Comments on: OPINION: Has the Whole Ecotourism Industry Shot Itself in the Foot? http://www.thetravelword.com/2009/01/25/has-the-whole-ecotourism-industry-shot-itself-in-the-foot/ Local Voices Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:41:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Holiday in Bhutan http://www.thetravelword.com/2009/01/25/has-the-whole-ecotourism-industry-shot-itself-in-the-foot/#comment-51605 Holiday in Bhutan Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:54:34 +0000 http://www.whl.travel/blog/?p=207#comment-51605 nice post !!interesting n informative blog. nice post !!interesting n informative blog.

]]> By: Tomtravel2 http://www.thetravelword.com/2009/01/25/has-the-whole-ecotourism-industry-shot-itself-in-the-foot/#comment-6272 Tomtravel2 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:39:44 +0000 http://www.whl.travel/blog/?p=207#comment-6272 Very well written article. I just posted a blog with a similar theme on Twitter and followed your tweet link here. There are no easy answers and I doubt one size fits all solutions to the issue. I try to live and travel in a "responsible" manner, but the very act of getting on a plane or interacting with another culture may contradict that intention. Keep the open discussion flowing and we may all find a way to the best compromises. Very well written article. I just posted a blog with a similar theme on Twitter and followed your tweet link here. There are no easy answers and I doubt one size fits all solutions to the issue. I try to live and travel in a “responsible” manner, but the very act of getting on a plane or interacting with another culture may contradict that intention. Keep the open discussion flowing and we may all find a way to the best compromises.

]]> By: Shaun http://www.thetravelword.com/2009/01/25/has-the-whole-ecotourism-industry-shot-itself-in-the-foot/#comment-5432 Shaun Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:14:25 +0000 http://www.whl.travel/blog/?p=207#comment-5432 I guess the way trends are moving, travellers through the internet are connecting more and more directly with providers. Certification certainly has its place, but is only a piece of the puzzle, especially in developing destinations. Hence I hope things like authentic traveller feedback can be a real driver of 'responsible' travel options for other travellers. I guess the way trends are moving, travellers through the internet are connecting more and more directly with providers. Certification certainly has its place, but is only a piece of the puzzle, especially in developing destinations. Hence I hope things like authentic traveller feedback can be a real driver of ‘responsible’ travel options for other travellers.

]]> By: Andres Hammerman http://www.thetravelword.com/2009/01/25/has-the-whole-ecotourism-industry-shot-itself-in-the-foot/#comment-5023 Andres Hammerman Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:34:07 +0000 http://www.whl.travel/blog/?p=207#comment-5023 I have recently read a post by Justin Francis the co-founder of www.responsibletravel.com about Global Certification Schemes: http://responsibletravel.blogspot.com/2009/06/reasons-not-to-have-global-sustainable.html#links As an Ecolodge owner I have felt pressured to jump on the bandwagon of Ecotourism Certification. But we are hesitant to pay fees to outsiders to standardize and sometimes minimize our already outstanding practices. Local issues play an important role in what works and what doesn't for ecological and community practices. Openly sharing best practices in a creative way works much better to promote ecotourism than legislating and standardizing hotels that are actually selling their personalized character. My hope is that certifiers can hear these comments and incorporate them into their certification process. I have recently read a post by Justin Francis the co-founder of http://www.responsibletravel.com about Global Certification Schemes:

http://responsibletravel.blogspot.com/2009/06/reasons-not-to-have-global-sustainable.html#links

As an Ecolodge owner I have felt pressured to jump on the bandwagon of Ecotourism Certification. But we are hesitant to pay fees to outsiders to standardize and sometimes minimize our already outstanding practices.

Local issues play an important role in what works and what doesn’t for ecological and community practices. Openly sharing best practices in a creative way works much better to promote ecotourism than legislating and standardizing hotels that are actually selling their personalized character.

My hope is that certifiers can hear these comments and incorporate them into their certification process.

]]> By: Len Cordiner http://www.thetravelword.com/2009/01/25/has-the-whole-ecotourism-industry-shot-itself-in-the-foot/#comment-2892 Len Cordiner Sun, 17 May 2009 05:14:47 +0000 http://www.whl.travel/blog/?p=207#comment-2892 Thanks Giulia and Ron for your thoughtful responses. I guess for me its going to be largely about a few things 1. The message we give to travellers. We have to work much harder at identifying and explaining the benefits the traveller will experience by staying with an accommodation provider working in a more sustainable way. The slow travel or gentle travel model is a great step in this direction. 2. The travel industry needs to work in much closer collaboration with others making up important parts of the travel experience and whose focus aligns with a more sustainable and inherently more enjoyable experience(e.g. the slow food movement). 3. We need to engage travellers in telling other travellers about their experience in ways that allow people to select real "slow travel" ...and by extension sustainable travel .... options. Its the Trip Advisor for 'slow travel experiences'. Thanks Giulia and Ron for your thoughtful responses. I guess for me its going to be largely about a few things

1. The message we give to travellers. We have to work much harder at identifying and explaining the benefits the traveller will experience by staying with an accommodation provider working in a more sustainable way. The slow travel or gentle travel model is a great step in this direction.
2. The travel industry needs to work in much closer collaboration with others making up important parts of the travel experience and whose focus aligns with a more sustainable and inherently more enjoyable experience(e.g. the slow food movement).
3. We need to engage travellers in telling other travellers about their experience in ways that allow people to select real “slow travel” …and by extension sustainable travel …. options. Its the Trip Advisor for ‘slow travel experiences’.

