 FAM trips to Romagna will combine visits to Venice and Florence with welcoming unspoiled natural Italy Next year's FAM visitors to Romagna will be in for some very special treats taking advantage of Romagna's position close to everything and a wonderful place to return home to! Not only will they stay in a lovely country house in the Romagna Hills, but they will also enjoy a stay in a top hotel in a fashionable seaside resort plus a night in foodie Bologna. And they'll enjoy some very special experiences too. Keeping up their sustainable credentials as a global top100 destination, Best of Romagna are including two trips by public transport.  The trip to Venice takes the boat across the Adriatic lagoon via the island of Pellestrina and the glorious Venice Lido - right to the heart of Venice a canal crossing on a gondola and a lunch in an exclusive Grand Canal side restaurant. The trip to Florence is by the little mountain train through fabulous scenery, gently descending to the glorious city of Art and romance.  FAM participants will also learn to cook Italian in "Italy's Best Cookery School", they'll experience the magnificent city that was once capital of the Roman Empire - and see the1500 year old mosaics and they will visit the world's smallest republic - mountaintop San Marino.  There will be, of course, much more - including tasting the many specialities that Romagna is famous for - great Sangiovese and Albana wines in organic vineyards, superb olive oils in an olive grove that has stayed in the same management for over 500 years, great meals with local cheeses and breads and phenomenal local meats and vegetables and fruits.  And a lot of FUN - after all Romagna is famous in Italy for having the very best time at the very most festivals! Maybe that's because Romagna with all its great food and wine is like the Garden of Eden!   Find out more about 2019 FAMs HERE http://www.totemtourism.com/agent-fam-visits.html
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 Fastest growing economy in Africa chooses not to fight the facts For a long time Botswana has been seen as a peaceful African country and a birthplace for sustainable tourism in the continent. Maybe the fact that it has a very un-warlike past attests to its attitude to sustainability - plus of course the event that created its massive economic success - the discovery of diamonds, allows Botswana to take a firm stance of sustainable tourism. Botswana is not cheap. If you visit for a holiday you'll pay top dollar but in return you'll get a memorable, maybe life-changing experience worth saving up for. Largely because it's a peaceful country Botswana has an enormous and increasing population of elephants - the fact is that elephants don't like wars all around them so they've moved into calm, chilled out Botswana where they are left to get on with their lives. It helps that there is a great deal of wilderness in Botswana too - it's a country of nearly 250,000 square miles (that's twice the size of Germany) with a population of about 2 million (Germany's got 82 million) - so there is no pressure on space. That's great for the 300,000 elephants who live there. The government has concentrated on tourism and diamonds - which is good for the elephants and the wilderness which comprises of mainly the Okavango Delta and the massive Kalahari Desert, both astonishing, by the way. This means that farming has rather fallen by the wayside so that Botswana can concentrate on its key assets - one of the world's great wildernesses plus one of the world's great inland deltas. But farming has not fallen out of the picture entirely -it's just by the wayside superb cattle are to be seen by every road. And Botswana's search for excellence reflects itself in its cattle too - its beef, 2 million steers grazing on communal land, is said to be some of the very best in the world and exported to wherever quality is sought. The discovery of diamonds helped, but basically Botswana has been a leader in sustainable tourism for a long time now and at the forefront of top quality safari holidays.  Thompson wouldn't be ill at ease managing a 5 star establishment anywhere in the world Tourism and wildlife training is at the top of the agenda together with hospitality training, hence the quality of informed service is astonishingly good - and the opportunities for hospitality staff personal development. Not only does this mean that visitors get real service but also that there are quality tourism job opportunities. This informed attitude from a centre of excellence has led to businesses like Abercrombie & Kent, & Beyond, Wilderness Safaris and Desert and Delta to prosper sustainably and new initiatives to appear.  Travel for Impact https://travelforimpact.com/ is a local social initiative set up to make the most out of tourism for local people in a multitude of ways from crafts to veterinary services to looking after the elderly - all funded and supported by the tourism industry.  Another example of a sustainable can-do attitude is Chobe National Park - stuffed with wildlife - where an all-female guide team drive all-electric safari vehicles and electric launches. Simply: The decision to employ exclusively women grew organically out of something very practical: the bottom line. Back when the guide team was male and female, the managers quickly noticed a pattern: Vehicles driven by women used less fuel, required fewer repairs and lasted longer over time. Simply put, the women were better drivers. They were saving the company money.   A practical attitude to sustainability that reflects itself in Botswana's sustainably high quality and a reason that the country has not one but two destinations in the Top100 Sustainable destinations.
