ss successes and impediments in the sector at annual forum. Ian Taylor reports from Terceira, Azores BUSINESS NEWS
Japan is first nation to commit to GSTC criteria
Japan has become the first country to commit to adopting GSTC destination criteria nationally. The GSTC finalised new
destination criteria last week, and chief executive Randy Durband revealed: “The Japan Tourism Agency has committed to adopt the destination criteria as part of its national tourism plan. “It has ambitious plans to increase
arrivals [and] has built the GSTC criteria into its strategy.” The JTA plans to begin the
process by sending a questionnaire based on the criteria to all Japan’s destinations. Durband said: “Most standards
250 delegates
attended the conference
you pay for, we make ours available free because we want them to be used. We spent more than a year consulting with hundreds of trade associations, holding workshops all over the world, produced draft criteria then consulted again on them. These are not our standards, they are yours.”
Durband criticises governments for turnover of tourism ministers
Governments are hindering sustainable development by continually swapping tourism ministers and changing personnel in tourism departments. Global Sustainable Tourism
Council chief executive Randy Durband said: “We see ministers of tourism come and go all over the world. We see too much rotation. “The destinations doing
sustainability well are maintaining continuity. They see the wisdom of keeping people in place. All the success stories [in sustainable tourism] are where destinations have the same management in place [over a period]. “Most people in tourism
departments have been there an average two years. All sustainability projects that are successful take many years.” Durband insisted: “Tourism
is more complex than people are aware. Governments don’t know what they don’t know. “We talk now about overtourism
all over the world. The main cause is not managing tourism well.” Dan Jonasson, consultant
to Region Vasterbotten – a co-operative tourism development body in northern Sweden – told the conference: “The government does not understand tourism, so it is very difficult for them to understand sustainable tourism.”
‘Sector must be more transparent’
Te travel industry is failing to be transparent about carbon emissions, encouraging confusion among customers. That is the view of Gerben
Hardeman, responsible travel and tourism manager at Dutch travel trade association the ANVR. The association launched an
award-winning carbon calculator for tour operators in 2016. Yet Hardeman told the GSTC conference: “Airlines would not make available real data. Cruise lines said they would not do it until they were obliged. Hotels would not put in data. So our calculation is far from perfect.” He insisted: “We have to
make businesses transparent on their carbon footprints. From the consumers’ point of view, it’s hard to understand. It’s ridiculous that those who pollute the most charge the least.
travelweekly.co.uk “We have to make it compulsory
to provide data on carbon emissions. It’s essential. We should provide real data on carbon footprints and provide incentives for those who perform well. [Then] we can nudge consumers to make more responsible choices.” Professor David Simmons of
Lincoln University in New Zealand, chair of sustainability-certification institute EarthCheck, agreed. He said: “The industry is not very forthcoming on its data. “Tourism is also such a composite
industry that it takes a lot of work to attribute impacts to tourism.” Simmons said if flights were priced
to include the impact of carbon emissions, “it would essentially mean raising airfares by three times”. He asked: “Are we meeting
our obligations? The science is straightforward. Tourism is not doing
its bit – 91% of tourism’s emissions are from transport, 70% of it going to and from destinations. “Tourism produces 7% of global
emissions and 3.9% of global GDP. It’s a sooty industry. We produce more emissions from tourism than from agriculture. Should we feed people or take them on holidays?” Simmons added: “[Technological]
innovation is not waiting in the wings. The lead time to market [for new technologies] seems to be against us. We should not be over-optimistic. We’re in a very serious state.” Luigi Cabrini, chair of the GSTC,
noted greenhouse gas emissions from travel and tourism had risen from 5% of the global total in 2005 and said: “Tourism is not adapting adequately to climate change. Failure to act will fuel the voices of those who wish to halt or limit the flows of tourism.”
Luigi Cabrini, chair of the GSTC 12 DECEMBER 2019 71
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