Signalling or substance in tourism: What’s your take?

Sig­nalling or sub­stance: What’s your assess­ment of the cur­rent bal­ance between ‘vir­tue sig­nalling’ and genu­ine ‘best prac­tice’ in the tour­ism industry where you live, work, or operate?

Have a thought to share? Respond in the com­ments at any time. Or write a Bite. [The dead­line for com­pli­ment­ary edit­ing, lay­out, and pre­view in time for this Bites com­pil­a­tion has passed.] 

UPDATE July 16, 2025 — Your “Good Tourism” Insight Bites

Thanks to the fol­low­ing five respond­ents for tak­ing the time to share their thoughts. Their responses appear in the order received. [Click/touch a Bites menu item to go straight to it.]

British youth hostel history shows that ‘signalling can lead to substance’

Duncan M Simpson, writer, Simply Hostels and Light travels, UK

The bal­ance between sig­nal and sub­stance does­n’t mat­ter. Sig­nals can bring about sub­stance, as I’ve learned from study­ing the his­tory of youth hos­tels and hol­i­day­mak­ing in Eng­land and Wales.

To help all, but espe­cially young people, to a great­er know­ledge, care and love of the countryside. 

When first foun­ded with that aim, the Youth Hos­tels Asso­ci­ation of Eng­land and Wales had no hos­tels and no mem­bers. It was a sig­nal of vir­tu­ous intent. The sig­nal worked. It became substance. 

The first youth hos­tels opened in Bri­tain in 1931. 

For people stay­ing in them, the coun­tryside became some­where no longer strange. It became a place they loved. They went there as often as they could. They hol­i­dayed in its peace and beauty. Many cam­paigned for oth­ers to have equal access to nature … and to pro­tect it.

The YHA cam­paigned with oth­ers for nation­al parks. Legis­la­tion in 1949 brought wide­spread pro­tec­tion of the coun­tryside; the first Brit­ish nation­al parks.

YHA mem­bers became act­iv­ists for the coun­tryside. They lob­bied against dams that drowned lovely val­leys. And they cam­paigned against by-passes and big roads while con­tinu­ing to fight for broad­er access for all, espe­cially young people. 

Cam­paign­ers like Len Clarke, Pau­line Dower, Her­bert Gat­liff, and Tom Steph­en­son were well known asso­ci­ates of YHA. They first exper­i­enced youth hos­tels in the 1930s; a form­at­ive influ­ence on them all. 

Many oth­er YHA mem­bers joined com­mit­tees, wrote let­ters, and demon­strated their love, know­ledge, and under­stand­ing of the countryside.

Youth hos­tels reaped the reward of their sig­nalling. The early hope was more than fulfilled. 

So, sig­nalling can lead to sub­stance. In many ways the bal­ance between them at any par­tic­u­lar moment does­n’t really matter. 

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In southern Thailand, ‘while virtue signalling remains common, we feel encouraged’

Chris Kittishinnakuppe, Head of Marketing & Sales, VHG Hospitality Asia, Thailand

In our region, Khao Sok in south­ern Thai­l­and, sus­tain­ab­il­ity has become a much more prom­in­ent top­ic in recent years. How­ever, the bal­ance between vir­tue sig­nalling and genu­ine best prac­tices is still uneven. 

Many tour­ism oper­at­ors have recog­nised that today’s trav­el­lers expect a strong com­mit­ment to envir­on­ment­al respons­ib­il­ity. This has led some busi­nesses to pro­mote sur­face-level ini­ti­at­ives, such as remov­ing plastic straws or dis­play­ing vague ‘eco-friendly’ sig­nage without mak­ing more sub­stan­tial oper­a­tion­al changes. In real­ity, this is often more about mar­ket­ing than mean­ing­ful impact. 

