Good news in travel & tourism April 2022

“Good news in travel & tour­ism” wraps up a month of “Good Tour­ism” & “GT” Travel news, insights, and experiences.

Share it as you would a bar of chocol­ate.

It’s “GT”. And go! (Click/touch a menu item to go straight to it.)

• “Good Tour­ism” Insights
• “GT” Travel Experiences
• Good news from friends, includ­ing a gor­illa-sized oppor­tun­ity in Rwanda
• Friends indeed

“GT” Insights: Informed perspectives on the industry

The “Good Tour­ism” Blog pub­lishes informed opin­ions on the issues facing the travel & tour­ism industry, everyone’s busi­ness. “GT” Insights are diverse per­spect­ives writ­ten by, for, and about our sec­tor. Here is the latest:

Balancing tourism development with care for cultural heritage in Ras Al Khaimah

What are tour­ism offi­cials in the United Arab Emir­ates’ north­ern-most mem­ber doing to lever­age and pro­tect the cul­tur­al her­it­age of 7,000 years of his­tory? Raki Phil­lips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tour­ism Devel­op­ment Author­ity, lets us know in “Bal­an­cing tour­ism devel­op­ment with care for cul­tur­al her­it­age in Ras Al Khaimah”.  

[Thanks to “GT” Insight Part­ner the World Tour­ism Asso­ci­ation for Cul­ture and Her­it­age (WTACH) for invit­ing Raki to write this, his second, “GT” Insight. You too can write a “GT” Insight.]

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“Good Tourism” is where free thought travels

Did you ever want to write a thought­ful piece about the state of the tour­ism industry; how we got here; how we can make it bet­ter (or avoid the worst)?

Has a lack of con­fid­ence in your writ­ing held you back? Well, please don’t let it. 

Your cor­res­pond­ent is here to help you pub­lish your “GT” Insight, just as I’ve helped tour­ism aca­dem­ics trans­late their Aca­damese into plain Eng­lish, as well as those for whom Eng­lish is their second (or more) language. 

If you sub­mit a draft that com­plies with the simple “GT” Insight guidelines, I will per­son­ally copy edit your work and ensure you are happy with it before I click “Pub­lish”.

It’s part of “GT’s” mis­sion to offer a plat­form for truly diverse per­spect­ives on sus­tain­able tour­ism & respons­ible travel … because travel & tour­ism is every­one’s business.

“GT” Travel Experiences: Informed inspiration for travellers

The “Good Tour­ism” Blog’s young sib­ling The “GT” Travel Blog pub­lishes informed inspir­a­tion and top tips for trav­el­lers from tour­ism insiders. (Your login details for “GT” Travel are the same as for “GT”.) Here is the latest:

Reflections on the ‘best small city in the world’: San Miguel de Allende

“[A recent “Good Tour­ism” Insight] triggered memor­ies of San Miguel de Allende, a magic­al UNESCO World Her­it­age-lis­ted colo­ni­al town in cent­ral Mex­ico […] At the root of a San Miguel exper­i­ence lies a pur­ity of expres­sion, the vibra­tions of a phe­nomen­on, a quiet excite­ment that gath­ers sen­su­al responses into a web of con­nec­ted mean­ing and express­ive ima­gin­a­tions …” _ K Michael Hay­wood in “Reflec­tions on the ‘best small city in the world’: San Miguel de Allende”.

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Good news from friends

Good news in travel & tour­ism from the won­der­ful organ­isa­tions that make “GT” pos­sible. Here is some of what happened this month in the “Good Tour­ism” network:

A gorilla-sized opportunity to join Rwanda’s Red Rocks Cultural Festival

Cul­min­at­ing in Kwita Izina — the Gor­illa Nam­ing Cere­mony — and a night of music and dan­cing, the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al is an annu­al event in Rwanda. 

In 2022 the 10th instal­ment of the vibrant Fest­iv­al will take place August 26 to Septem­ber 2 at Nyak­i­n­ama vil­lage in Rwanda’s Musan­ze district.

“I invite you to join and/or spon­sor the events of the Fest­iv­al, which aims to engage com­munity mem­bers and vis­it­ors in recre­ation­al, cul­tur­al, and con­ser­va­tion­al activ­it­ies,” writes Greg Bak­un­zi in “A gor­illa-sized oppor­tun­ity to join Rwanda’s Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al”.

Youth co-oper­at­ive sees oppor­tun­ity in Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al 
As pre­par­a­tions for the 10th Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al con­tin­ue, the Red Rocks Ini­ti­at­ive’s youth co-oper­at­ive looks upon the event as an oppor­tun­ity to “deep­en social aware­ness and under­stand­ing by cel­eb­rat­ing the cul­tur­al rich­ness of Rwanda”. The co-op makes shoes, bam­boo cups, and oth­er products.

