As a human system that is so embedded in and dependent upon human society and economies, tourism will be profoundly impacted by the scope and depth of the re-think for three reasons:

1. the key human actors in the system are shifting their values due their own personal development and in response to an even deeper shift in our understanding of how the world works . We live at a time in history when an entire worldview is being replaced.
2. The industrial operating model that has enabled the growth and diffusion of tourism is now producing diminishing net returns to most participants. The way business is conducted is being re-shaped.
3. External pressures including global population increase, climate change, resource scarcity, and geo-political and economic shifts in power between regions and countries, will require the tourism economy to pay for services that hitherto have been free or relatively cheap. Increased costs combined with demand volatility will further undermine the resilience of enterprises whose customers have become accustomed to demand more for less and who have not been required to pay the true cost of travel.

I believe that the mass global tourism industry, which is based on a worldview best described as rational, scientific materialism, is in radical decline (despite appearances to the contrary) and needs to be replaced by an alternative.

The industrial model on which tourism is based is collapsing. As it matures, it produces diminishing net, unit returns to all participants, and relies on volume growth to compensate for yield declines.  As visitor volume increases, so do the costs associated with resource depletion, pollution and wealth concentration.

Survival and prosperity depend not just on becoming green but waking up to a whole new way of doing business that can, in part, be summarized as follows:

It’s premature to specify what the emerging model will look like and how it will work but we can speculate.  In my paper titled, Can Tourism Change Its Operating Model: The Necessity and Inevitability, obtainable on request from theconscioushost@gmail.com . I explore its features in more detail. All we can do here is outline some key characteristics:

1. In the old model, the starting point is the Product, an object that is assembled, packaged, produced and priced according to the rules of manufacturing. In the new model, the starting point is a Place that is recognized as qualitatively unique and therefore scarce. While products become commodities and lose value as they become more alike, “Places” that are celebrated for their unique geography, history and culture, gain value and are acknowledged as the primary motivator of travel.
2. In the old model, guest and hosts act in an adversarial role, playing an “I win-you lose” game in which each party tries to win at the cost of the other. In the new model, that puts relationship building ahead of transactions, guest and host co-create experiences of meaning, benefit and value to both parties.
3. In the old model, Hosts are producers who focus on the attributes of their product in order to persuade a target market to purchase. In the new model, hosts orchestrate unique experiences of places that are perceived of value and as transformative by guests.  Guest are attracted to a host for his or her personal, subjective qualities  – what they value; their sense of purpose; contribution to community; their integrity and authenticity over and above the physical artefacts and amenities
4. In the old model, Producers PUSHED their products in front of potential buyers through various promotional techniques and, when that failed, they dropped their prices. The cost cutting methods deployed to maintain profit margins (standardisation, homogenisation and automation) further devalued the experience and guest satisfaction while suggesting that cheap travel was a right. In the new model, producers focus on protecting, rejuvenating and expressing the elements of a place that make it unique, attractive and worth paying for. Hosts who can communicate a strong signal about their values and their appreciation of the uniqueness of their place and corporate culture, PULL towards them customers whose values are aligned with theirs.
5. In the old model, producers assumed that their first priority was to maximise profit for their shareholders. In the new model, producers understand that profit is an outcome that occurs when the enterprise has a higher purpose and when it works to generate net benefit for all its stakeholders (guests, employees, suppliers, and the host community). In the old model, tourism entrepreneurs were followers – applying models and values developed in manufacturing. In the new model. They will be active change agents in their communities and on the forefront of innovation.

This post is s summary of the content presented on the Conscious Travel web site and, more specifically of a discussion paper titled Can Tourism Change Its Operating Model: The Necessity and Inevitability obtainable upon request from theconscioushost@gmail.com. Further relevant references includes:

Rocky Year Ahead for Tourism – by Owen Hembry, NZ Herald 23Jan, 2012

UK Travel Firms must Radically Change Business Models to Survive 2012 – ETN Global Travel Industry News, 28 Dec 2011

The author welcomes all comments and contributions to the concept!

Business gurus are climbing over each other to be the first or the loudest to refute Milton Friedman’s assertion that the purpose of business is exclusively to make a profit.

So let me add my prediction to the thousands that will litter the digitized airwaves over the next few months:

2012 will be the year the profit cart will be moved back behind the purpose horse and capitalism, as we knew it, will experience a profound makeover. 

