Good news in travel & tourism July-September 2024
This ‘Good news in travel & tourism’ wraps up three months of “Good Tourism” & “GT” Travel news, insights, and experiences: July, August, and September 2024.
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“Good Tourism” doesn’t judge. “GT” publishes.
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.
If you submit a draft that complies with the simple “GT” Insight guidelines, I will personally copy edit your work and ensure that you are happy with it before I click ‘Publish’.
The freedom to share
Just as “Good Tourism” never defines ‘good tourism’, “GT” will never judge anyone who would, in good faith, share their insights, ideas, expertise, experience, and wisdom. It’s part of “GT’s” mission to offer a platform for truly diverse perspectives and opinions:
- From established leaders in academia and industry to young people with the gumption to express themselves;
- From elite global organisations to the most modest micro businesses (like “GT”);
- From the world’s ‘WEIRD’ (western, educated, industrialised, rich, and democratic) places to the ‘LDCs’ (least developed countries) in the ‘Global South’;
- (From those who adore acronyms and categories to those who despise them ;-))
- From the centre and from the margins.
No, “GT” doesn’t judge. “GT” publishes.
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“GT” Insights: Informed perspectives on tourism
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 are the most recent:
Domestic disasters & destination ‘dupes’: Climate change impels travel closer to home
Worried about climate change and associated risks to property, American vacationers are growing reluctant to travel far from home.
It’s the third “GT” Insight by Herb Hiller.
[You too can write a “Good Tourism” Insight.]
- Climate change at home and away
- Climate change top of mind
- Destination ‘dupes’: Travel to the deep nearby
- Americans are worried about climate change …
- … including Floridians
- Global warnings, local actions
- What do you think?
- About the author
Can we manage mass tourism for sustainable, equitable, and progressive outcomes?
If one assumes that mass tourism is unavoidable without an authoritarian crackdown on mobility, what should be done about it?
Kevin Phun suggests that in every challenge lies an opportunity, and proposes how we might manage mass tourism for sustainable, equitable, and progressive outcomes.
It’s a “Good Tourism” Insight. (You too can write a “GT” Insight.)
- Mass tourism: The phenomenon, the issue, and the challenge
- Inevitable mass tourism: Time for a rethink?
- Sustainable mass tourism: A contradiction in terms?
- Manage mass tourism
- What do you think?
- About the author
The happiness factor: Social tourism is sustainable tourism
Can ‘social tourism’ — charity- and/or taxpayer-supported holidays — help alleviate stress in society and turn the travel & tourism industry’s off-season frowns upside down?
Scott McCabe thinks so.
Professor McCabe penned this “Good Tourism” Insight at the invitation of Tourism’s Horizon: Travel for the Millions, a “GT” Insight Partner.
[You too can write a “GT” Insight.]
- Family holidays: A fine time …
- What is ‘social tourism’?
- Social tourism: Sustainable tourism for the off season
- Social tourism’s ‘happiness factor’
- What do you think?
- About the author
“GT” Insight Bites
A “GT” Insight Bites post is a compilation of short responses to an identical set of propositions and/or questions, and/or a collection of short opinion pieces that travel & tourism stakeholders are welcome to submit at any time (BiteX). Here are the most recent Bites:
How are emerging technologies transforming the travel & tourism industry?
How are emerging technologies transforming the travel & tourism industry?
It’s a “Good Tourism” Insight Bites question.
Your correspondent put the question to the travel & tourism stakeholders in the “GT” network, inviting responses of no more than 300 words. (You too can join the “GT” network. Register.)
Thanks to the four respondents — professors, professionals, practitioners — who took the time to share their thoughts on the question. Their answers appear in the order received.
And thanks to Frédéric Dimanche and Kelley McClinchey for their “GT” Insight BiteX.
- Social media influencers are replacing travel agents
- The optimal balance between tech and the human touch
- Bhutan’s digital identity technology to transform tourism
- For sustainability’s sake, tech must come with a change of mindset
- “GT” Insight BiteX (‘X’ is up to you)
- As cruising booms environmental concerns intensify
- What do you think?
