wild asia – Page 8

2012 Responsible Tourism Award Winners & Finalists

Wild Asia’s judging team had their work cut out to pick from an exceptionally high level of Applicants in the 2012 Awards. We saw entries flooding in from India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. We also introduced new award categories this year, moving away from size of operators to themes of responsible tourism. We shortlisted 12 inspirational operators across Asia.

Best in Community Engagement and Development

This award recognizes exceptional commitment to supporting the local community and economy in which the business operates.

WINNER: Soria Moria Boutique Hotel, Cambodia

As the first employee-owned hotel in Cambodia, Soria Moria works closely with various local charities and organizations on a grassroots level, and facilitates vocational training and a higher education program to empower locals.

More information – why did Wild Asia love this winner?

FINALIST: Agri Tourism, India

Agri Tourism’s goals are to develop and promote agricultural tourism as a potential vehicle for diversifying and stabilizing rural economies by creating jobs, increasing community income, and attracting tourists to the area. Through their projects, training, and support, farmers benefit from the development of tourism and the income to improve their livelihoods.

Best in Cultural Preservation

This award recognizes engagement and efforts by tourism businesses in preserving, enhancing and promoting local cultures and heritage.

WINNER: Agri Tourism, India

Agri Tourism is successfully reconnecting urban Indians to their rural roots. Their mission to diversify farms by introducing tourism is benefitting local livelihoods and keeping farming heritage alive. By providing exciting opportunities for sustainable secondary income, this project is preventing urban migration and protecting traditional village life.

More information – why did Wild Asia love this winner?

FINALIST: Heritance Tea Factory, Sri Lanka

A story written inextricably around the wondrous “tea plant”, this business is harmonizing Tourism with the Tea Culture. They are committed to offer prominence and a sense of recognition to the heritage of the communities who have contributed for decades to the development of Sri Lanka’s tea industry and environment.

Best in Protection of Natural Areas and/or Wildlife Conservation

This award recognizes tourism businesses’ consideration of their local environment and biodiversity by actively supporting and protecting their natural assets.

WINNER: Scuba Junkie, Malaysia

Scuba Junkie, based on Mabul Island off the east coast of Sabah, the company strives to be sensitive and have a positive effect on this unique area. Introducing the first rubbish collection scheme on the island, they’re improving waste management and protecting their natural assets. They also run a Turtle Hatchery and are championing the Semporna Shark Sanctuary, in order to help save our seas.

More information – why did Wild Asia love this winner?

FINALIST: Banjaar Tola, India

Taj Safaris (a joint venture between &Beyond and Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces) offers India’s first wildlife circuit of four exceptional lodges in India’s Madhya Pradesh region. Banjaar Tola is nestled in Kanha National Park. Their groundbreaking Gaur relocation project has saved a species from extinction in the area and the first newborn from the group has just arrived.

Best in Resource Efficiency

This award recognizes excellence in waste, water and energy management and sustainable architectural design in order to minimize the business’s environmental impact.

WINNER: ITC Sonar, India

Backed by a huge range of environmental management accreditations, 5 star ITC Sonar is a leading light in renewable energy and resource efficiency. It is nestled amidst acres of land, resplendent with greenery, sunshine, and water. It was the first hotel in the world to earn carbon credits under the carbon trading scheme.

More information – why did Wild Asia love this winner?

FINALIST: Our Native Village, India

This eco retreat presents earth-friendly dwellings and proven traditional healing services in a verdant landscape. It incorporates all aspects of sustainability: architecture, energy generation, water conservation, waste management and food chain. With more that 70% of energy generated from renewable resources this resort is working harmoniously with its natural surroundings.

2012 Most Inspiring Responsible Tourism Operator

This award recognizes the tourism business that excels in all of the above categories by taking into consideration all the key principles of responsible tourism (maximum positive impacts to the local community and minimum negative impacts to the environment) and awards innovation for this most inspiring responsible tourism business of the year.

