Kashmir state in India is all set to welcome tourists again. “The tourism department is bracing for the coming autumn and winter tourism seasons. The department has made it mandatory for tourists to travel by air and have their RTPCR tests done before arriving at Srinagar airport.”
It is hoped small- and mid-size school sports and amateur sports events will breathe economic life into Manatee County, Florida, USA. A Labor Day weekend football (soccer) tournament helped some hoteliers sell out for only the second time since the pandemic started; the first being Independence Day, July 4.
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Tourism training
As appeared in the “GT” news segment, “GT” Destination Partner WeAreLao.com reports that despite the brakes put on tourism due to COVID-19, more than 1,400 Lao tourism and hospitality staff can look forward to further training thanks to the governments of Laos, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.
Saudi Arabia wants to establish a global academy for tourism training alongside a Riyadh-based regional office of the UNWTO. Minister of tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb said he expected the cooperation with UNWTO would create a professional environment, upgrade the quality of tourism services, and enrich tourism-related work.
Experience Olympia & Beyond in Washington state, USA, has partnered with the National Tourism Ambassador Institute to train hospitality workers and community leaders to become destination advocates.
Sustainable tourism & responsible travel is everyone’s business
Freedom of movement is a basic human right. And the travel & tourism industry is everyone’s business. “Everyone” includes not only those who earn a living from the travel & tourism industry, but also people who travel, and people who live in places travelled to and through. EVERYONE. Please share “Good news in tourism” with your friends and colleagues. And dive deeper into “Good Tourism” Insights for ideas on how to make sustainable tourism and responsible travel better … for you, for your people, and for your place. For they are your people. And it is your place.
Nature-based tourism
Two beekeepers have established a bee sanctuary on the outskirts of the city of Mutare, eastern Zimbabwe. The bees safeguard the few remaining trees in the area from firewood poachers. “The bee sanctuary is also a place of practical training on colony management as well as a centre for apitourism, a form of ecotourism.”
On the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, re-introduced sea otters, which had been previously hunted to near extinction, have kept marine invertebrates in check allowing kelp forests to recover. It’s a controversial move in areas where tasty sea urchins, crabs, and clams have become important to the economy and to the diets of coastal people. Edward Gregr writes: “Using field data, ecosystem models, economic data, and a variety of assumptions to tie everything together, we found that a sea otter-dominated system could generate as much as seven times more revenue every year, when the benefits from tourism and kelp production were included.”
Wisconsin, USA’s Ice Age Trail is a thousand-mile (1,600-km) path through a landscape carved by glacial ice about 12,000 years ago. Celebrating 40 years as a National Scenic Trail, the Ice Age Trail Alliance will this October host the Mammoth Hike Challenge. Anyone who hikes at least 40 miles of the trail and visits three trail communities earns a certificate and a limited-edition patch.
In Iran’s Lorestan province, a 600-year-old Juniper tree has been inscribed on the national heritage list.
Stay healthy, smile, have a good week … And when you can travel again, remember:
It’s not ‘no’. It’s ‘know’.
Featured image (top of post): Stand by. Image by natsan (CC0) via Pixabay.
Donations, diversity, disclaimers
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Disclaimer 1: It is “GT’s” policy to fully disclose partner/sponsor content. If an item is not disclosed as partner or sponsor-related then it will have caught “GT’s” attention by some other more organic means. Partner with “GT”. You know you want to.
Disclaimer 2: None of the stories linked from this week’s post have been fact-checked by “GT”. All terminology used here is as the linked sources used it according to the knowledge and assumptions they have about it. Please comment below if you know there has been buzzword-washing or blatant nonsense relayed here, but be nice about it. As for “GT” bringing it to your attention for you to set the record straight, you’re welcome! 🙂
