Sustainability is now the biggest trend within the travel industry, with travel corporations and organizations like the World Travel & Tourism Council, Accor, Iberostar Group, G Adventures and many more signing the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.
This is a great step towards making a better travel and tourism industry, one that benefits both the planet, travelers and those who work within the industry.
But we're also at another crucial intersection in the industry: how do we interact with, work with and embrace the cultures and histories that attract millions to travel for pleasure each year while making sure we're not exploiting them, commercializing them or (as is the case in certain types of travel) ignoring them?
While sustainability in tourism is completely necessary, I think the focus is too narrow and needs to be adjusted to also recognize the people who live in communities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, climate change and tourism, either the lack of it or the over-abundance of it.
Remember Venice, Italy? The ultra-popular destination had welcomed hoards of tourists, especially cruise tourists, each year before the pandemic, leading to overcrowding and, in some cases, destruction of the historic area and even loss of life.
Despite the residents asking government officials for years to cap the number of tourists to the city to a more manageable crowd, it took a global pandemic and the virtual halt of all tourism before the government chose to take action. The new capacity rules are expected to take effect sometime in 2022 or 2023.
Other destinations, including those designated by the UN as Small Island Developing Nations (SIDS) like St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Jamaica and others, rely on tourism as one of their main economic drivers yet struggle with gaining access to necessary vaccines that could not only save lives but also bring recovery to the nations' travel industries.
I think many in the industry as well as travelers can agree that challenging entry requirements aren't sustainable in the long run, even in a future in which COVID-19 still exists. Equal vaccine distribution could bring about an end to many of these requirements.
Issues of health and overtourism aren't the only human-focused sustainability issues in the industry, though. Travelers themselves need to make conscientious decisions to travel to less popular destinations in order to spread the wealth that tourism can offer to communities that could benefit the most from it, while travel companies and organizations should invest more in community-based tourism initiatives.
Community-based tourism is doubly beneficial because the communities themselves are in control of what they share and who they share it with. They share their unique cultures with travelers while directly benefiting from the experience.
This is especially important in smaller, more remote communities that are in threat of extinction due to the lack of opportunities or a changing environment.
Some tour operators are already focusing on community-based tourism initiatives. G Adventures and Intrepid Travel both offer tours led by local guides as well as opportunities for cultural exchange that directly benefits local communities.
While hotel corporations are behind on this, one hotel brand focusing on both sustainability and community initiatives is Preferred Hotels & Resorts' Beyond Green brand, which seeks to help the environment as well as empower the local communities each hotel or resort impacts by preserving their cultures and promoting social and economic well-being. For example, its Three Camel Lodge in Mongolia has built wells for the local nomadic herders and provides necessary food for their herds when there aren't enough natural resources in the winter, among other initiatives.
The industry can shouldn't ignore the negative impacts that it can have upon local communities; as a globalized industry, it is uniquely positioned to lead the way in not just sustainability initiatives, but community empowerment. The post-pandemic world is an opportunity to change the focus of travel and tourism for industry professionals, travel advisors and the travelers themselves from an industry that consumes into an industry that empowers.
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