Ele­phants and honey in Mozam­bi­que
After eight years of offer­ing accom­mod­a­tion, ele­phant track­ing, forest walks, and vis­its to loc­al com­munit­ies and sac­red places, Ndzou Camp oper­ated “at the fringes of com­mer­cial viab­il­ity”. Des­pite (or because of) this, the joint ven­ture has diver­sifed into honey, sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture, and com­munity-led con­ser­va­tion. It’s a new CABI Tour­ism case study.

Cli­mate Friendly Travel Register attracts Afric­an SMEs 
SUNx’ Cli­mate Friendly Travel (CFT) Register has attrac­ted lots of interest from Africa, accord­ing to regis­trar Hans Friederich. “[O]ur over­all sys­tem of Cli­mate Friendly Travel is par­tic­u­larly use­ful for the myri­ad [SMEs inter­ested in link­ing] to the glob­al frame­work of SDGs [and look­ing for] sup­port on their jour­ney,” he writes in the latest eXist news­let­ter. 

Kudos for Car­damom Ten­ted Camp from Lonely Plan­et
Car­damom Ten­ted Camp received a com­mend­a­tion from Lonely Plan­et author Nick Ray in his latest piece entitled “Cambodia’s Best Nation­al Parks Offer Wild Adven­tures”: “The camp is a fine mod­el of how to do eco­tour­ism suc­cess­fully and one of the most charm­ing and beguil­ing overnight stays you’ll find any­where in the region.” 

WTA adds Korean mar­ket and digit­al expert­ise
The World­wide Travel Alli­ance has added two new part­ners to strengthen its sales, mar­ket­ing, and PR ser­vices. Thai­l­and-based Zest Cre­at­ive spe­cial­ises in cre­at­ive, brand­ing, digit­al design, SEO, and web and app devel­op­ment. S Mar­ket­ing and Com­mu­nic­a­tions provides sales, mar­ket­ing, and PR ser­vices in the Korean mar­ket. WTA is now look­ing for travel industry reps in Aus­tralia, India, and the Middle East.

Track of the Tiger extends edu­ca­tion exper­i­ences to the coast
In “a post-COV­ID expan­sion” of the edu­ca­tion pro­grams offered from its bases in north­ern Thai­l­and, Track of the Tiger TRD and its part­ners now offer them south of Bangkok in Sam Roi Yot, Prac­huap Khiri Khan province. The new loc­a­tion intro­duces “a range of inter­est­ing coastal envir­on­ment res­tor­a­tion projects”. 

Do roads make Nepalese hap­pi­er? 
“Road build­ing in trekking areas is a con­tro­ver­sial issue and is cer­tainly bring­ing change to the Solo-Khumbu,” writes Plan­et Hap­pi­ness’ Paul Rogers from Nepal. There are pros and cons, but most people he has talked to are in favour of roads, he reports. Dr Rogers is in Nepal catch­ing up with the people and places that were the sub­jects of his PhD nearly 30 years ago.

ASSET‑H&C spon­sors com­munity-based eco­tour­ism train­ing
ASSET‑H&C sponsored a com­munity-based eco­tour­ism train­ing series hos­ted by its mem­bers Spoons Cam­bod­ia and École d’Hô­teller­ie et de Tour­isme Paul Dubrule in Siem Reap, Cam­bod­ia. The activ­ity is one of 10 #REGENERATE pro­jects that ASSET‑H&C sup­ports to help its mem­bers from across South­east Asia pre­pare stu­dents for a career in a more sus­tain­able tour­ism & hos­pit­al­ity sector.

SUNx Malta’s 2nd Strong Earth Youth Sum­mit remem­bers Maurice Strong
The Strong Earth Youth Sum­mit (SEYS) tak­ing place today (April 29), is focussed on the latest IPCC report, cli­mate-friendly travel, and how youth can build a cli­mate-resi­li­ent future for tour­ism. Attendees will receive the Earth Charter and a copy of the book Remem­ber­ing Maurice F Strong — after whom SUNx and SEYS are named — 50 years since the Stock­holm Earth Sum­mit that he organ­ised.

Track of the TIger com­bines team-build­ing with CSR for ‘great­er bene­fit’
From its Chi­ang Mai base, Track of the Tiger TRD’s cor­por­ate team-build­ing pro­grams con­trib­ute to com­munity-based sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture, agro­forestry, and refor­est­a­tion pro­jects. From its new Prac­huap Khiri Khan base, Tot­T’s pro­grams con­struct arti­fi­cial reefs, install fish aggreg­a­tion devices, and restore man­grove forests. 