At Anurak Com­munity Lodge, we see this as a short-sighted approach. Guests are increas­ingly informed and curi­ous. They want to know how waste is man­aged, where products are sourced, how energy is used, and wheth­er com­munit­ies truly bene­fit. Super­fi­cial ges­tures alone no longer meet this expect­a­tion for honesty.

Authen­t­ic best prac­tices (with meas­ur­able res­ults), on the oth­er hand, take sus­tained effort and invest­ment. For us, that has meant restor­ing degraded land through our Rain­forest Rising pro­ject, installing com­post­ing and grey­wa­ter recyc­ling sys­tems, rethink­ing our sup­ply chains to favour loc­al pro­du­cers, and build­ing staff skills over time. 

These ini­ti­at­ives may not always be flashy, but they lead to tan­gible bene­fits for biod­iversity, loc­al eco­nom­ies, and guest learning.

Across the industry, more oper­at­ors are begin­ning to adopt this more pro­found com­mit­ment, although a notice­able gap remains between inten­tions and actu­al action. Pro­gress depends on stronger cer­ti­fic­a­tions, trans­par­ent report­ing, and col­lab­or­a­tion to lift stand­ards across the sector.

While vir­tue sig­nalling remains com­mon, we feel encour­aged. As trav­el­lers increas­ingly sup­port busi­nesses that prove their com­mit­ment, the industry will have to evolve bey­ond slo­gans. We see this shift as essen­tial for pro­tect­ing Khao Sok’s extraordin­ary nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age well into the future.

Anurak Com­munity Lodge is a val­ued “Good Tour­ism” Part­ner.

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In Cambodia ‘the tourism sector must move beyond marketing claims’

Chris Kittishinnakuppe, Head of Marketing & Sales, VHG Hospitality Asia, Thailand

In Cam­bod­ia, con­ver­sa­tions about sus­tain­able tour­ism have become more prom­in­ent over the past dec­ade. Increas­ingly, oper­at­ors mar­ket them­selves as ‘eco-friendly’, and terms such as ‘green’ and ‘com­munity-based’ are fre­quently used in pro­mo­tions. How­ever, a sig­ni­fic­ant gap remains between vir­tue sig­nalling and genu­ine best prac­tice.

As in south­ern Thai­l­and, where VHG also oper­ates, many busi­nesses in Cam­bod­ia adopt sur­face-level meas­ures, such as redu­cing plastic straws or adding a few loc­al dishes to the menu, while con­tinu­ing to oper­ate in ways that strain nat­ur­al resources or con­trib­ute little to loc­al com­munit­ies. This can give vis­it­ors the impres­sion that sus­tain­ab­il­ity is being taken ser­i­ously when, in real­ity, deep­er sys­tem­ic issues remain unaddressed.

At Car­damom Ten­ted Camp, we see sus­tain­ab­il­ity as the found­a­tion of our pur­pose, not just an add-on. Our mod­el is built around pro­tect­ing the 18,000 hec­tares of forest that sur­round us. 

Each guest’s stay dir­ectly sup­ports ranger patrols aimed at pre­vent­ing illeg­al log­ging and poach­ing. We util­ise renew­able energy, lim­it our capa­city to reduce pres­sure on the envir­on­ment, man­age waste respons­ibly, and main­tain trans­par­ent part­ner­ships with the Wild­life Alli­ance and the Min­istry of Envir­on­ment. These efforts require sig­ni­fic­ant time, fund­ing, and con­tinu­ous improvement.

While we are encour­aged to see more oper­at­ors adopt­ing the lan­guage of sus­tain­ab­il­ity, the tour­ism sec­tor must move bey­ond mar­ket­ing claims. 

Genu­ine best prac­tice depends on clear com­mit­ments, veri­fied impact, and col­lab­or­a­tion with con­ser­va­tion and com­munity part­ners who hold each oth­er account­able. Trav­el­lers increas­ingly expect this trans­par­ency. They want to see how their vis­it con­trib­utes to con­ser­va­tion and loc­al livelihoods. 