The current prophets of this emerging vision vary from seasoned corporate veterans such as Bill Gates, Tex Gunning of Unilever, John Mackey of Whole Foods (founder of the Conscious Capital Institute) and Joe Stengel (former CEO of  Proctor & Gamble & author of Grow) to perennial entrepreneurs like Richard Branson (author of Screw Business as Usual); upstart academics like Umair Haque (author of Betterness and the New Capitalist Manifesto)  and consultants/thinkers such as Fred Kofman, (Conscious Capitalism); Richard Barrett (The New Leadership Paradigm) and Steve Denning (Radical Management)

The names they have independently applied to describe this emergent form of capitalism also vary from Capitalism 2.0; Conscious Capitalism; Good Capitalism; Creative Capitalism, New Capitalism, Caring Capitalism and, thanks to Sir Richard, Capitalism 24092.

Despite the diversity of the pundits’ pedigree and their use of nomenclature, the message is the same and has three elements:

• doing good is good for business and business is the only global institution whose people can make things better for all of us; and

• conducting business as usual will only produce more of the same problems that challenge humanity today.

• The enterprises that differentiate themselves by “making a difference” will enjoy higher brand equity and profitability than those focused primarily on profit.

Like many good yet revolutionary concepts, those underpinning Conscious Capitalism are not as young as the current spate of authors might have you believe. It’s important to recognize that these authors stand on the shoulders of giants whose names are not as familiar to contemporary audiences but whose thinking created the compost for the current flowering. My source of inspiration in the 1980s were Willis Harman, founder of the World Business Academy and John Renesch who first coined the phrase “conscious capitalism” in 1990 as Editor-in-Chief of New Leaders Press.  Sadly Willis passed away in 1997 unable to witness the revolution taking place now but one of his last interviews shows the clarity and prescience of this thinking. John Renesh is fortunately still very creative and his latest book, The Great Growing Up,  should be included in this anthology.

This is the reason why we’ve brought this debate to tourism through an initiative called Conscious Travel. We’re inviting members of one of the world’s most pervasive industries to stop, re-think and re-make how and why they do tourism. We’re asking them to “wake up” to the unexamined assumptions that have guided their behaviour;  to “grow up” and take more responsibility for all the stakeholders affected by their activities and to “step up” and join the pioneers listed above listed above.

Conscious Travel is a movement, a community and an e-learning platform designed to stimulate and nourish the capacity of tourism entrepreneurs to flourish in new market circumstances. For more information, review www.conscioustourism.wordpress.com or contact founder, Anna Pollock at theconscioushost@gmail.com

2012 is the fourth year for Responsible Tourism Week and we expect the conversations to take a great leap forward thanks to inspired participation and Planeta.com’s 12th year of online conferencing.

Join us! Responsible tourism is free and with Responsible Tourism Week, there’s no jet lag! It’s a great opportunity to learn about new initiatives and it’s an even better venue for networking — collaborating with old friends and colleagues and making new contacts.

Simply put, this online unconference is an excellent way to broaden and deepen our dialogue about sustainable practice and tourism. Responsible Tourism Week encourages participants to articulate their core values and the way they put noble ideas into practice. We spotlight living, breathing examples of responsible tourism. Here is an opportunity to introduce new events, tours and research projects as well as an avenue to summarize the outcomes from recent events. Yes, it’s a high-tech, but we also promote lo-fi media, including the foamboard and social events including carrotmobs, green drinks and photo safaris.

One of the key objectives of Responsible Tourism Week is to create incentives for continuity. We would really like to hear summaries from recent tourism conferences and previews of upcoming events that touch upon the core values of responsible tourism. Another key objective is to strengthen relationships with existing contacts and make new friends!

You can start the preparations now by documenting the stories you’d like to share and by registering on the social media channels you’d like to master in 2012. Share examples of responsible tourism that you have personally experienced. Be generous. Talk about other people’s work that you respect.

We will highlight the most interesting tweets on Twitter, photos on Flickr, videos on YouTube and recommended blogs and wikis. Keep an eye on this blog for further updates!  Your comments, questions, retweets and likes are most appreciated.

Kind regards, Ron Mader

Tourism is system of three elements: Places, Guests and Hosts.  As such, it’s all about PEOPLE. If people change their values and their perception of how the world works, then everything else changes.

