Towards Responsible Tourism
The “Towards Responsible Tourism: Revealing the Power of Consumers” seminar, held during Destinations2006, has addressed the power of consumers' decision-making regarding the barriers to information dissemination for tour packages that foster sustainable development.
The importance of social marketing to influence the tourists’ choice and the financial willingness regarding this initiative were tow of the topics addressed.
The “Towards Responsible Tourism: Revealing the Power of Consumers” seminar, held during the 3° Annual Summit of the World Tourism Forum for Peace and Sustainable Development (Destinations2006) has addressed the consumer’s decision-making power in the face of the barriers to information dissemination for tour packages that foster sustainable development.
The panel was formed by the chairwoman of the session, Cristina Montenegro, from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP); Sophie Taliere, French Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development; Stefanos Fotiou, Paris-based Director for UNEP Tourism Division; Oliver Hillel, representative of the Convention for Biodiversity; and Stroma Cole, representative from Turism Concern, a Britain-based Non-Governmental Organisation.
The session was opened by Mr Stefanos Fotiou, who pointed out the importance of social marketing to influence the tourists’ choice of destinations that foster sustainable tourism and the financial willingness for this initiative. According to him, people have been conditioned to consume symbols that provide social visibility, without regard to the environmental impact of these products. According to a survey conducted in London, approximately 90 percent of the British travellers are environmentally-aware; however, they’re willing to spend only £5 more for a sustainable tour package. “I believe social marketing can change the world, sell anything and, most importantly, foster the mankind awareness,” Fotiou said.
Then, Mrs Sophie Taliere highlighted the efforts of the French Government towards raising the citizens’ awareness of sustainable tourism, since France is at the top of the list of the most visited countries, according to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
“We develop real-world projects with a number of countries, including the Marrakech Project, in conjunction with the United Nations, as well as communication campaigns to raise children’s and adults’ awareness,” said Mrs Taliere. According to her, the “Little Ecologist” brochure was released, with the elephant Babar as the leading character. The brochure was given away at toll roads, with a view to leading children to raise their parents’ environmental awareness.
Mr Oliver Hillel, representative of the Convention on Biodiversity, stressed the importance of certification for the tourism industry and how governments worldwide should sell their destinations. “I, as a Brazilian citizen, am ashamed of seeing Brazil being sold in many countries as a sexual destination, due to the Carnival. Fortunately, this is changing now,” said Hillel.
Finally, Dr. Stroma Cole, from the Tourism Concern NGO, closed the session by advocating ethics and human rights. Dr. Cole said that, although small in England, the NGO conducted a photograph exhibition depicting the exploitation of poverty and human rights abuse. However, the audience’s attention was drawn by the campaign against sexual abuse in Myanmar (ex-Burma).
“We designed a shocking campaign to make people stay away from this destination. The campaign’s topic was “Do you want your summer vacations to cost other people’s lives?”,” said dr. Cole. According to her, the number of tourists visiting Myanmar dropped from 4,600 to 1,400 within less than two years.
Source: eTurboNews.com