Three critics walk into a bar …
Three critics — a settler colonialism critic, an illegal immigration critic, and a mass tourism critic — walk into a bar …
Is this the set-up for a joke or a real possibility? What shared concerns might they discuss, and where might their perspectives diverge?
It’s a “Good Tourism” Insight Bites question.
Your correspondent put the question to the travel & tourism stakeholders in the “GT” network, inviting responses of no more than 300 words. (You too can join the “GT” network. Register.)
Thanks to the three respondents — an academic, a writer, and a publisher — who took the time to share their thoughts on the question. Their answers appear in the order received.
And thanks to the student and tourism official, coincidentally both from Kenya, for their “GT” Insight BiteX contributions.
- ‘If only these blowhards would …’
- ‘Tourists go home, immigrants welcome’
- ‘Water on a grease fire’
- “GT” Insight BiteX (‘X’ is up to you)
- Eight ways technology is transforming tourism
- Is tourism ready for another pandemic?
- What do you think?
Share a “GT” Travel Experience or “GT” Travel Postcard
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Have you ever wanted to write a travel blog about an inspiring travel experience … and have it published?
You are invited to share your travel passion with discerning travellers, and join a list of other distinguished “GT” Friends who have done just that.
It could be a “GT” Travel Experience (500 – 1,000 words) or a “GT” Travel Postcard (your favourite photo from a trip accompanied by an extended caption of up to 300 words).
It doesn’t matter if you think you can’t write. I will personally copy-edit your draft and ensure that you are happy with it before I hit the ‘publish’ button.
It’s all part of the “GT” Travel Experience.
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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 recently in the “Good Tourism” network:
Five key challenges for the travel & tourism industry: PATA Chair
Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Chair Peter Semone identified five key challenges for the travel & tourism industry during a media briefing on the eve of PATA Travel Mart 2024:
- Crises of all sorts
- Tourism’s invisible burdens
- Digitalisation
- Regional conflicts
- Human capital
Thailand serves up journeys of ‘local co-creation’
Cheffy takes on local delicacies were the focus of a community-based tourism product launch in Thailand: ‘The Journey of Local Co-Creation’, September 19, 2024, Sivatel Bangkok.
- What is local co-creation?
- Sharing food, sharing stories
- Thai hospitality
- Sustainable value
- … continue reading
Beer o’clock ‘keeps the forest standing’ at Cardamom Tented Camp, Cambodia
Cardamom Tented Camp in Cambodia has launched its own conservation beer with the tagline, “Your Beer Keeps the Forest Standing”.
Profits from the Cardamom Mountains Steam Beer, now available at the ecolodge, help fund the conservation work of 16 forest rangers who protect 18,000 hectares (180 km²) of surrounding lowland evergreen forest in the Botum Sakor national park, Cambodia’s largest.
Since opening in 2017, the nine-unit award-winning camp has operated with the slogan “Your Stay Keeps the Forest Standing”.
- Cheers to conservation
- Keeping it local
- New rangers on patrol
- About Cardamom Tented Camp
- About Cardamom Tented Camp operator YAANA Ventures
Khiri Travel Philippines to offer ‘authentic’, ‘immersive’, ‘responsible’ experiences
Khiri Travel has added the Philippines to its destinations with the acquisition of Travel Authentic Philippines (TAP). The Philippines becomes Khiri Travel’s ninth Asian destination, joining Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Sri Lanka, The Maldives, and Myanmar.
TAP Country Manager, Paulette Viacrucis, will retain her role with Khiri Travel Philippines. She will be supported by Stuart Tayler, who will lead the development and updating of product offerings from Khiri Travel’s office in Cebu City.
Khiri Travel’s priority is to ensure that its Philippine products satisfy the broad range of tour operator clients that it currently serves. These include specialist operators in sectors such as educational travel, adventure, luxury, as well as individual travellers … continue reading
The trials, successes, and best practices of work integrated learning in tourism
A special issue of CABI Tourism Cases explores the trials, successes, and best practice examples of work integrated learning in tourism, hospitality, events, and recreation degree programs. The six case studies are free to access until September 30, 2024.
