Good news in tourism January 18 – 24, 2021
Because we make things better …
Published most Sundays, “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” news & Insights
- COVID ops
- Ecotourism
- Cultural heritage tourism
- Climate-friendly travel & tourism
- Odds & ends
It’s “Good Tourism”. And go!
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“Good Tourism” news & Insights
Geoffrey Lipman of “Good Tourism” Partner SUNx — Strong Universal Network and students of SUNx Malta’s Climate Friendly Travel Diploma have ushered in Joe Biden’s US presidency by posing challenges. Prof Lipman is urging the travel & tourism industry to use the moment to “redress the devastating impact of climate change” while the students are asking anyone and everyone to take on the “Freeze or Fry Challenge”.
Setting prices, drumming up demand, and delivering appropriate value-for-money are core challenges for travel & tourism stakeholders, particularly in destinations worried about a post-COVID return to overtourism. An easy way to reduce demand might be for governments to increase tourism taxes and/or for businesses to raise prices, but will the value still be there? “GT” Insight Partner Planet Happiness invited psychologist Bjørn Z Ekelund to share how he looks at the problem: “In the eye of the beholder: How to create valuable tourism experiences”
Gabby Walters is an expert in crisis and disaster recovery marketing. In her “GT” Insight published Tuesday, Dr Walters shares some of what she knows about “How travellers respond to crises and disasters and what tourism can do to minimise cancellations”.
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. All “GT” Partners not only get a “Good Partner” banner and listing but also the outstanding opportunity every week to contribute positive news & comments to these “Good news in tourism” posts and/or e‑news.
COVID ops
Sri Lanka has opened up to tourists from anywhere. While foreign visitors do have to stay in a government-approved hotel or resort for two weeks upon arrival, they may enjoy all the facilities of the property. Under certain conditions they may even leave their accommodation to visit “bio bubble” attractions. “The livelihood of around 3 million people depends on tourism in Sri Lanka,” tourism minister Prasanna Ranatunga said. “It is our national responsibility to take into consideration the needs of our citizens.”
Spain’s travel & tourism sector has united to urge government to have 70% of the population vaccinated by summer to permit at least a “moderately good tourist season”.
Tour operators spearheaded by Tourism Council of Thailand president Chamnan Srisawat have proposed the idea of “vaccination tour packages” to lure well-heeled travellers (presumably after at-risk locals have had their shots). The one-month packages would cost about THB 150,000 (USD 5,000) and include 14 days of quarantine and vaccination costs. Meanwhile, the US state of Florida wants to end “vaccine tourism”.
In Australia, New South Wales (NSW) state tourism minister Stuart Ayres is confident that the travel & tourism industry can return to pre-pandemic levels by 2024. “Once health advice allows, NSW will bounce back as a result of a AUD 200 million [USD 154 million] a year investment to help get the tourism sector back on its feet.”
Tourism workers in the Thompson Okanagan region of BC, Canada who are unemployed, underemployed, or barely hanging on to jobs can develop their professional skills via a free 13-week online course delivered by TOTA.
After the “successful” reopening of Boracay Island to local tourists in October 2020, Philippines Department of Tourism is talking with tourism stakeholders about reopening Negros Occidental province to domestic travel.
Ecotourism
Botswana’s vice president Slumber Tsogwane reckons a silver lining on the COVID cloud is a renewed local interest in local places. To take advantage of that, Minister of wildlife, tourism, & natural resources Philda Kereng “urged Batswana to embark on nature reserve and ecotourism projects as a way of promoting local tourism”. She also said that compensation rates for damage caused by wildlife were being reviewed as they were too low and needed to include more species.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment is working with the Tour Guides Association to better manage tourism in protected areas and identify new biodiverse ecotourism spots. Environment minister Say Samal reckons ecotourism is a new trend in Cambodian society, which is encouraging park officials and nearby communities to pay more attention to conservation.
Meanwhile, Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism is drafting a master plan to develop Kep province into a high-end ecotourism destination. And the Royal Academy of Cambodia plans to develop the Techo Sen Russey Treb Park in Preah Vihear province into an “ecotourism destination” with a research facility for post-graduate students.
Iran’s cultural heritage, tourism, & handicrafts minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan reckons nature tourism should be more seriously considered.
India’s state of Odisha is adding ecotourism products to its portfolio as it presses its claims with a tourism budget that is more than double the size of last year’s.
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Cultural heritage tourism
Pokkali rice is being cultivated using traditional methods in the tidal wetland areas of Kerala state, India, including the Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Alappuzha districts. With its tolerance of salt, pokkali is considered a rice variety “for the future”. That’s why Palliyakkal Bank is helping pokkali rice farmers supplement their income through “responsible tourism” while it looks to modernise cultivation methods.
The tourism chief of Iran’s province of East Azarbaijan said experts based there may soon help to restore cultural heritage sites and monuments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the nation of Azerbaijan. (Internationally-recognised as being part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh is disputed territory.)
In China, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture & Tourism has accredited 16 attractions in the city as destinations with “outstanding folk appeal […] according to their vitality, innovation and market influence”.
Friends indeed
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Climate-friendly travel & tourism
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing claims it will begin delivering commercial planes capable of flying on 100% biofuel by 2030.
In England’s northwest, Cumbria wants to be the first county to be carbon-neutral (by 2037). With the attractions of Lake District National Park dominating the landscape, and visitors and their vehicles contributing nearly half of Cumbria’s greenhouse gas emissions, the biggest challenge will be to make tourism more sustainable.
In the southwest of England, meanwhile, Bath & North East Somerset Council want people across the region to have their say in how to “tackle congestion, improve health, and support more walking and cycling”. To the north, in Yorkshire, Leeds City Council has launched its Connecting Leeds campaign to lower the city’s carbon footprint while giving everyone affordable zero-carbon travel options.
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.
Odds & ends
Bits ‘n pieces that don’t necessarily fit into this week’s arbitrary clusters:
Tourism of Portugal has launched a new video campaign to promote more responsible and sustainable tourism. With the hashtag #CantSkipTomorrow, the campaign’s videos are targeted at everyone[?]: Portguese tourists, tourism stakeholders in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, and Brazil, and “a planet that needs to regenerate”.
“There was no shortage of ideas about where to spend resources” in Green Lake, Wisconsin, USA, according to Loni Meiborg, a member of the ad hoc committee for economic development. That’s why the committee decided to survey residents and visitors.
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): St Bernard. Image by ClaudiaWollesen (CC0) via Pixabay.
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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! 🙂