WINNER: LooLa Adventure Resort, Indonesia

LooLa is an outdoor-enthusiast resort in Bintan, Indonesia. Since 2000, with a 100% local team, they offer exciting (eco) action, adventure and community-based activities, all in a natural beautiful setting that favours sea breeze over air-con. Guests are asked to go easy on water and electricity, return to the basic joys of life and enjoy the authentic local scene.

More information – why did Wild Asia love this winner?

FINALIST: El Nido Resorts, Philippines

An idyllic island retreat, El Nido Resorts measure against a quadruple bottomline: financial growth, environmental stewardship, community engagement and employee development. Guests are treated with unique experiencessteeped in conservation and environmental education. Meaningful livelihoods for staff and host communities complete their story.

FINALIST: Heritance Kandalama, Sri Lanka

Heritance Kandalama is a Geoffrey Bawa architectural masterpiece, built overlooking the eighth wonder of the world, the rock fortress of Sigiriya. The hotel situated within the Cultural Triangle of Sri Lanka, within close proximity of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites has been recognized the world over for its sustainability initiatives.

FINALIST: Nikoi Island, Indonesia

Nikoi Island is a private island resort off the east coast of Bintan, Indonesia. Just 50 miles from Singapore it is a popular escape from city life. Built from driftwood and alangalang grass, with environmental conservation and energy conservation at the heart of the design and the development.

Acknowledgements

Wild Asia would like to congratulate Winners and Finalists for their commendable efforts and commitment in successfully integrating high standards of responsible tourism into their business philosophy.

Thank you to our expert Judging Advisory Panel: Asit Biswas, Ian Hall, Jens Thraenhart, Les Clark, Masaru Takayama, Peter Richards and Vikneswaran Nair for making the 2012 Responsible Tourism Awards a success!

Sustainability Training for Tour Operators – October 2012 (Bangkok)

Following our recent partnership with Travelife, Wild Asia is proud to announce the 2-day ‘Sustainability for Tour Operators’ training course organized by Travelife this October in Bangkok. The free course is targeted at tour operators (company executives, contracting and marketing managers) and travel associations and tourism boards.

Dates: The training will be provided twice

17th & 18th October (Wednesday & Thursday)
24th & 25th October (Wednesday & Thursday)

Venue: Bangkok, Thailand (exact venue TBC)

After completion of the training, participants will be offered support in the use and implementation of the knowledge, methods and tools that have been acquired in the training. This support will be in the form of follow-up meetings and individual coaching sessions. The ultimate goal is to prepare travel operators for sustainability certification in order to increase your competitiveness in the global markets.

The training will be conducted by Chris Thompson and Naut Kausters, both leaders and practitioners in sustainable tourism with more than 20 and 15 years’ experience individually. The training is designed to be hands-on and interactive using a variety of learning techniques.

What will you learn?

At the end of this course you will be able to:

Understand the concept of sustainability in tourism
Recognize the key environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism
Understand the roles and responsibilities of tour operators (inbound/outbound)
Identify the types of actions tour operators can take in the field of transport, accommodation, excursions and customer communication
Identify quick wins for your own business and for your suppliers
Set realistic sustainability targets and identify methods of measuring success
Identify personal sustainability USP’s (Unique Selling Points)
Communicate sustainability achievements in an effective way to your clients
Use your sustainability achievements to create more business (marketing)

How to register?

Book early as training slots fill up quickly. To register, complete the registration form below and email to n.kusters@cbi.eu. You will receive a confirmation upon successful registration.

Choose from the two dates: 17th & 18th October (Wednesday & Thursday) OR 24th & 25th October (Wednesday & Thursday)

Cost: Free of charge. Sign up now!

Registration deadline: 30th September 2012.

Participants should have relevant experience in the tourism business and master the English language on professional level.

Stay in touch for the latest training updates and sign up for Wild Asia’s e-alerts.

