Report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, August 9, 2019. As millions of Muslims don robes and flock to Mecca for haj, a small counter movement to boycott the pilgrimage in protest at Saudi Arabia’s politics has won limited support online. Although the numbers are dwarfed by the 1.8 million who have arrived in Mecca for Friday’s […]
Read More Politics v pilgrimage: some Muslims call for Saudi haj boycott
Female nature-based tourism guides in India, such as at the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, are helping to upend sexist views, according to a report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Bobbing along a dirt track in a central Indian tiger reserve, Varsha Hinge surveyed the landscape for pawprints and listened out for deer calls […]
Read More On the tiger trail, India’s women unveil and roar ahead in tourism
New tours of Dublin, Ireland to be launched mid-March will be led by homeless people trained up as guides by a social enterprise. They will offer unique perspectives to some of the more than 6 million visitors expected in the Irish capital in 2019. Report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Dublin’s Phoenix Park boasts the […]
Read More Homeless Dubliners to give tours with a difference as tourism booms
About 30 of the estimated 12,000 FARC members demobilised under a peace accord with Colombia’s government have chosen ecotourism as a path to reintegration. The travel & tourism industry would do well to support them. Full story by Anastasia Moloney writing for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. As a former rebel fighter, Ximena Cruz used to […]
Read More Former FARC rebels turn ecotourism guides, but peace remains fragile
Spain’s Balearic Islands has approved a climate change law that commits the popular tourism destination to sourcing all its energy from renewables by 2050. Balearic Islands president Francina Armengol said the new law was “an opportunity to reinforce our brand as a sustainable destination”. Balearic Islands energy minister Marc Pons reckons the law is part of […]
Read More Balearic Islands’ new climate change law to reduce reliance on tourism
At home in the United States, Kerrie Springer takes pride in being environmentally conscious. So when she booked a week’s getaway at the Bucuti and Tara Beach Resort in Aruba, she choose the “green stay” option, agreeing to reuse her sheets and towels rather than have them changed each day. “You don’t do that at home, […]
Read More From smarter energy to less plastic, Caribbean resorts go green