There are multiple forces shaking up the tourism system:

1. The key human actors in the system are shifting not only their values but their core understanding of how the world works
2. The industrial model on which tourism is based is collapsing. As it matures, it produces diminishing net returns to all participants, and relies on volume growth to compensate for yield declines.  As visitor volume increases, so do the costs associated with resource depletion, pollution and wealth concentration.
3. External pressures will require the tourism economy to pay significantly more for services that hitherto have been free or relatively cheap. These cost increases will occur when reduced incomes and higher demand volatility are already compromising the resilience and profitability of existing businesses.

Survival and prosperity depend not just on becoming green but waking up to a whole new way of doing business that can, in part, be summarized as follows:

Practitioners of the new, ecological model start with a higher sense of Purpose. They know that profit follows purpose – a commitment to use the business to make the world a better place. Instead of discounting their primary asset – the Place – they focus on protecting, expressing and celebrating its unique Personality to sustain and increase its value to guests.  The passion of all hosts (employees, suppliers, residents), combines with a clear sense of Purpose to PULL in (attract) the kind of guest who will most value what the provider has to offer.

Unless tourism enterprises embrace the new model they will continue to see their profit margins shrink; their resilience to external shocks weaken; and their viability diminish. Tourism entrepreneurs and their communities need to assume responsibility for changing and cannot assume that traditional institutions or agencies can supply fixes.

Conscious Travel is building an e-learning platform and on and offline communities designed to stimulate and nourish the capacity of tourism entrepreneurs – the 99% – to flourish in new market circumstances.

The goal is to build an environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling form of tourism that generates real net benefits to all stakeholders in the tourism system: guests, employees, investors, suppliers and the host community.

Responsible Tourism Week is a fun mash-up exploring down to earth applications of noble concepts including responsible tourism, the local travel movement and ecotourism with practical and inexpensive Web 2.0 technologies. Take a peak at what was accomplished this year via the Planeta Wiki and on Slideshare.

Planeta are seeking partners and financial sponsors. Simply put, this online unconference is an excellent way to broaden and deepen dialogue about sustainable practice and tourism. The event encourages participants to articulate their core values and the way they put noble ideas into practice. It’s an opportunity to introduce new events, tours and research projects as well as an opportunity to summarize recent events. Yes, it’s a high-tech, but also promotes the foamboard . For those who can keep track of a hashtag, it’s a new window to the world!

How to participate? You can start now by documenting the stories you’d like to share. In particular they highlight photos on Flickr, tweets on Twitter, videos on YouTube and recommended blogs and wikis. This year they will start to feature tours using Gowalla and Foursquare. Check out the toolbox!

The talking points for RT 2011will be updated on the wiki. Of special interest in 2011 will be the role of responsible tourism in forests and cities. Join in!

Impossible you say (and you’re not without reason), especially considering we are talking the travel industry. I mean, the words ‘global travel’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ = irony, surely. Some would even say to the point of being like rain on your wedding day, or that free ride once you’ve already paid.

In this day and age, travel and the mere act of boarding a plane is frowned upon to a large degree and quite understandably too – there are not too many things out there that top the carbon emissions incurred from air travel and the associated anti-green images that go with it.

However, as a result the travel industry has had to pull its socks up along with the rest of the world’s industries (bar BP clearly) and despite intention and whether it’s because you care or simply just want to jump on the sustainable bandwagon to look good, bettering our operations and being conscious of the old ‘footprint’ is surely a good thing.

To be honest, it’s been quite the mental barrier getting this whole ‘green initiative’ up and running, to the point where as of the end of May and after our successful audit, Kiwi Does It Ltd is carboNZero!!! A very proud feeling indeed with that 90′s little framed certificate to go with!

Yep, here at Kiwi Does It our office and operations are green friendly (and we’re working on our itineraries too) which means we do actually care. And it’s not just that token care where you pay some money and get a certificate – it’s that care where you have to measure your emissions (and we learnt all about these as we went), put a plan in place to manage them, and then where possible, mitigate and offset them. Did we hear you say ‘that’s great’? Thanks, we think so too.

Did I also hear you ask ‘but what does it all mean?’

Well, it means that from here in on we will be looking at all our emissions sources (like power, gas, vehicle usage, printing costs, travel costs etc) and making sure they are reduced where possible, excluded where we can and offset if they are a must (like flights needed to create the itineraries). As the years go on, Landcare Research and the carboNZero rope gets tightened to the point where we have to be really into it to maintain our stamp. Tough eh?

But… the point behind it all is guilt-free travel for both our travelers and ourselves (which means we can have that extra bar of chocolate if we want).