Download the Agenda and Registration Form

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Supporting organisations

TEATA, Thai Eco and Adventure Tour operator Association
ATTA, Association of Thai Travel Agencies
ABTA, The British Travel Association
ANVR, The Dutch Association of Tour operators and Travel Agents
CBI, Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries
IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative
Travelife, Sustainability in Tourism
Wild Asia, Responsible Tourism Initiative

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Wild Asia & Travelife

For more than ten years Wild Asia has been working across Asia championing the benefits and potential of developing a tourism industry that benefits local places and people through their Responsible Tourism Initiative (RTI). Wild Asia’s RTI works with businesses to improve their social and environmental practices to meet and exceed global standards. By creating partnerships with businesses within the industry, they aim to inspire and create change to benefit our environment, wildlife, people and communities.

Travelife, developed in 2005, was set up to support an efficient and cost effective introduction of sustainability principles for the tourism industry. They offer industry-wide standards for sustainability management and certification and provide best practice guidance and support for tour operators implementing them through the provision of training, tools and references. Travelife, originally initiated in Europe, is already supported by more than 15 national travel associations who promote Travelife across their members.

The partnership with Travelife is a perfect marriage of values. Wild Asia will be the Asia based Travelife delivery partner, offering training and support to tour operators across the region. Tour operators will benefit greatly from having locally based expertise at hand.

Together, the sustainability partners will support tour operators achieve green accreditations, enhancing the tourism offer for customers and improve marketing for the region. Adopting responsible tourism principles through the Travelife training programme and management systems will not only improve participants’ corporate social responsibility profile, it will also provide significant cost saving opportunities, enhance relationships with staff and host communities, and open doors to new marketing avenues.

If you are a tour operator based or operating in South East Asia and are interested in beginning your journey towards sustainability, please contact Wild Asia to enquire more about joining the Travelife scheme. Contact rt@wildasia.org.

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RT Forum Guest Speakers

Geoffrey Lipman is Director and chief disruption architect of greenearth.travel, a global think tank network, promoting green growth and travelism (travel & tourism) and specializing in strategy, innovation and funding. He is President of ICTP (International Council of Tourism Partners) & Associate of Cosmos China.

Lipman is Adjunct Professor at Victoria University Australia, Visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes University UK and Senior Tourism Research Fellow at George Washington University US. He is a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council. He has written and lectured widely on tourism strategy, sustainability and airline liberalization. In 2012 he launched at the Rio+20 Earth Summit a new compendium of leadership ideas from nearly 50 of the best thinkers inside and outside the sector. “Green Growth & Travelism; Letters from Leaders”

Lipman joined the International Air Transport Association in the 1960s and rose to become its Executive Director before his appointment as the first President of the World Travel & Tourism Council from 1990 to 1999. Between 2006 and 2010, he served as Assistant Secretary General and spokesperson of the UNWTO, the World Tourism Organization and prior to that acted as Advisor to the Secretary General. He has served on Boards and Advisory Committees of public & private sector groups in Africa, Europe, Middle East & Canada, as well as EU Commissions on Airline Liberalisation and on Tourism Employment.

Jens Thraenhart is a global tourism and hospitality strategist. He has been doing travel online marketing since 1995, and established his consultancy Chameleon Strategies in 1999 with the mission to help firms ‘adapting to an ever-changing environment’.

Jens remarkable experience in key strategic positions (in North and Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia) in e-commerce, marketing, change management, CRM strategies and corporate strategy has been recognized with prestigious awards from industry associations including the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME), and the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA). Travel Agent Magazine recognized him as one of the ‘travel industry’s top 100 rising stars’ in 2003. He was listed as one of the ‘25 Most Extraordinary Sales and Marketing Minds in Hospitality and Travel’ in 2004 and 2005.

Based on his ability to leverage social media and digital marketing strategies, he developed a unique ‘think global-act local’ methodology. Partnering with a Chinese travel technology company he created the brand strategy advisory firm Dragon Trail, and launched the online resource portal and community ChinaTravelTrends.com (Twitter: @cnTravelTrends). His blog “TourismInternetMarketing.com” is widely respected and frequently quoted.

With nearly 20 years of experience in hospitality and tourism, he has served on various industry boards, including both the Global Board and the Americas Board of Directors of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), as well as Global and the North America Board for the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT).

