Active sustainability communications should be an integral part of any sustainable tourism journey, yet it is often seen as an afterthought instead of integrated into all marketing and communications. This is a missed opportunity. Sharing your sustainability story — initiatives, achievements, challenges, and impact — in a way that is easy to understand and resonates with travelers, trade partners and other stakeholders not only highlights your accomplishments, but it also helps engage others in this journey which can amplify the impacts of your work.
Tourism Industry Insights
Tourism industry insights including tourism development, travel and consumer trends, sustainable tourism issues, and digital marketing strategies.
How Tourism Can Better Invest in Women
The 2024 International Women’s Day theme is Inspire Inclusion, a call to action “to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and create environments where all women are valued and respected.” While much progress has been made in gender equality and inclusion over the years, there is still so much awareness needed and work to be done to achieve the goal where everyone is included and has an opportunity for success.
Tourism and COVID-19: Observations from the Field
October 2020. We just returned from two weeks in the Dolomites, Italy's Marche region and San Marino. Although our trip was primarily a personal one — to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary — we also wished to see for ourselves what was happening on the ground in travel and tourism (vs. talking about it on Zoom). Our goal: to witness firsthand how businesses are operating and adapting during this time.
Meditations on the Coronavirus and the Tourism Industry
What will be the impact of the coronavirus on tourism and travel? How will the tourism industry respond? Definitive answers don't exist. Instead, we offer some ideas for destinations, travel companies and travelers to operate from a position of strength, choosing deliberate response over reaction and staying the course towards greater sustainability so we emerge stronger.
The Climate Crisis in Travel: Are We Missing the Bigger Picture?
As we respond to the climate crisis and consider tourism’s role in it, we wonder if we might be missing a bigger picture – and a greater opportunity — by focusing so squarely on flights. We offer some research and tools to travelers and the tourism industry to help season and expand our thinking on the topic.
How Social Media Influencers Can Use Their Power to Combat Overtourism
Can social media influencers on Instagram use their sharing and promotional power – something which helped accelerate overtourism – to affect and shift traveler decisions for positive impact? We offer a set of tips and considerations that each of us — professional influencers as well as everyday social media users – can employ to be part of a solution to overtourism.
How to Use Social Enterprises to Improve Your Travels…and Make a Difference
If you’re looking for more meaningful travel interactions and are interested in giving something back as you travel, it’s important to understand the concept of social enterprise — what is it, how it works with local communities, and where to find it in the travel industry.
Volunteering and Voluntourism: The Good, The Bad, and The Questions You Should Ask
If you are interested in volunteering internationally or going on voluntourism trip, what are the ethical considerations you should be aware of? Which questions can you ask to better ensure that your actions and any financial contribution are aligned with your values, desired impact and expectations? So that you don't end up doing unintended harm with your goal of helping or “doing good”?
Child Welfare in Travel: 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Engaging Responsibly
You care about the kids you encounter while traveling, right? Are children ever props in your photos? Do you location tag them? What about giving money to begging children? What about passing out gifts to random kids you meet? What about those school visits? How does it all impact children and their well-being? Can any of your actions cause unintended harm?
A recent release of a set of child welfare in travel guidelines and code of conduct seems to be tipping the apple cart. What many of us thought were perfectly acceptable behaviors when we encounter kids while traveling are now called into question.
Traveling in the Age of Overtourism: 10 Ways Travelers Can Help
Accelerating tourism growth and the threat of overtourism are here to stay. This is our advice on how to travel better in the age of overtourism — tips and actions which will improve your travel experiences and also help to reduce pressure on the places you visit.