Vir­tue sig­nalling under­mines trust and risks dam­aging Cambodia’s unique nat­ur­al assets.

Our goal at Car­damom Ten­ted Camp is to demon­strate that mean­ing­ful and respons­ible tour­ism can pro­tect forests, empower com­munit­ies, and lead by example.

Car­damom Ten­ted Camp is a val­ued “Good Tour­ism” Part­ner.

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Bend, Oregon, USA: ‘Come for the brews and views, stay for the virtue’

Ed Jackiewicz, Professor, California State University, Northridge, USA

In Bend, Ore­gon, tour­ism isn’t just epic moun­tain views and craft beer. It’s also about doing good while hav­ing a good time. 

But how much of that eco-con­scious mes­saging is authen­t­ic, and how much is just mar­ket­ing fluff? 

The answer: a bit of both, but the scales tip in the right direction.

Vis­it Bend, the city’s tour­ism office, has leaned into sus­tain­ab­il­ity in a big way. They launched the Bend Sus­tain­ab­il­ity Fund in 2021, fun­nel­ling 15% of their budget — around US$3 mil­lion so far — into restor­ing the river, spru­cing up trails, and sup­port­ing com­munity spaces.

And the cul­ture scene? It’s grow­ing with help from the Bend Cul­tur­al Tour­ism Fund, sup­port­ing inclus­ive events like Winter Pride­Fest and the Lat­inx Out­door Film Fest. It’s not just a bro­chure tagline; there’s real money behind it and the city is bet­ter for it.

On the num­bers side: In 2023, Bend brought in $383.4 mil­lion in vis­it­or spend­ing, with 3,470 tour­ism jobs cre­ated. Lodging sales dipped slightly by 3.1%, but that may be due to more glampers and an increas­ing amount of VFR (vis­it­ing friends and rel­at­ives) tour­ists. In addi­tion, tran­si­ent room taxes raked in over $26 mil­lion between the city and county. 

Bend remains the #1 Ore­gon road trip spot, so the Subaru parade isn’t slow­ing down. (Subarus are wildly abund­ant through­out the Pacific North­w­est and have become some­what of a cliche!)

Sure, some may roll their eyes at the ubi­quit­ous feel-good mes­saging. But with real dol­lars fund­ing real improve­ments, it’s hard to call it all fluff. Bend’s tour­ism game might be a little smug, but at least it’s earn­ing that smug.

Bot­tom line: In Bend, sus­tain­ab­il­ity isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a life­style involving moun­tain bikes and micro­brews embraced by loc­als and tour­ists alike. 

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In rural and remote BC, Canada, tourism’s best practice is survival

Richard Butler, Emeritus Professor, University of Strathclyde, Scotland

Vir­tue sig­nalling is almost absent in Prince Rupert, Brit­ish Columbia, Canada, which is per­haps a reflec­tion of rur­al rather than big city view­points (men­tal not scen­ic). Prince Rupert is a small and isol­ated com­munity, 150 kms from the next town.

Tour­ism in Prince Rupert has a num­ber of related elements: 

• Cruise tour­ists (stop­ping en route to and from Alaska); 
• Tour­ists by train or car (explor­ing Canada’s end of the line and road); 
• Sportspeople chas­ing fish (sal­mon) and game (deer); 
• Vis­it­ors seek­ing Indi­gen­ous exper­i­ences; and 
• Short-haul (under 500 kms) tourists.

The offer­ings to cruise vis­it­ors are split between those organ­ised (at ludicrous prices) by the cruise ships and those offered and owned loc­ally. Neither are guilty of vir­tue sig­nalling, although some, espe­cially the former, are often guilty of hype and inaccuracies.

Exper­i­ences that might be con­sidered authen­t­ic are mostly just that. Indi­gen­ous owned and man­aged oppor­tun­it­ies exist and are mostly of a good standard. 