Erika Harms is the Executive Director of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). In this role, Ms. Harms manages and oversees the implementation of activities under the framework of the GSTC, a cutting edge initiative that provides a clear set of standards, protocols, processes and measurements for how businesses can better the planet and practice sustainable tourism. Ms. Harms has focused on creating platforms to bring together the private and public sector in support of the United Nations’ conservation priorities, and has spearheaded initiatives such as the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism and the Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. She serves as a judge of several awards. In 2008, Conde Nast Traveler recognized Ms. Harms as a “Trail Blazer” in Sustainable Tourism and in 2010 she received the HSMAI award for Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing. Ms. Harms holds a degree of Attorney at Law and a master’s degree in Business Administration and Natural Resource Management from INCAE, Central American Institute of Business Administration, in Alajuela, Costa Rica. Born in Costa Rica, Ms. Harms’ native languages are Spanish and German.

[message type=”custom” width=”100%” start_color=”#9DAAC7″ end_color=”#9DAAC7″ border=”#BBBBBB” color=”#333333″]Participate in the Responsible Tourism events at ITB Asia 2012. Don’t miss out on this chance to meet inspiring people who’ve made a difference in their destinations via tourism. Wild Asia together with other amazing sustainable tourism partners will be at the Responsible Tourism Center booth (Exhibition Hall, L7455). Come meet us and we’d love to have a chat with you! [/message]

RT Clinics Guest Speakers

Andrew Jones has worked, over the past 40 years, in a number of senior management and corporate positions in prestigious hotels, resorts and management companies in London, Bermuda, Canada and several countries in Asia.

In 1996 Andrew started a new journey when he founded and became Guardian of Sanctuary Resorts, a company that offers responsible and sustainable tourism experiences where people can balance their body, mind and spirit in an environmentally friendly space.

Andrew was previously Director, Asia Pacific Affairs for the International Hotel and Restaurant Association and a member of the Board of the Indian Ocean Tourism Organization. Andrew is a Certified Hotel Administrator of the American Hotel and Lodging Association and a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality.

Andrew is a leading proponent of Corporate Social Responsibility and Wellness, and knowledgeable Speaker, Moderator and Panelist on matters of Responsible and Sustainable Tourism at many Hotel, Environment and Social Enterprise Forums and Conferences. Andrew is a member of the World Travel Market World Responsible Tourism Day Advisory Panel.

Andrew also believes in contributing to the community, is a Past President of the Rotary Club of Kowloon and Chairman Emeritus of the KELY (Kid’s Everywhere Like You) Support Group in Hong Kong.

Vishwaraj Gyawali (Raj Gyawali) is the Founder Director of Socialtours.com, and partner in socialtreks.com. Socialtours.com is a great responsible travel enterprise which started with a small project in 1998 with the goal of leveraging tourism to promote local development in Nepal. The small project has turned into an inspiring leading Responsible Tourism company in Nepal, Tibet, India and Bhutan and one of the first ones to conduct a custom designed RT audit. Currently, Raj looks after the corporate marketing and strategic development of the organization.

Together with a group of community based experts and RT entrepreneurs, he started a project, in 2009, focused on collaboration among localized experts to offer a unique RT product in the Indian subcontinent: the Green Circuit initiative. Gyawali is directly involved in different organizations including United Planet as Co-coordinator for Nepal and Coordinator for Ghana; Nepal River Conservation Trust as Board member; Joy Foundation Nepal as Honorary Life Member; KEEP Nepal as life member, and Namaste Nepal as board member.

Ajay Jain is a full time writer, journalist and photographer based in New Delhi. He is not limited in his medium of expression, equally comfortable writing for newspapers and magazines, as well as his own books and blogs. He is also engaged in building travel communities both online and offline – through a unique concept called the Kunzum Travel Cafe.

Ajay advises travel companies on how to use new media for brand building and increased sales, and uses the same strategies to promote his traditional and interactive books.