Valere Tjolle READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN 2019: 80% off Special Vision offer: Sustainable Tourism Report 80% discount on review copies only 50 available. https://www.sustainabletourismreport.com/ SEE MORE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NEWS AT VISION ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM  A small party city that does it holistically Santarcangelo di Romagna is a little ancient city of just over 20,000 inhabitants. It's set right in the heart of the ancient Italian region of Romagna between the Apennine mountains and the Adriatic Sea, equidistant from both Venice and Florence.  It's a city which hosts modern festivals like the International Festival of Street Theatre and ancient festivals like the 1,000 year old Festa di San Michele (known as the festival of cuckolds and which brings in over 100,000 revellers)  Apart from wild festivals, it's also a city of wild art and home to the the Mutoid Waste Company. Santarcangelo is also very proud of its food and wine and is a Slow Food City.  But its key to sustainable success is its young dynamic female-oriented council who have plenty of challenges to prove their worth including- tourism, immigration, closed minds, gentrification, ageing population and more.  Everybody is included in the sustainable solution - kids, old people, immigrants, local communities and tourists.  It's a modern holistic answer to tourism today.  Every person a poppy in a great field created out of waste land.  Even the city tourism app was created by local kids  Valere Tjolle
READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN 2019: 80% off Special Vision offer: Sustainable Tourism Report 80% discount on review copies only 50 available. https://www.sustainabletourismreport.com/ SEE MORE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NEWS AT VISION ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM  Photo: Integrated Rural Tourism Development Event: Discovering rural wonders at their best and delivering them to the world. Twenty-four Managers from Armenia undertook the Project Management for Sustainable Development Certification Training
Armenia is shaping its future to be a unique sustainable destination, building capacities in effective tourism planning and managing. A diverse group of tourism and development professionals from across Armenia has joined a blended training program on PM4SD (Project Management for Sustainable Development), and successfully completed the first segment, a 3-week-long tailored online training course. The participants then undertook an onsite face-to-face training session taking place in Yerevan), to complete their training and to prepare for the PM4SD-Foundation certification. Before the on site training, on December 19th, a public event, "Armenia, the path to sustainable tourism" was organized by UNDP, with the aim of bringing key stakeholders of the tourism value chain to build a common vision and an action plan for sustainable tourism development at the destination level. "Tourism provides important opportunities for Armenia, and in particular for rural communities and undiscovered destinations, but we need to ensure tourism growth is sustainable. That's why it's critical to focus on training and capacity building. With many of our project managers and planners becoming PM4SD certified, we are able to create a pool of experts who will be able to deliver tangible and lasting benefits through our tourism projects." Said Arman Valesyan, Project Coordinator, UNDP Armenia Integrated Rural Tourism Development (IRTD) Project Delivered by Jlag (PM4SD Accredited Training Organisation) and TrainingAid for UNDP Armenia, this blended training program provides the opportunities for participants to apply best practices in their own project context, helping improve various local and regional projects supporting sustainable tourism development and destination management. This blended training program has been delivered as part of the Integrated Rural Tourism Development (IRTD) project, which is financed by the Russian Federation and implemented by UNDP Armenia in close partnership with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development. The training will serve a first pilot strategic action to certify sustainable management skills, with the goal of supporting long-term objective of creating sustainable income-generating opportunities to reduce rural poverty, and to empower community members to achieve sustainable development"It has been great to learn about many innovative and forward-thinking project examples from across Armenia, addressing key development challenges and sustainability issues through tourism. With their newly acquired knowledge in effective project management, our training participants will be able to approach their projects in a smarter, more efficient and productive manner, focusing on making a difference for the sustainable development of rural communities." Said Silvia Barbone, PM4SD Trainer, Managing Director, Jlag Relevant links UNDP Armenia IRTD project website: http://www.am.undp.org/content/armenia/en/home/operations/projects/poverty_reduction/integrated-rural-tourism-development--.html Valere Tjolle READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN 2019: 80% off Special Vision offer: Sustainable Tourism Report 80% discount on review copies only 50 available. https://www.sustainabletourismreport.com/ SEE MORE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NEWS AT VISION ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM  IUCN publishes guidelines for sustainability in tourism and visitor management