Genu­ine best prac­tice? Prob­ably not com­pared to the wider mean­ing of the term. 

Most oper­at­ors are aim­ing for best prac­tice as they under­stand the term and to the extent they are able to imple­ment it. They are aware of their com­pet­i­tion and real­ise they have to be at least equal if not bet­ter than their com­pet­it­ors, so ‘best prac­tice’ is almost sur­viv­al mode. In such a remote place, a busi­ness has to be effect­ive and effi­cient to survive.

Con­clu­sions? In rel­at­ive isol­a­tion, key ele­ments such as authen­ti­city, reli­ab­il­ity, and unique­ness are crit­ic­ally import­ant to the tour­ism eco­nomy in Prince Rupert. 

Vir­tue sig­nalling, if ever con­tem­plated, appears to be viewed as irrel­ev­ant and/or unne­ces­sary here. Not everything is per­fect or polit­ic­ally cor­rect in some eyes, but the focus is very much on eco­nom­ic sur­viv­al in an appro­pri­ate manner.

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‘Punishing platitudes, norm signalling, and grandstanding erode trust and credibility’

K Michael Haywood, publisher, ‘Destinations-in-Action’, Canada

Vir­tu­ally all organ­isa­tions and des­tin­a­tions sell them­selves through their vir­tues. The ‘why’ is obvi­ous: To put their best face for­ward, to reveal mor­al char­ac­ter and correctness. 

Yet, why are so few able to demon­strate the longer-term per­form­at­ive value of their vir­tues and vir­tu­ous actions in con­sid­er­a­tion of what, and for whom? 

When Des­tin­a­tions Inter­na­tion­al launched its com­munity shared value (CSV) ini­ti­at­ive, its mem­bers recog­nised the bene­fits that could be derived for them­selves. Many, facing declines in mar­ket­ing budgets, needed to sig­nal how their mar­ket­ing allowed every­one involved to derive favor­able returns on invest­ment (ROI); how their brand of tour­ism show­cased a com­munity and fash­ioned an iden­tity that was eco­nom­ic­ally, socially, envir­on­ment­ally, and cul­tur­ally con­cili­at­ory and complementary.

As such, CSV is often viewed as self-serving. Too many DMOs and organ­isa­tions just don‘t under­stand the ori­gin­al intent of shared value and the import­ance of cre­at­ing col­lect­ive impact through mean­ing­ful action, needs, and experiences. 

Con­sider tour­ism work­forces that are liv­ing on the mar­gins; where hous­ing isn’t read­ily avail­able or afford­able. Is that because cor­por­ate social respons­ib­il­ity (CSR) pro­clam­a­tions around staff wel­fare are vacu­ous and lack accountability?

Vir­tue sig­nalling can­not afford to be viewed as pre­tense. Pun­ish­ing plat­it­udes, norm sig­nalling, and grand­stand­ing erode trust and cred­ib­il­ity. Super­fi­cial engage­ment with social and envir­on­ment­al causes gen­er­ate psy­cho­lo­gic­al stress among those who know better. 

No des­tin­a­tion or organ­isa­tion can afford to be vague about mani­fest­ing their vir­tues. When deep listen­ing leads to focused inten­tion and spir­ited action com­mu­nic­ated through res­on­ant stor­ies, vir­tues can be — must be — demon­strable, real, and magnanimous. 

The jump from aspir­a­tion to real­isa­tion, how­ever, requires the engage­ment of entire com­munit­ies, and the par­ti­cip­a­tion of sup­ply and value-cre­ation net­works. Com­munity and organ­isa­tion­al lead­ers must be forth­com­ing and provide the neces­sary sup­port and fin­an­cing to achieve vir­tu­ous outcomes.

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What do you think? 

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Featured image (top of post)

Sig­nalling or sub­stance in tour­ism: What’s your take? Image gen­er­ated by Gem­ini AI. “GT” cropped it and added the words.

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