Supratim Basu, popularly Raj Basu is an activist working in the Easter Himalayas for ‘community livelihood and conservation’ through tourism for almost 25 years now. Founder member of numerous Tourism and Conservation organizations, namely Help Tourism, Association for Conservation & Tourism, Pelling Tourism Development Association, Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society, Upper Assam and Eastern Arunachal Pradesh Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism Forum, Indo-Bhutan Friendship Association, Singapore-East Himalaya Program and many more. Often referred to as the ‘Gandhi of Tourism’, Raj has been instrumental in showing the way to ‘Conservation based Tourism with local initiatives’. Raj has been consulted by His Majesty’s Government of Bhutan for their National Ecotourism policy, by UNDP for Rural Tourism projects in India and was recognized for his contribution to tourism in 1998 by His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. He has been instrumental for initiating Cross-Border Tourism for Peace on the Indo-Bangladesh, Indo-Myanmar, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Nepal borders.

Taman Negara: Sweating, Swimming and Sustainability

For many visitors to Peninsular Malaysia, Taman Negara (Pahang) is on the hot list, described by Rough Guides as “the most spectacular jungle scenery you’ll ever come across”. It’s easy to see why our largest national park is also our most popular with travellers from home and away.

But just how is the world’s oldest rainforest coping with high volumes of guests? Amy from Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Initiative (and writer of our Let’s Unravel Travel series) goes exploring through the national park to see what evidence there is of tourism related issues.

Tree-mendous Taman Negara?

It’s my first visit to Taman Negara and I’m very excited to see what nature the dense jungle has to offer. Travelling throughout Malaysia as a tourist, you are bombarded with imagery for Taman Negara’s adventure, its natural wonders and its greenery.

For those of you who have not yet visited, I’ll set the scene. Picture walking on a boulder strewn beach to a gurgling river, shadowed by an emerald jungle so tall and dense that at first it appears impenetrable. Tributaries of the chocolate coloured river meander through secret passages into the forest’s unknown, leading groups on boats of hollowed trees. Mysterious jungle sounds of exotic birds echo and the humidity and heat hit you like a wave. At first glance Taman Negara is everything it’s promised its leech-proof sock sporting guests it would be: a tropical paradise. Delve a little deeper and the scars of tourism begin to show.

My first disappointment is right at the entrance of this beautiful national park. It is swarming with jetskis and engine powered boats that buzz like mosquitoes. I doubt I’m alone in dreaming of a silent gliding canoe through the trees to reach the heart of the park. Yet the noise and commotion from what’s really populating the river has shattered me. Is this really necessary? Wouldn’t the visitor experience be enhanced if there was less river traffic?

Entering the park, however, I’m pleased to see some really positive initiatives. The onsite shop offers an inspiring scheme to reduce waste and litter, return your empty bottles and cans and get RM1 in return. The only in-park hotel has some really informative signs about Taman Negara’s visitor charter; what you should do and not do to look after this natural environment. Nature guides are advised to enhance your visit. Plant species are sometimes labeled, educating visitors about the rich biodiversity.

Yet…I can’t help but feel the negative experiences are outweighing the good work that’s clearly being done. I’m saddened to see extensive footpath erosion when efforts have been gone into building robust walkways (which are damaged and closed in places, forcing heavy booted tourists to trample on beaten earth or vegetation). I cringe at poorly maintained educational signs that are overgrown or covered with litter. I shudder at a traffic jam of chugging boats that dodge boys (yes, not buoys!) in a designated family swimming area. And I lose sleep over the unethical promotion and delivery of village safaris to Orang Asli (aboriginal) settlements.

Luckily, I’m not alone in these concerns. In 2010 the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management from the Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, performed a research project on the sustainability and visitor impacts within the national park. Their findings revealed that visitors themselves are disappointed with overcrowding, litter and soil erosion. Worryingly, these visitors also believe “that the environmental conditions are likely to worsen in the future if the management does not take immediate action”. (Othman, Anwar and Kian, 2010)

So what happens now?

