Sustainable Tourism and Social Media

At the recent DMAI conference I had the pleasure of moderating a panel of some of the most forward thinking Destination Management Organization Managers on the topic of social responsibility and sustainability. It was a great topic - made better by the speakers passion for teh topic.

Rodney Payne of Think ! Social Media jotted some notes on what he heard in the session. See his blog on the panel here

Google and Travel

Google is moving into the travel marketplace and will soon be using its incredible reach in ways that will impact the tourism industry for years to come. An old mate, Clayton Reid of MMG Worldwide interviews Rob Torres of Google to discuss the plans. Check it out at Brands that Travel.

Tourism - The path to export competitiveness

Sometimes it is hard to remember that each dollar an international visitor spends is an export. It is.

As America prepares to increase its export competitiveness it is important to keep in mind that encouraging international visitors to explore "from sea to shining sea" will spread the value of those export dollars to communities across the nation. I was impressed by a recent Brookings Mountain West report that export earnings in the Denver area were driven by the travel and tourism industry (11.5 percent). It is important for our leaders and policy makers to keep the important fact in mind. Tourism is an economic development tool.

Between a rock and a hard place....

An article in the Washington Post last week caught my eye and raised an issue that seems to be gaining more traction. The Headline was – Green Hotels juggle conservation with customer service – but the article was really about the failure of many hotels to follow through on their in room green promises. The article complained about a hotel room had a towel reuse policy that the housekeeping people seemed to ignore and showerheads designed to save water that didn’t work in a way that would save water.
I am always amazed at the amount of work the large hotel companies are doing to go “green”. Many of the changes are “behind the scenes” and the most hoteliers aren’t highlighting them in their marketing communications. There are green champions – at the highest levels of hotel corporations and in thousands of hotel properties across the country that are working hard to improve the hospitality industry’s green record.
Nevertheless – it is the highly visible programs like towel reuse programs that consumers see – and question - when they don’t happen as expected. Hotel managers could easily look at these types of reports and decide that towel reuse programs are worth the potential criticism. They are between a rock and a hard place and these criticisms highlight the significant organizational behavior change process the industry is working through. Nevertheless I applaud the companies that are introducing the programs, as imperfect as they are, and working to get them right 100% of the time. Progress …. towards perfection… is better than no change at all.

The Three Bottom Lines

I really like the concept of the triple bottom line (3BL) . Like many of the best ideas it is simple and powerful. The strength of the idea that truly long term advantage requires positive outcomes in three dimensions - economic, social and environmental - is evident in how quickly it has been adopted around the world. The vision of a three legged stool that only stands when each leg is strong comes to mind whenever I think of 3BL.

Unfortunately it is clear that too often the discussion is dominated by just one of the aspects. Whether it is too heavy an emphasis on “green” or on “profits” the result is the same and the three legged stool is bound to fall over.

Kudos to the folks at Tourism Queensland for including not only social, environmental but also information on markets and business development on their sustainability microsite. All three bottom lines are being nurtured in Queensland !Tourism Queensland Sustainability

Tourism Happens

The more I work with destinations the more I realize that tourism happens. We are a curious animal and we like to explore the world around us. As a result people will come and visit our destinations – and if they like it they will tell their friends.

Now – even though tourism happens “good tourism” never just happens. Good tourism makes sure that the destination is supporting its triple bottom line. Good tourism is sustainable. And good tourism takes work.

The Two Tourisms

There are two tourisms.

There is the tourism that I speak about when I meet with other people in the tourism industry. This tourism brings prosperity. It enriches individuals and communities. It protects special places by ensuring that people can see their beauty and learn how important it is to preserve and protect their beauty for future generations.

The second tourism is quite different. It is the tourism that brings overcrowding and pollution. It brings exploitation. It destroys special places and ruins local cultures.

Unfortunately sometimes when I am talking about the first tourism the people I am speaking to think I am speaking about the second tourism.

The problem of the two tourisms is one of the biggest problems facing our industry and we have much to do to ensure the second tourism vanishes. We must work today to ensure in the future the second tourism is remembered only as the way we did things in the old days - before we knew better.