- Work integrated learning in tourism: The context
- The cases
- Write for CABI Tourism Cases
- About CABI Tourism Cases
SUNx expands climate-friendly ‘Education 4 Action’ with ‘Dodo 4 Kids’
On World Tourism Day, September 27, SUNx Malta announced the expansion of its Education 4 Action program, placing a special focus on the future leaders of tomorrow: our children, the ones who will have to deal with an inevitably worsening existential climate crisis.
Central to this expansion is ‘Dodo 4 Kids’, which is designed to inspire and educate young minds about the importance of Climate Friendly Travel.
To be available to tourism companies and schools, Dodo 4 Kids is a series of initiatives to extend the whole Climate Friendly Travel mindset to school-age kids:
- Sixty made-for-TV cartoons, featuring Dodo and environmental challenges.
- Travel e‑books for schools and hotels featuring Dodo and local kids; supported by colouring and music.
- Signature Dodo study tours to bring solar power and better connectivity to local schools through our partner Global Himalayan Expeditions and local sponsors.
- … continue reading
EXO’s 2024 Sustainability Awards to ‘showcase impact’
Great prizes are up for grabs in EXO Foundation’s 2024 Sustainability Awards. Deadline to nominate was September 15, 2024.
- Identify, support, promote
- Planet and people
- Why participate?
- How to participate?
- About EXO Foundation
50 diploma scholarships open to students from SIDS, LDCs
Fifty scholarships were made available to students from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and a few other developing countries, for the online Diploma in Climate Friendly Travel offered by the Institute of Tourism Studies and SUNx Malta.
The 2024 CFT Diploma starts on September 30. Scholarship applications closed August 15.
PATA Travel Mart 2024 underway with Asia Pacific arrivals forecasts positive
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart 2024 got underway in September, with some 266 sellers representing 168 organisations from 24 destinations hoping to establish and strengthen relationships with 191 buyers from 173 organisations from 21 source markets.
Should I buy a DSLR camera? Key factors to consider
Should I buy a DSLR camera? Or are there better ways to fulfill my photographic needs?
Faced with a confusing array of camera sizes, formats, and technologies, travellers, social media influencers, and the in-house content creators of travel & tourism organisations might well ask those questions.
London Camera Exchange breaks it down for us.
Recently, the question “should I buy a DSLR camera?” has become increasingly pertinent for both photography enthusiasts and professionals alike.
The decision to invest in a DSLR camera involves not only a financial commitment but also a consideration of how it aligns with individual photographic needs and aspirations.
The significance of this decision is amplified by … continue reading
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 good partners.
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All “GT” Partners enjoy outstanding value, including the opportunity to contribute news to the “GT” newsletter and to these ‘good news’ wraps of a month or two of “GT” content.
Your comments
Pointers to recent comments on “GT” content:
- On ‘Regenerative tourism’s myths and realities’, Dominic Standish agreed with Jim Butcher that regenerative tourism can neither replace nor counter mass tourism. Richard Shepard also agreed: “Those of us in the sector dealing with sustainable approaches to economic development have had to deal with one new buzzword after another and it is tiresome.”
- In a lengthy reply to Richard, David@PlayaViva wrote: “I appreciate Jim trying to stimulate discussion about terminology, but I hope the real goal is to stimulate discussions about how to achieve a common set of goals.”
- Esther van Ruth offered her thoughts, including: “[T]he masses can lend a literal hand [b]y actively choosing to engage in activities that contribute to the broader SDGs” while travelling. She also commented on ‘Five key challenges for the travel & tourism industry: PATA Chair’
- Chou reckoned Kevin Phun offers “an overly optimistic view” of mass tourism that fails to adequately address its “serious negative impacts” in ‘Can we manage mass tourism for sustainable, equitable, and progressive outcomes?’
- “Mass tourism and niche tourism are opposites,” Herb Hiller asserted before proceeding to question a few of Kevin’s assumptions. Mr Hiller also lamented the lack of any mention of “global warming”.
- Your correspondent would argue that Mr Phun did indeed acknowledge mass tourism’s many much-discussed negatives, including environmental ones, but chose to focus his (short) article on the opportunities mass tourism nevertheless presents.
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Stay healthy, smile, have a good time … And when you travel, remember:
#KnowNotNo … 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 July-September 2024’ as you would an afternoon tea in Bangkok … ‘Thailand serves up journeys of ‘local co-creation’
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