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has published guidelines on sustainability for "Tourism and visitor management in protected areas". The publication is part of a series on best practices in protected areas and available for download on the IUCN website. IUCN says "Protected areas are a key component of any global conservation strategy. Tourism provides a crucial and unique way of fostering visitors' connection with protected area values, making it a potentially positive force for conservation. Protected area tourism's economic benefits - which depend on beautiful natural areas, healthy wildlife and nature, and authentic cultures - can also be a powerful argument for conservation. Tourism in protected areas is a major part of the global tourism industry - an industry whose scale and impacts are enormous. Such a high volume of visitors implies certain needs for fundamental infrastructure and requirements for employment and human services, all of which have ramifications for the economy, society, culture and the environment. These Guidelines provide guidance on key issues to help managers achieve sustainable tourism in protected areas." "Done sustainably, tourism can contribute directly to the objectives of global agreements such as the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and the Muscat Declaration on Tourism and Culture (UNWTO and UNESCO, 2017). However, inappropriate and poorly managed tourism can cause negative impacts on the biodiversity, landscapes, and resource base of protected areas." The target audience for these Guidelines is professionals working on tourism in protected areas, including administrators, managers, planners, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, community groups, private landowners and Indigenous groups. Building on two previous editions on the subject of tourism in the IUCN WCPA Best Practice Guidelines series, these Guidelines provide guidance on key issues to help managers achieve sustainable tourism in protected areas: that which is appropriate, well-managed, and contributes to conservation objectives. Valere Tjolle  UNWTO award finalists announced The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has announced the finalists to win the 15th UNWTO Awards for inspirational projects which have made an invaluable contributions to advance sustainable tourism. The nominees are praised for contributing to advance the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Initiatives from Canada, Colombia, India, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the Philippines made it to the list of finalists for 2019's UNWTO Awards, ranging from community-based tourism development and innovation-driven nature conservation to heritage tourism and promotion of accessible tourism. The UNWTO Awards recognize the contribution of public and private institutions, as well as NGOs, in the development of a more competitive, responsible and sustainable tourism sector that works towards achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and its 17 SDGs. A total of 190 applications from 71 countries were received in the three categories: Public Policy and Governance, Enterprises, and Non-Governmental Organizations. UNWTO Award in Public Policy and Governance
UNWTO Award in Enterprises
UNWTO Award in Non-Governmental Organizations
Information on the finalists http://marketintelligence.unwto.org/content/15th-unwto-awards-finalists Valere Tjolle READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN 2019: 80% off Special Vision offer: Sustainable Tourism Report 80% discount on review copies only 50 available. https://www.sustainabletourismreport.com/ SEE MORE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NEWS AT VISION ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM Share  CEO Randy Durband adresses the conference Sustainable tourism conference in Africa's most sustainable destination outlines challenges and opportunities This year's Global Sustainable Tourism Council summit, set in Maun, Botswana brought together international and domestic tourism including public sector, hotels, tour operators, academia, development agencies, NGOs, and consultants from all over the world to help make tourism more sustainable for the benefit of visitors, host destinations, the industry - and the Earth. Tourism may be facing massive challenges in 2019 but these are also opportunities for destinations all over the world to host visitors in a way that delivers life changing experiences to both visitor and host communities alike. After an opening by His Excellency, the Fourth President of the Republic of Botswana, Lieutenant General, Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama and a presentation by GSTC CEO Randy Durband Luigi Cabrini, Global Sustainable Tourism Council Chairman, outlined the challenges at the very start of the conference - 1.8 billion international and 5 billion domestic ones; new population segments crossing the border for the first time; a destruction of the Natural World that threatens humanity; islands of plastic that threaten the sea; global warming that could reach a 3 degrees catastrophe but on the other hand tourism can contribute to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that can change the world for the better. See full speech here. And the conference went on in that vein - helping businesses and destination managers to understand the challenges and opportunities that tourism presents and how the Global Sustainable Tourism Council - as an accreditation organisation - can help create a level playing field and foster responsible and sustainable tourism to benefit the world - visitors and host communities alike. For businesses, the GSTC is