Now it’s up to us to help encourage those operators and events people we use for our itineraries to think about their options for sustainability and keeping the travel industry the amazing place of work that it is…
Choice.

This post was originally published by Rob Grieve on the Kiwi Does it blog.

To be fair, it seems many operators do their best to recycle, reduce waste and regulate water usage. These functions make up the major part of achieving the Qualmark EnviroGold Silver or Bronze rating which is handed out to participating operators each year.

Despite our comparatively small population, our energy resources are limited and susceptible to environmental changes such as lack of water. Contact Energy owned by the Government, is the major supplier of electricity and gas. We have such a high number of sunshine hours throughout New Zealand it should be a no brainer to utilise to solar energy in our workplaces and homes. Wind turbines can produce substantial amounts of energy but again, the expense involved in implementation of these renewable energy methods is far out of reach for the majority of operators.

My feeling is that we’re not nearly there due to the expense and not enough (yet), Government subsidy.

Tourism is the largest revenue producing industry in New Zealand. We are constantly competing with other countries to encourage visitors to choose us over somewhere else. Our ‘Clean, Green’ image is such an integral part of promoting the country to overseas visitors, it must become a priority for the Government to greatly subsidise renewable energy, update our recycling practices, and give incentives to new developments to adopt conscious architecture and design practices.

This would not only give a foundation for our ‘image’ but create healthier future proof environment for us all to enjoy.

Article orignally posted by Cat Haslam on Web_Ranger News and Blog.

This article is not based on statistical data; it is from anecdotal evidence of 12 years in the ecotourism industry as a guide.  These points are ones to ponder and some are very obvious so they reinforce what is already known.

• Firstly, they want to interact with the environment, they most certainly don’t want to be sitting in the bus looking at the views. They want to engage the senses and be stimulated by their exciting surroundings.

• This brings up the next point. They want to have that location / surroundings enhanced by more knowledge / stories so it needs to be interpreted by a local or someone who possesses knowledge. This requires the person interpreting that environment to pick out the relevant bits because tourists are in a perpetual state of sensory overload so we must often break it down into sound bytes. If they want more information, they can ask. The interpretation must give it all context; for example: if you are visiting an ancient forest, to point out a large Kahikatea tree is not very interesting by itself, but if you tell people that this specimen  was around in the dark ages and these trees were used in the early 1900’s to transport butter to Europe because it is an odourless wood, it now has some resonance with them and they can relate it to something they know. To have an educational dimension to your delivery is important and shows the ecotourist that you have an social conscience.

• Touch, smell, listen and feel is good within reason, it is ok to touch trees to feel their texture, stop for a minute and have a smell, listen to that wood pigeon flying away from us, the interpreter or guide does not have to talk all the time, the environment will do the talking if you set the scene for them to open their senses.

• As a guide or interpreter, you can let the ecotourist know that they are privileged to be where they are, this gives the trip a kind of mystique and uniqueness. It also will help you get your environmental message across that we want to have an absolute minimum impact.

• The environmental message is very important to the ecotourist; they want to experience these places but know that you the operator is looking after that place and have a vested interest in it. To mention that you give $2 every person to a revegetation project in the area is great and they will often be keen to either contribute more or even participate while they are there. One way to do this is to get your clients to do one task before you go on the trip or while out there, one good example is to pull out 10 weeds each before you move on.

• The environmental behaviour of your business is important and to let your clients know that you have processes in place to ensure that your business is having minimal impact on the environment is imperative. This can be done either by putting it in your marketing material or telling them on arrival. They can of course see if you have signed up for either Qualmark Green or GreenGlobe21 because they are recognised environmental auditors. The fact that these cost money and are hard to achieve is not a topic for this discussion but it is recognised that it can be a strain on a business to keep these standards up and also a large financial commitment.

• The ecotourist is also very interested in the culture they are in. It is very common to be asked about the political system or any cultural issues that are important in New Zealand. It is great if you or your guides are up on local issues and can relate them to their visitors. They are there to visit your attraction / location but you will usually have a lot of time to talk about other subjects like this. This brings up the point that you need a good communicator and a bit of maturity really helps. If you have a good guide working for you… keep them on and work to keep them, they are gold.

Overall the ecotourist is, in my opinion, much the same as other tourists but they are more demanding that you are looking after your back yard. If you provide them with opportunities to offset their carbon footprint they are more likely to participate than other tourists.

