Was this the European summer of terrible tourists? Give us a break, media!

September 26, 2023
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Was this the European summer of terrible tourists? Give us a break! Surrealist representation of a terrible tourist by DALL-E.

“Hordes” and “swarms” of tour­ists “forced through a well-oiled fun­nel” to “crawl” through our cher­ished spaces, releg­at­ing them to “back­drops” for selfies. Per­haps we should tell them to “go home” and “stay away” from our “per­fect places”. Is this the scape­goat­ing pro­pa­ganda of a para­noid author­it­ari­an state? No, it’s just media por­tray­als of ter­rible tourists. […]

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Is gorilla-friendly conservation compatible with local communities and tourism?

September 21, 2023

Gorilla-friendly policy and practice played a part in the arrival of 'Jijuka' ('enlightenment'), who was named during Rwanda's 19th Kwita Izina in 2023 by Sol Campbell.

It can be dif­fi­cult to find a bal­ance between spe­cies con­ser­va­tion and the needs and aspir­a­tions of our own spe­cies.  In this “Good Tour­ism” Insight, Sheil­lah Mun­sabe of the Wild­life Friendly Enter­prise Net­work describes a gor­illa-friendly mod­el for con­ser­va­tion, respons­ible tour­ism, and improved com­munity live­li­hoods. As we become more glob­al­ised, the respons­ib­il­ity for pro­tect­ing Earth’s […]

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Can tackling tourism income leakage unlock a more sustainable future for tourism?

September 19, 2023

Can tackling tourism income leakage unlock a more sustainable future for tourism? Image by Steve Buissinne (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/plumbing-pipe-wrenches-plumber-840835/

‘Profit’, the much-maligned ‘P’ of sus­tain­ab­il­ity, is a strong incent­ive for people to save and invest for the future; seek out and con­serve what is of value; and rein­vest. Hoteli­er and entre­pren­eur Thomas Müller argues that tak­ing a close look at tour­ism income leak­age may prove … well, prof­it­able … wherever our industry is most problematic. 

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Heart, energy, force for good: Tourism and sustainable development in Rwanda

September 13, 2023

Heart, energy, force for good: Tourism and sustainable development in Rwanda. Pic by David Gillbanks

Emma Raissa Isheja is not only pas­sion­ate about her Nyak­i­n­ama vil­lage com­munity but is also keen to har­ness the heart and energy of its women and young people to advance sus­tain­able devel­op­ment in Rwanda. The volun­teer, tour guide, and elec­tric­al engin­eer­ing gradu­ate is a believ­er in tour­is­m’s poten­tial to be a force for good. In the […]

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Rwanda names baby mountain gorillas, celebrates conservation & ecotourism


19th Kwita Izina gorilla naming ceremony in Rwanda - Meet Mukundwa, Teta's son

The world has met in Kinigi, Musan­ze at the foot­hills of Rwanda’s Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park to name 23 baby moun­tain gor­il­las in a glob­al cel­eb­ra­tion of con­ser­va­tion and com­munity-led efforts to pro­tect their hab­it­at.  Graced by HE the First Lady of Rwanda, Jean­nette Kagame, the 19th Kwita Izina Gor­illa Nam­ing Cere­mony, Septem­ber 1, brought together […]

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Purposeful travel by design: Can tourism lead the way to a sustainable future?

August 30, 2023

Promoting travel with purpose: How the tourism industry can shape a sustainable future. A welcome at Barauli Community Homestay.

Aay­usha Pra­sain lays out her vis­ion for pur­pose­ful travel and why the tour­ism industry should lead by example. It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. (You too can write a “GT” Insight.) Pur­pose­ful travel involves more than just the joy of explor­a­tion.  It encom­passes a mind­ful approach that pre­serves the envir­on­ment, empowers loc­al com­munit­ies, pro­motes eth­ic­al practices, […]

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