Conversations about sustainability in tourism can seem a little vague. This is particularly true for sustinable destinations. Often there are general conversations about the environment, social issues, and economics that seem to lack action steps or measures. Too often these conversations fail to move to practical steps to getting started. Sustainable tourism management is both actionable and measurable. The good news is that no destination needs to "start from scratch". Over the years several organizations have developed sets of actions required to achieve sustainability in destinations. These criteria...

20 August, 2019 /

My team in Purdue's Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Travel Lab are doing fantastic work. Check out this introduction to our work that recently aired on the Big 10 network...

19 August, 2019 /

Sustainable tourism management is more than picking a few eco-things and doing them when you remember. Sustainable tourism management requires a range of actions that must be actively managed. It requires a long-term commitment to performance improvement. The best certifications support ongoing sustainable tourism management. Good certifications are transparent, have credible, technically sound standards, and include independent third-party assessment. Good certifications help sustainable tourism enterprises manage the variety of activities they must undertake to achieve their goals and help them "ratchet" up their performance over time. Certification isn't...

19 August, 2019 /

We live at a time of incredible travel freedoms. If you have the time and money, you can go almost anywhere. ( We'll talk in another post about issues around time, money and travel another time). With these freedoms, comes responsibility. As a traveler, you are visiting someone else's community. Your journey of discovery or relaxation takes place in a destination community where people live their lives. Your freedom to visit is based on their hospitality - don't take it for granted. With the freedom to visit...

17 August, 2019 /

Climate change is finally on the US travel industry radar with two important studies highlighting increasing consumer awareness of the impacts of changing climates on travel and destinations. MMGY Global's Portrait of the American Traveler shows 48% of travelers agree that climate change will have a significant influence on what destinations they want to visit in the next 5-10 years. These findings were consistent with Destination Analysts' State of the American Traveler - Destinations Edition , which shows 50% of American leisure travelers expect that climate change will impact...

09 August, 2019 /

We live in a world of big hits and long tails and it has a big impact on tourism. It was linguist, George Zipf that noticed that the most common word is used twice as much as the second most common word, three times a frequently as the third most popular. It is called inversely proportional. When you graph this relationship with the most popular thing on the left and the least popular on the right, you get a line that is starts high, drops quickly, and but never seems to end as it...

04 August, 2019 /

Monterey is a leader in promoting responsible travel. Their "Sustainable Moments" tips help travelers minimize the negative impacts of travel. Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau (MCCVB), the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for the region, has been an important catalyst in developing this program. They work with the destination community, particularly the tourism industry, to help them encourage responsible travel. While sustainability is always a team effort, MCCVB shows some of the ways DMOs can make a difference. Enjoy this video featuring their groundbreaking program. https://youtu.be/1xY9bh-Ns3A Credit...

09 June, 2019 /

It has become common for calls for sustainability in tourism. But what does that mean ? The definitions of sustainable tourism don't help answer this question much. Most definitions these days include the Triple-Bottom-Line (People, Planet, Profits), TBL, and the importance of taking a long term view - considering both today and tomorrow. These definitions are conceptually appealing but frustratingly vague. In some ways, sustainable tourism requires three-dimensional thinking. On one dimension, there are the activities required for each component of the TBL. For example, the simplest...

07 June, 2019 /

It's hard to know if you're choosing a hotel that is managing its environmental impact. It shouldn't be. If you go to the grocery story it is easy to find sustainable foods. If you buy an appliance you can quickly find the product's energy star rating. But - if you want to know about the energy performance of a hotel before you click "buy" on an online travel agency or the hotel website, it will take you time - perhaps a long time - to get information....

25 April, 2019 /

Sometimes we talk about managing the triple bottom line (TBL) as trade-offs between economic, social and environmental interests. But this doesn't have to be a poor compromise. Rather - in tourism at least - protecting the environment and celebrating local culture leads to better economic outcomes. Win, Win, Win. ...

24 April, 2019 /
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