]]> By: Ron Mader http://www.thetravelword.com/2009/01/25/has-the-whole-ecotourism-industry-shot-itself-in-the-foot/#comment-2536 Ron Mader Sun, 10 May 2009 20:59:12 +0000 http://www.whl.travel/blog/?p=207#comment-2536 Excellent essay, Len I agree that the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria misses the point. I was asked a few times to fill out a survey, but the questions have been designed in advance and there\'s little room for comment. Are there certification schemes that matter? Not so much that I\'ve seen. I want to want to trust them, but without reader/traveler feedback, what\'s the point? Travelers have been left out of the conversation, most of which has taken place behind closed doors. (Please show me the policy-setting workshops that have posted announcements and archives online. And if you want to go one better, show me a tourism policy wiki.) The old command and control thinking is no way to win public buy-in. Slow tourism? It\'s one of my personal favorite definitions of the tourism I enjoy most! If you\'re not familiar, check out the Slow Tourism Guides to Melbourne and Sydney. A conversation with the author is online http://forum.planeta.com/viewtopic.php?t=1155 It\'s this kind of thoughtful, insightful guidebook much moreso than Australia\'s tourism board or ecotourism society that I find myself trusting and using on the ground. Excellent essay, Len

I agree that the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria misses the point. I was asked a few times to fill out a survey, but the questions have been designed in advance and there\’s little room for comment.

Are there certification schemes that matter? Not so much that I\’ve seen. I want to want to trust them, but without reader/traveler feedback, what\’s the point?

Travelers have been left out of the conversation, most of which has taken place behind closed doors. (Please show me the policy-setting workshops that have posted announcements and archives online. And if you want to go one better, show me a tourism policy wiki.) The old command and control thinking is no way to win public buy-in.

Slow tourism? It\’s one of my personal favorite definitions of the tourism I enjoy most! If you\’re not familiar, check out the Slow Tourism Guides to Melbourne and Sydney. A conversation with the author is online
http://forum.planeta.com/viewtopic.php?t=1155

It\’s this kind of thoughtful, insightful guidebook much moreso than Australia\’s tourism board or ecotourism society that I find myself trusting and using on the ground.

]]> By: Giulia http://www.thetravelword.com/2009/01/25/has-the-whole-ecotourism-industry-shot-itself-in-the-foot/#comment-2361 Giulia Wed, 06 May 2009 11:51:36 +0000 http://www.whl.travel/blog/?p=207#comment-2361 Having been an organic farmer before being a sustainable accommodation owner I can see similarities between what you state and what happened about 15-20 years ago in Italy with organic agriculture. Organic was for tree-huggers, it ment sugar-free, brown and sand-tasting, but suddently someone thought that \"green agriculture\" also ment business... so everybody started calling themselves \"green\", \"organic\", \"farm-style\" and there was no control over it, the consumer was confused and thus the interest did not grow. \"Organic\" was more expensive but nobody knew what it really ment, so people tended not to buy organic. We needed certification to start putting things right, many problems still exist and people still do not trust organic produce, but things are going better. I agree that green/sustainable/eco tourism really needs an impulse, but I also think that until \"green communication\" is not clear and we talk more about \"greenwashing\" than about what sustainable tourism really is and means, it will be difficult to have someone trust us. Giulia - Locanda della Valle Nuova (Le Marche - Italy) Having been an organic farmer before being a sustainable accommodation owner I can see similarities between what you state and what happened about 15-20 years ago in Italy with organic agriculture.
Organic was for tree-huggers, it ment sugar-free, brown and sand-tasting, but suddently someone thought that \"green agriculture\" also ment business… so everybody started calling themselves \"green\", \"organic\", \"farm-style\" and there was no control over it, the consumer was confused and thus the interest did not grow. \"Organic\" was more expensive but nobody knew what it really ment, so people tended not to buy organic.
We needed certification to start putting things right, many problems still exist and people still do not trust organic produce, but things are going better.
I agree that green/sustainable/eco tourism really needs an impulse, but I also think that until \"green communication\" is not clear and we talk more about \"greenwashing\" than about what sustainable tourism really is and means, it will be difficult to have someone trust us.
Giulia – Locanda della Valle Nuova (Le Marche – Italy)

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