driving ideas about preferential procurement on a B2B level to create and manage verified sustainable supply chains to make sure that each supplier is using good practice to deliver consistent high quality experiences for visitors and benefits to suppliers. For destination management, GSTC is helping with effective planning and development to create sustainable experiences that rely less on massive push promotions and more on high quality visitor experience where word of mouth bring better, higher quality, more honest and more effective marketing where destinations spend more on product development and less on promotion with more beneficial effects! Botswana, an icon of sustainable tourism in Africa and one of the world's top 100 sustainable destinations was chosen for its remarkable vision in fostering and supporting the development of tourism-based nature and wildlife conservation over agriculture thereby stewarding its massive and remarkable natural assets. Topics included:
And opportunities were given to all delegates to experience at first hand the quality of Botswana's warm hospitality and the fabulous nature of its wildlife and extraordinary scenery. Further information here: https://www.gstcouncil.org/gstc2018/program/ And next year the conference is set for another amazing sustainable destination - another top100 Sustainable Destination - the Azores. Valere Tjolle READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN 2019: 80% off Special Vision offer: Sustainable Tourism Report 80% discount on review copies only 50 available. https://www.sustainabletourismreport.com/ SEE MORE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NEWS AT VISION ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM Share  OR THIS!  Happy New Year - here are the key challenges and our ten predictions for 2019
So, maybe it's not so happy but these are the issues that we all have to deal with in 2019. Tourism numbers v tourism benefits. Sustainable tourism envisions destinations that are good places to live in and good places to visit. In this scenario tourism benefits destinations by bringing economic, social, cultural and environmental support. Too many destinations calculate their success in terms of numbers and not benefits thus comprehensively missing the point and the opportunity! Hence overtourism. As politicians begin to understand this simple issue they will see their opportunity to act for their communities' benefits. They can't all be stupid can they? Climate Change and Tourism - latest figures show that we are not doing enough by far to avoid devastating global disaster plus populist governments led by Trump are refusing to do anything and airlines, the major tourism polluters, have kicked the problem into the long grass. On the other hand the EU, big cities and China are all leading the way. Unless the anti-polluters win the argument comprehensively we face a slowly-approaching catastrophe - this will affect tourism by culling destinations and increasing prices dramatically Silk Road/Belt and Road weaponizing tourism - in a major extension of the Silk Road, 65 countries are targets for Belt and Road initiative where China is seeking economic dominance. This dominance already includes tourism (China is global number1 source market and will shortly be number1 destination). Clearly China recognizes the soft power that tourism brings and is prepared to use it to its advantage. Look out for China-only destinations in 2019. Populism - may be a joke for many educated western folk but I've counted over 30 countries who are now perched on the brink of totalitarianism - including the Trump regime. The main fuel for this success is fear and xenophobia promulgated by a state-managed media (social or otherwise). Ultimately this fear enables the state to enact freedom-reducing legislation. Moreover paranoia is reducing commitment to climate change mitigation measures. How can tourism as a force for good prosper in this environment? Or maybe it can, ultimately as a force for communication and change? Refugees - The number of refugees in 2018 has increased to 68.5 million and now 31 people are displaced somewhere every single minute of the day Moreover By the middle of this century, experts estimate that climate change is likely to displace between 150 and 300 million people unless something is done, what hope for tourism except for the super-rich? HERE ARE OUR PREDICTIONS FOR 2019
READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN 2019: 80% off Special Vision offer: Sustainable Tourism Report 80% discount on review copies only 50 available. https://www.sustainabletourismreport.com/ SEE MORE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NEWS AT VISION ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM  Group morphs from tour operator to investor and developer and into big sustainable profits