• Is it based on nature or heritage?
• Does it act in a sustainable way and attempt to help clients minimise the impact of their visit?
• Does it benefit the indigenous community?
• Does it have an interpretive dimension?
• Does the tourism product have an educational dimension?

If we  break these points down, firstly we would look at the fact that it focuses on either natural wonders or human created wonders. We are not looking at adventure based activities like bungy jumping or hang gliding or rafting. We don’t need to isolate any of these activities from ecotourism as they may incorporate some other aspects like interpretation and environmental education, an example is a guide giving environmental interpretation as you head down the river. For instance they may run their vehicles on biofuel and not do helirafting for environmental reasons.

We do not want to be too academic about defining Ecotourism, the real world is not so easy to put into boxes. If we are to certify ecotourism businesses like they do in Australia ( http://www.ecotourism.org.au/eco_certification.asp ) then we need to have certain amount of compliance so customers know what sort of outfit they are using. It is part of marketing because many clients are looking for  activities that have the environmental tick and all they have to go on is a certified brand like Qualmark Green or Green Globe.

When considering how a business, or in fact individuals behave in an environmental sense, we need to look at attitudes that are in that workplace are systems set up to minimise impact on the planet. This can also include the education included in the activity, for example, a pre-trip briefing may include detailing what your business expects of you when you are out in the environment such as waste disposal and toileting (check out Leave no Trace).  DOC has a good set of rules called the Environmental Care Code which is a guide to operating in the outdoors.

Another way we can help our clients to minimise their impact is to either provide a carbon offset scheme like planting trees or provide them with the opportunity to pay a little extra for someone else to plant a tree for them (http://www.treesfortravellers.co.nz/main/Trees/ ). You can also involve your clients in conserving the area you are actually visiting with involvement in pest control such as stoat and possum trap checking and weed pulling (this also falls under the banner of conservation tourism).

A business that is truly ecotourism will not be owned by a large foreign corporate entity with all the profits therefore going offshore. In some cases it is acceptable for a tourism business to be owned offshore because many small developing countries do not have the financial resources to invest in setting a new enterprise up but there must be a definite benefit to the local economy and to individuals within it. They must be paid fairly, be treated well and there must not be a detrimental effect on the local environment. The classic example of a community gaining financial benefit in the short term and environmental damage in the long term is mining in a place like Papua New Guinea.

Indigenous views and wellbeing being taken into account is also paramount for a business to be truly ecotourism and adherence to local protocol shows respect and acknowledgement of their long term association with the area. In New Zealand it is great to be able to enjoy the Maori ways and to learn a lot about the country’s history, it is a truly rich culture which many overseas visitors find fascinating.

The interpretive dimension of a trip is like the value added component. It is a nice thing to go for a walk in a beautiful area but to have it brought to life with stories and information is where the clients can gain a real affinity with a location. The stories can be laced with fun, fact and even a little fantasy (as long as your clients know you are joking). There are many techniques to be used and there is no “one size fits all” as you need to go with your personality as a host / guide. Techniques like using props, humour, stories to back up your claims and engagement of your audience are all good tools to have in your toolbox.

Education is one aspect that we should all engage in when addressing our clients. This means educating them and being open to being educated yourself. Your clients will often be from all over the world and they may be well educated and well travelled. They have something to offer as you do. Having an attitude of appreciation of others experiences and then sharing your own means the experience becomes a positive cultural exchange. You of course will need to keep their input under control as other clients may not want to hear about Montana or Cornwall so you need to focus on where you are and sharing the knowledge and stories of your location.

Overall there are many types of emerging tourism enterprises and they are all interlinked. For the sake of putting something in a box then this I hope helps to compartmentalise Ecotourism but it is not necessary to get too tied up with the small details, the real world does not work like that.

See this video from Justin Francis co-founder of Responsibletravel.com who defines what “Responsible tourism” is and consider what your tourism business does to support and implement this concept.  It’s something all New Zealand tourism businesses should be aiming to adhere to, and it’s great to see initiatives from Tourism New Zealand like Sustainable Tourism Advisors and Qualmark Green plus training in Ecotourism from organisations like EcotourismNZ.  Support for developing strong and authentic cultural experiences is evident with the Maori Tourism Mentoring Programme.

We are also seeing the development of specialist travel websites like Organic Explorer and Ecotours New Zealand that help to promote relevant tourism operators throughout New Zealand.

Do you think New Zealand is succeeding in delivering a “Responsible Tourism” image?  Can we expect all tourism sectors to contribute? Comments welcome!