Wild Asia is currently working on a consultancy project to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in some of Malaysia’s most important and breathtaking nature based tourism destinations. We’re on the lookout for things that need improving in some of our best natural assets and developing practical steps to improve the responsible tourism management of them. One of the ways is that we always recommend destinations follow the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Criteria for Destinations. Wild Asia also offers bespoke training courses to any type of tourism operator to ensure an effective understanding of sound business practices are in place. If you are an operator and would like to know more about greening your business practices, get in touch.

References

Othman, Anwar and Kian, 2010. “Sustainability Analysis: Visitors Impact on Taman Negara, Pahang, Malaysia”. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality & Culinary Arts.

Let's Unravel Travel: Experiences from India (Part 3 of 3)

‘Let’s Unravel Travel’ Series

Our latest dispatches series brings you stories from positive grassroots initiatives and a personal account of some not-so-good tourism activities happening on the ground. Amy, Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Initiative’s latest recruit, shares some first hand experiences from India.

Sadly this is the last in the India series, but we’ve enjoyed sharing these personal accounts of responsible and irresponsible tourism examples…we’re going to do more! Watch this space. .

Praise for the goodies!

Reality Tours & Travel (Mumbai, India)

Slum tourism can be a little controversial, but I really believe that Reality Tours have hit the nail on the head and developed an inspirational responsible tourism model. Reality Tours are based in the popular Colaba district of Mumbai and they deliver eye opening city tours delivered by local people. 80% of their profits are reinvested into community initiatives, including the development of an educational community hub in Dharavi slum. Their tour to the settlement of Dharavi ensures that no photography is taken, visits do not intrude on people’s lives, money is spent within the community and that these ‘real Indian’ experiences are mutually beneficial to visitors and locals. They’re dedicated to paying their guides a fair wage and provide exciting employment opportunities for young people. More information (link to website).

Reality Tours gets stuck in with local events and has recently hosted music classes for youngsters and events to celebrate World Woman’s Day
They give guests tipping tips to ensure fair pricing strategy and to avoid embarrassment

Some things that have got me worried…

Trekking guides without correct equipment or training in Kerala (India)

Chembra Peak is Wayanad’s highest peak, nestled in a beautiful corner of Kerala. A trekking guide is compulsory. However it’s disappointing to see untrained guides taking people into fragile environments with no mobile phones, first aid kit, torches, jacket nor appropriate footwear – worse still, no food and no drink for themselves. Tourism needs to realize the huge potential that well trained guides can have in educating guests about local culture and environment as well as delivering practical steps to protect their natural assets.

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The need for Responsible Tourism and Wild Asia

These positive stories highlight the need for responsible tourism everywhere in the world and showcase that tourism can be a force for good. These are just a small handful of inspirational schemes that are out there. But the benefits to local people speak for themselves. Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Awards recognises best practice in responsible tourism, rewarding businesses by giving them the recognition they deserve. More information on our Awards.

Wild Asia has been championing responsible tourism for over ten years. But we know that in many destinations there is still a lot of work to be done. Wild Asia can provide bespoke training courses for tourism operators to raise awareness on how to reduce environmental impacts or ensure local communities benefit from tourism. The sad stories of poor tourism development show troubles from the top and bottom. Wild Asia continues to work with industry level groups to influence how tourism operates and travelers must remember to take responsibility into their own hands. Please get in touch if you are a tourism business and would like to enquire about responsible tourism training.

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(Photos: Amy McLoughlin, except image of family Dharavi slum: credit Reality Tours)

Let's Unravel Travel: Experiences from India (Part 2 of 3)

‘Let’s Unravel Travel’ Series

Praise for the goodies!

Kabani and Uravu homestays (Kerala, India)

Kabani is an ethical tourism campaigner, championing human rights in tourism across Southern India. It has partnered with an inspiring community bamboo cooperative to develop a fantastic homestay programme. In an area where farming is experiencing some devastating downturns, villagers have got together to create a sustainable tourism model to benefit the lives of the inhabitants. Tourists can come to the quiet village of Thrikkaipetta and stay with local families, immersing themselves in real Keralan culture for an authentic holiday. Villagers benefit from a range of capacity building training from English language, to sustainable farming; more than 1000 people have benefitted from these courses. More information (link to website)

Developed first India based map of identifying responsible tourism issues
Featured in Tourism Concern’s Ethical Travel Guide

Some things that have got me worried…

Local people’s access to public places in Varkala (India)

Varkala is at the heart of Kerala’s prized coastline. Despite being a well established beach resort, most of the development has been done sympathetically and it retains a low key atmosphere and the beach is impressively clean. However, witnessing local guys accused of ‘boob watching’ and ushered away from a part of the beach that’s ‘not for Indian’s’ is pretty disturbing stuff. Girls, put them away if it’s not acceptable and infringes on local’s values.