So TUI has proved that it can do it sustainably. Nowadays as all the big movers and shakers are going the asset-light route to big short term bucks (think Airbnb, Priceline, Uber massive valuations) TUI is going in the other direction. Whereas the web gang are all flim-flam & algorithm, TUI’s assets are rock-solid. But why would a tour operator bother with assets? Because TUI has found another, more sustainable way. Whilst they actually own assets like hotels and cruise ships and combine them with their own professional experience-creators, they can guarantee a quality of experience to their clients that no-one else can. And they can move quickly as soon as they see an opportunity. It’s risky to own things and it’s tough to manage them, but I’ve known TUI since Captain Langton and Universal Sky Tours in 1953 – so they’ve got a bit of experience. And it’s experience and power you need to create great holiday experiences. So far, for TUI it’s paying off and if the industry is to be sustainable this needs to work. For anyone interested in the future of tourism, the group’s statement is worth a read: “Owing to the strategic transformation from a traditional tour operator and trader to a developer, investor and operator of hotel and cruise companies initiated in 2014, TUI’s business delivers considerably higher margins and is less seasonal, reducing its dependence on the summer months. Earnings are generated more evenly across the entire year. TUI’s Hotels & Resorts, Cruises and Destination Experiences segments now account for 70 per cent of the Group’s underlying EBITA. The transformation is continued, future growth will be created through further investments in hotels and cruise ships, but also through digitalisation. The expansion of the global One CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform and the use of state-of-the-art technologies enable TUI to provide better and more tailored offerings to its customers. In order to accelerate the transformation, TUI has also invested in the expansion of its TUI Destination Experiences segment, which provides services and activities in the destinations. TUI’s Spanish subsidiary has increased its footprint to 49 countries around the world. Moreover, due to the acquisition of the Italian technology company Musement, TUI Group now includes a highly attractive platform bringing activities, excursions and services in the destinations together with guests and their wishes. TUI has also started to use blockchain technology to manage its own hotel capacity so as to achieve optimum occupancy and improve profitability through its own yield management system. Modern IT, Artificial Intelligence and algorithms shall help to further increase the Group’s operating result in future. “The international strength of the TUI brand, modern IT and more than 20 million customers form a perfect basis for additional business and new growth. This knowledge enables us to bring customer wishes together with offerings and increase turnover and earnings in this segment without having to make any major investments,” said Joussen. This enables us to clearly differentiate ourselves from the competition. With more than 20 million customers, use of state-of-the-art IT and intelligent customer systems, we have considerable potential for new business, turnover and earnings. We will continue our successful transformation: The next step will transform TUI into a digital and platform organisation.” For financial year 2019, the TUI Executive Board expects to deliver growth in underlying earnings of at least 10 per cent1 in a challenging market environment. Global responsibility for sustainable economic, ecological and social activity is a key feature of our corporate culture. TUI Care Foundation was founded in 2015 and supports the positive impacts of tourism, learning and education and strengthening of environmental and social standards. It contributes to the development of holiday destinations. Today, the TUI Care Foundation is active in more than 20 countries worldwide and initiates projects creating opportunities for the next generation. Valere Tjolle READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN 2019: 80% off Special Vision offer: Sustainable Tourism Report 80% discount on review copies only 50 available. https://www.sustainabletourismreport.com/ SEE MORE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NEWS AT VISION ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM  Sustainable Destinations Top100 announced for fourth year plus entry call for Best of the Best at ITB For the fourth time the Sustainable Destinations Top 100 is unveiled. This list celebrates the efforts of tourism destinations for responsible and sustainable tourism. Nominators had to provide extensive information on their destination and its efforts to make itself and its stakeholders more sustainable for the benefit of visitors, local communities and the world. Candidate destinations had to clarify what they have been doing to comply with the 100 globally recognized criteria of the Green Destinations Standard. Nominations were evaluated by the Sustainable Top 100 Team and by members of the Top 100 International Committee and country experts. The Top 100 initiative aims to recognise tourism destinations that have worked hard to make a difference and take sustainability seriously. Nevertheless, no destination is fully sustainable. In all selected destinations important issues remain to be solved. The winners will be celebrated – and will receive their Certificate at the ITB Earth Award  Top 100 Awards ceremony, 6 March at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show.
The 2018 Top 100 selection will be available in: www.SustainableTop100.org. The deadline for submitting Top 100 destination Success Stories to the Best of Top 100 Awards at ITB 2019 has been extended till 7 January 2019. The Awards presentation, 6 March 2019 4pm, is hosted by ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel and trade show. 2018 and 2019 Top 100 destinations are eligible to submit their success story in the following categories:
Valere Tjolle READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN 2019: 80% off Special Vision offer: Sustainable Tourism Report 80% discount on review copies only 50 available. https://www.sustainabletourismreport.com/ SEE MORE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NEWS AT VISION ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM |
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