Good news in tourism January 25 – 31, 2021
Because there is no substitute …
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
- Travel & tourism jobs & livelihoods
- Travel & tourism policy & governance
- Climate-friendly travel & tourism
- Accessible travel & tourism
- Odds & ends
It’s “Good Tourism”. And go!
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“Good Tourism” news & Insights
The tough keep going in Luang Prabang, Laos. “Good Tourism” Destination Partner WeAreLao reports that more than 25% of 116 hotels surveyed remain open in the World Heritage town. This is “an achievement” given that Laos remains closed to foreign tourists, and that the number of domestic tourists who could or would stay in these hotels might be as few as 150,000.
Geoffrey Lipman of “GT” Partner SUNx — Strong Universal Network issued an open letter to Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Jack Ma of Alibaba Group on Monday. In the letter, Prof Lipman invited the two tech giant founders to put up a US$ 10 million award per year for 10 years — US$ 100 million total — for “the best ideas to accelerate zero carbon flying”. The full letter is hosted here (PDF). SUNx also announced during the week that it would formally launch a “Climate Friendly Travel Campaign” on April 22.
To “build back better” for real rather than for rhetoric, the travel & tourism industry cannot ignore the built environment and its significant influence on sustainability and well-being. In his “Good Tourism” Insight published Tuesday, Tanner C Knorr of “GT” partners Off Season Adventures and Second Look Worldwide explores why it’s important to get land use policy and infrastructure investments right: “Tourism infrastructure, well-being, & how to ‘build back better’ for all”.
The post-pandemic future of travel & tourism will be more community-based than it has been, according to sustainable tourism expert Eva Mossberg. In her “GT” Insight published Thursday, Ms Mossberg points to the village of Baan Talae Nok in southern Thailand for an example of how and why “host communities are at the core of tomorrow’s sustainable tourism”.
“The life of a Thai veterinarian is a busy one, filled with emergency medical calls at all hours of the day and night”, writes Hollis Burbank-Hammarlund of “GT” Insight Partner Work for Wild Life International. Thittaya (“Thip”) Janyamathakul had to respond to an elephant-sized emergency involving toxic chemicals this week, as well as an elephant’s bedtime stomach ache. Keep up with news of Dr Thip, her veterinary colleagues, and the patients under their care at the Work for Wild Life Facebook page.
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 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 enjoy: a 125 x 125 “Good Partner” button; input into “GT’s” curated list of worthy charitable causes “Friends indeed”; and the outstanding opportunity every week to contribute positive news items to these almost-famous “Good news in tourism” posts and/or the “GT” newsletter.
Travel & tourism jobs & livelihoods
The proportion of women participating in the travel & tourism workforce is steadily increasing in the Middle East, according to research released by the UNWTO and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism. It’s now 8% in the region as compared to 54% globally.
The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) wants a Tourism Labour Bank up and running by March. Unemployed tourism workers who register would be able to join training courses and receive support for daily expenses, said TCT president Chamnan Srisawat. They might also be tapped by businesses to fill temporary jobs. Mr Chamnan said the government could support tourism jobs by paying half of monthly salaries up to THB 15,000 (~USD 500). More than 1 million Thai tourism workers lost their jobs in 2020. Two million jobs are at risk from a fresh outbreak of the virus.
Canada’s Northwest Territories government helps “community-owned and governance organisations” hire community tourism coordinators on two-year contracts. The NT’s Department of Industry, Tourism, & Investment is receiving applications now.
Representatives of the Tourism Authority of Kiribati visited 11 villages in the North Tarawa region to help locals better understand tourism, its economic potential, and how they can support livelihoods through small-scale community-based ecotourism.
In Maryland, USA, the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area contributes US$ 450.2 million to the state economy and supports 6,376 jobs, while the Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area contributes US$ 98.4 million and sustains 1,397 jobs. This is according to a study released by the Maryland Heritage Areas Program.
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Travel & tourism policy & governance
Myanmar has issued its Myanmar Tourism Strategic Recovery Roadmap (PDF, hosted offsite). Its first goal is to restore confidence and restart domestic tourism before rebuilding inbound demand with improved products. Longer term the roadmap seeks more balance, resilience, and sustainability.
Vanuatu Tourism Office has launched its “We’ll Keep it Beautiful for You” campaign to encourage post-pandemic travel planning. Vanuatu has based its 10-year Sustainable Tourism Policy on the Global Sustainable Tourism Council criteria for destinations.
Malta’s new 10-year tourism strategy, which is open for public consultation, seeks to “restore airline connectivity to the island, enhance visitor satisfaction, while embracing carbon-neutrality”.
Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) boss Yap Lip Seng wants the government to invest in a data management and analytics system that can help identify travel patterns and tourism trends.
Friends indeed
“Friends indeed” are worthy travel & tourism industry fundraisers and charitable causes. Please help if you can. Share the page with your social networks. And link to it from your website or email signature.
Climate-friendly travel & tourism
A UK government initiative, Project HEART (Hydrogen Electric & Automated Regional Transportation), aims to develop a zero-carbon regional air transportation network. HEART will feature hydrogen-powered autonomous and remote-piloted aircraft that will ferry between nine and 19 passengers on trips of up to 500 nautical miles (926 km).
Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund has invested in Infinium, a US startup that makes a replacement fuel for airplanes, ships and large trucks by “taking hydrogen made with clean power and electrolysis, combining it with carbon dioxide and running it through two thermochemical processes”. Production at scale is still at least three years away.
In the EU, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines are launching the “Corporate SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) program”. The airlines will encourage their largest customers to estimate how CO₂ is a result of their air travel and contribute funds that will be used to find sources of SAF and support the SAF industry.
Australia’s Qantas Airways announced a partnership with BP in which the two firms would jointly look into ways to reduce their carbon emissions, “including advanced sustainable fuels, advocacy for further decarbonisation in the aviation sector, renewable power solutions and generation, carbon management and emerging technology”.
Air taxi startup Lilium of Germany has done a deal with infrastructure company Ferrovial of Spain to build a network of ports for the world’s “first jet-powered flying taxis; an all-electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft” in Florida, USA.
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.
Accessible travel & tourism
A wheelchair-accessible glass-bottom boat will soon launch in Silver Springs, Florida, USA after “nearly six years in the making”.
In Costa Rica, the Asociación Red Costarricense de Turismo Accesible (Costa Rican Network of Accessible Tourism’s) Accessible Beaches project has become a reality with a “complex [that] will rotate every six months to different beaches”.
Odds & ends
Bits ‘n pieces that don’t necessarily fit into this week’s arbitrary clusters:
Morocco and Switzerland have launched a project to develop a sustainable tourism value chain in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region of the north African nation.
With US$ 13 million in funding, South Korea’s International Cooperation Agency will help Hue in central Vietnam become “a smart cultural and tourism city”.
Europe’s first ‘digital village’ catering to long-staying digital nomads has sprung up in Ponta do Sol on the autonomous Atlantic island of Madeira, Portugal. It will run as a pilot project until June 30.
Following Odisha’s lead, India’s Jharkhand state tourism department is planning to set up “eco-retreats” to help boost tourism.
Visit Winston-Salem in North Carolina, USA has rolled out “Winston-Salem’s Got You Covered”, a campaign designed to reassure meeting planners and convention clients about COVID safety. MICE accounts for about a third of hotel occupancy.
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): Nornalup Inlet at sunset. Walpole, Western Australia. Image by David Gillbanks (CC BY 4.0).
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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! 🙂
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