Up, up and get away! In August, the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) launched the Sustainable Suzie digital comic book, featuring Sustainable Suzie, a spunky superhero who saves Planet Earth by promoting responsible travel.

By day, she’s Susan, a USTOA tour operator guide whose mission is to provide sustainable travel tips to her guests, ensuring there is a world to explore for future generations. Meanwhile, her alter ego Suzie battles with villains determined to contaminate the planet.

Breaking Down Barriers

While a comic might seem unorthodox, Sustainable Suzie conveys the core messages of responsible travel with humor, and a more digestible way to understand the issues, the stakes and the solutions to protect the planet. Our goal for the comic book is to break down the barriers so that travelers understand that even small steps can make a big difference.

Superhero Defeats Villians

The comic portrays the classic comic book storyline – superhero defeats villains – to convey that sustainable travel is about making choices. While Tour Guide Susan leads a small group of travelers to the experience-rich destinations of South Korea, Tenerife and Norway, all of which are committed to sustainable practices to preserve and protect their natural and cultural resources (along with onboard-sustainability pioneer United Airlines), Sustainable Suzie fights wasteful comic villains determined to continue their destructive acts to pollute the planet.

Do No Harm

The purpose behind Sustainable Suzie is to make “sustainability” approachable and achievable so that we can all make responsible decisions that respect the places and people we visit, leave a smaller footprint and, most importantly, do no harm to our natural environment – a key message during USTOA’s 50th anniversary year.

Among the main responsibilities of sustainable tourism highlighted in the comic are the need to protect natural resources and wildlife in destinations, and to conserve cultural heritage while creating immersive and authentic experiences.

Prime examples of USTOA tour operator members providing immersive and authentic experiences, some of which are included in the comic book, include sampling Korean street food from vendors at Gwangjang Market in Seoul, visiting a fjord along Norway’s 18,000- mile coastline and biking 185 miles of trails through the forests of Tenerife.

This comic book is one of my favorite USTOA campaigns. It is a unique way to bring attention to key industry issues that we are working to combat one step at a time.

Visit www.ustoa.com/sustainablesuzie.