Tourism is a team activity - it requires many different actors, each with their own specialty - to create great tourism experiences. In each tourism destination, there are many players, contributing unique services, acting in concert, but acting independently, on the tourism team. The way tourism teams work in destinations is fascinating for a number of reasons. I'll explore some of the unique elements of these teams in coming posts but today I want to focus on the question - who is in charge of the team ?...

03 March, 2019 /

[caption id="attachment_754" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash[/caption]   Sustainable tourism is not a niche, suitable only for a small group of specialist travelers traveling to out of the way places. Sustainable tourism principles can be applied to all tourism destinations and all tourism businesses. While it can be applied to everyone, it’s not easy. Ensuring that we maximize the benefits of tourism, and reduce the negative impacts of tourism, is a complex set of activities that require the active participation of a variety of folks working together. That’s true...

09 February, 2019 /

[caption id="attachment_748" align="alignleft" width="228"] Plastic Bottles on the road to Everest[/caption] It is rare that we ever pay the full cost of a product. The reality of this fact came to me as I was walking through the SolumKumba in Nepal last month and bought water in a plastic bottle of water. Sure, the water was more expensive in the village – almost 4 times more expensive as down in Kathmandu – but that was understandable given the transportation costs of getting the water to me. It had come by...

24 August, 2018 /

Overtourism is a significant problem for many of the world’s most popular destinations. In the summer of 2017, the issue of overtourism came to a boil with many media outlets questioning – what can be done about overtourism? The problem was (and is) immediate and seemed to have come upon us suddenly - almost by surprise. Of course, overtourism wasn't a surprise. Like many feedback loops in systems, the problem of overtourism had been building in the tourism system for a long time before it was noticed by the...

04 June, 2018 /

The Orinoquia region of Colombia is experiencing an incredible renaissance. After years of civil war, peace has come to their region and tourism is growing. Getting to know this region has been a great pleasure. One of my favorite stops on the road from Yopal to Villavicencio is Asadero Las Vegas. This place has great grilled meats popular in Los Llanos but it is the great customer service and enthusiasm of the staff that impressed me the most. Our servers were friendly and welcoming and happy to share a...

25 February, 2018 /

We came to their village and they welcomed us with warm smiles and simple gifts; Flowers, tea, tasty snacks. The head of the community spoke words of friendship and we walked through the village, the Annapurna range in the distance. We stopped by a well and spoke to the young people, collecting water for the evening meal. We were sharing our evening meal with a small group of families. After dinner, they brought out their iPhone and wireless speakers and played an eclectic mix of traditional Nepalese songs...

06 October, 2017 /

2017 is the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for development. Sustainable tourism is being touted as an important tool in development. Why tourism? The United Nations gives 5 reasons: Tourism can create inclusive and sustainable economic growth Tourism can increase inclusiveness, employment and contribute to poverty reduction Tourism can contribute to resource efficiency, environmental protection and reducing climate change Tourism can help us appreciate cultural values, diversity and heritage and Tourism can lead to greater mutual understanding, peace and security. But introducing or increasing tourism doesn’t automatically create these...

22 March, 2017 /

From a marketing perspective, the answer to “where do I start?” is always with your target market. For many small tourism businesses that can be a hard thing to do – after all – your product is right there in front of you – and it is beautiful. Over summer I had the great pleasure of visiting tourism product in the area of San Juan de Arama in the Meta region of Colombia. As the ink dries on the peace treaty that ends the war in Colombia, the people...

01 October, 2016 /

There is an excitement about the power of social entrepreneurship. Unleashing the power of entrepreneurial thinking on social problems provides “out of the box” solutions  after years of "standard" responses these challenges. However, some of the most vocal advocates for social entrepreneurship only extoll the virtues of scalable solutions and game-changing approaches. There is more to social enterprise than a few large organizations and I want to take a moment to celebrate social entrepreneurs that are working in their own small corners of the world, making real and positive change...

06 July, 2016 /
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