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 /

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 /

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 /

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 /

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 /

The rise in "Local" is making an impact. One of the three big trends shapingmarketing today - So Mo Lo ( Social, Mobile and Local), "local" tends to be an afterthought in conversations that focus on the rise of mobile and the impact of social networking and marketing. But "local" is a big deal to tourism marketing and is changing the way the industry does business. The focus on local has a couple of great benefits for tourism: Local product and services build a "sense of place". "Local" tends...

28 May, 2015 /
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