Red Rocks plants green trees 
Red Rocks Ini­ti­at­ive for Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment has under­taken a pro­ject to off­set car­bon and con­serve biod­iversity, plant­ing some 10,000 appro­pri­ate trees adja­cent to Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park in Rwanda. Vol­ca­noes NP is fam­ous for its moun­tain gor­il­las. The pro­ject is remin­is­cent of Anurak Com­munity Lodge’s refor­est­a­tion pro­ject in south­ern Thailand.

… rep­res­ents UNWTO at award han­dover
A Red Rocks rep­res­ent­at­ive passed the UNW­TO’s “best tour­ism vil­lage” award to the loc­al lead­ers of Nkot­si vil­lage, March 15, at Red Rocks Campsite.

Plan­et Hap­pi­ness seeks youth input in Khumbu, Nepal
Plan­et Hap­pi­ness’ Paul Rogers says he is work­ing with youth and com­munity rep­res­ent­at­ives and loc­al part­ner Roy­al Moun­tain Travel to deploy the Hap­pi­ness Index in the Khumbu region of Nepal. “[It] will fur­ther strengthen this remark­able tour­ism sys­tem and provide les­sons and examples for oth­er tour­ism des­tin­a­tions around the world to learn from,” he writes.

Red Rocks youth raise cul­tur­al aware­ness through music, dance, etc 
A loc­al youth asso­ci­ation linked with the Red Rocks Ini­ti­at­ive for Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment “raises cul­tur­al aware­ness, uncov­ers hid­den tal­ent, and enhances dia­logue”. Through music, dance, drama, and poetry, the youth give vis­it­ing audi­ences “an insight into the tra­di­tions of Rwanda”. 

Healthy bod­ies, healthy minds, happy stu­dents
Anoth­er ‘REGENERATE’ pro­ject sup­por­ted by ASSET‑H&C: In Siem Reap, Cam­bod­ia, stu­dents of ASSET‑H&C mem­ber Sala Baï Hotel & Res­taur­ant School can join extra­cur­ricular sports activ­it­ies. The options include yoga, aikido, bokat­or, box­ing, zumba, touch rugby, and soccer.

Aus­trali­an Museum takes out SUNx’ Cli­mate SmART Award
The win­ner of the 2022 Cli­mate smART Award is the Aus­trali­an Museum. SUNx Malta’s ‘Cli­mate smART Award’ recog­nises a museum or large-scale pub­lic art pro­ject that has made a “sig­ni­fic­ant edu­ca­tion­al con­tri­bu­tion to the fight against cli­mate change”. 

The train­ing must go on 
Part­ner­ing with the private sec­tor is #11 in a series of resi­li­ence prac­tices iden­ti­fied by “GT” Part­ner ASSET‑H&C. ASSET‑H&C mem­ber the Pour un Souri­re d’En­fant Insti­tute School of Hos­pit­al­ity & Tour­ism in Cam­bod­ia ensured that stu­dents received prac­tic­al train­ing dur­ing COVID-19 clos­ures.

… includ­ing ‘DNA train­ing’
More recently, train­ers of ASSET‑H&C mem­bers have act­ively par­ti­cip­ated in DNA Train­ing to improve their ped­ago­gic­al skills. Like the genet­ic mater­i­al, “DNA” train­ing is con­sidered essential.

The importance of good partnerships

To help you nav­ig­ate dire straits, take the tem­per­at­ure in an uncer­tain cli­mate, and keep your head when all about you are los­ing theirs, it’s wise to seek out part­ners who make you their pri­or­ity.

“GT” is a good part­ner. Veri­fy that with a “GT” Part­ner and then look at part­ner­ship oppor­tun­it­ies. There’s a pack­age for every­one — big or small; pub­lic or private; com­mer­cial or not-for-profit — because travel & tour­ism is everyone’s business. 

All “GT” Part­ners enjoy out­stand­ing value, includ­ing the oppor­tun­ity every week to con­trib­ute news to the “GT” news­let­ter and these monthly wraps.

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Friends indeed

“Friends indeed” are worthy travel & tour­ism industry fun­draisers and char­it­able causes that are asso­ci­ated with or sug­ges­ted by “GT” Part­ners and friends. Please help them if you can. Share the page with your net­works. And link to it from your website.

Stay healthy, smile, have a good week … And when you travel, remember:

It’s not ‘no’. It’s ‘know’.

Gotta go? Then go!
If you’ve time, go slow
If you don’t, try low
Do what you know is good
And know there is more to know

Fea­tured image (top of post): Share “Good news in travel & tour­ism April 2022” as you would a bar of chocol­ate. Image by Alex­an­der­Stein (CC0) via Pixabay.

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Donations, diversity, disclosure

To help your cor­res­pond­ent keep his energy-effi­cient lights on, please con­sider a private one-off gift or ongo­ing dona­tion. THANK YOU to those who have! 

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