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The need for Responsible Tourism and Wild Asia

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(Photos: Amy McLoughlin)

Let’s Unravel Travel: Experiences from India (Part 1 of 3)

Our ‘Let’s Unravel Travel’ Series

We’re pleased to announce the launch of our Let’s Unravel Travel series of dispatches style articles. The aim of this exciting new series is to raise awareness about tourism from the field; looking at inspiring grassroots initiatives and localised issues that need addressing. We’re kicking off our articles with experiences from India.

Experiences from India

by Amy McLoughlin

Let me introduce myself. I am Amy and started with Wild Asia in May 2012 to help with the coordination of the Responsible Tourism Awards. I’m a young sustainable tourism professional who has worked for the past few years in the UK as a Sustainable Tourism Adviser in a national park, following a degree in related studies. I joined Wild Asia after eight months travelling and volunteering through Asia. Don’t worry! I’m not going to bore you with my soul searching mission, but I will excite you with my sustainability searching mission!

I have spent most of the past eight months in India. Along my way I have seen some things that have shocked me, inspired me, angered me or moved me. I’d like to share some of these with you.

Praise for the goodies!

Agri Tourism India (Maharashtra, India)

An initiative developed to encourage city slickers to ‘get back to their farming roots’ on peaceful holidays in the beautiful Maharashtrian countryside. It has gone far beyond. It remains a popular get away for Mumbai and Pune residents, but it’s doing it in a way that is wonderfully responsible. Their training centre hosts a range of capacity building courses for local farmers and to date has trained in excess of 500 people. Farmers have been learning about how to diversify their farms into homestays, creating additional sustainable income as well as providing an opportunity to conserve their cultural heritage. The agricultural centre hosts a variety of cultural evenings and events for guests, including traditional bullock cart ride and opportunity to dress in local costume (that’s me in the middle!). As a result, farmers have experienced a 25% economic growth. The scheme is great news for employing woman’s cooperatives and advocating youth employment in an area when many young people flee their rural roots. More information (link to their website).

Tourism for Tomorrow 2011 Finalist Community Benefit
Responsible Tourism Awards 2011 Winner Contribution to Conserving Cultural Heritage

Some things that got me worried…

Waste management in the Andaman and Nicobar islands (India)

The quintessential tropical paradise. Beautiful beaches, swaying palms, bath like sea, pirate movie film set villages…and a shed load of rubbish. I made the calculated decision to visit the tourist hub of Havelock after learning how tourism in these islands has had a negative impact on tribal communities. I was anxious of tourist numbers, I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting a stretched infrastructure, it was good. I was not expecting to wade through sanitary towels and clamber over mountains of glass bottles to get to the beach. Nothing is being done to manage this, gulp.

Next up…

Our next issue will highlight more positive and negative examples from India.

[message type=”simple”]The need for Responsible Tourism and Wild Asia

Wild Asia has been championing responsible tourism for over ten years. But we know that in many destinations there is still a lot of work to be done. Wild Asia can provide bespoke training courses for tourism operators to raise awareness on how to reduce environmental impacts or ensure local communities benefit from tourism. The sad stories of poor tourism development show troubles from the top and bottom. Wild Asia continues to work with industry level groups to influence how tourism operates and travelers must remember to take responsibility into their own hands. Operators can play their part by educating guests. Please get in touch if you are a tourism business and would like to inquire about responsible tourism training.

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(Photos: Amy McLoughlin, except Havelock litter image: credit Brombags1 on Flickr.com)

Workshop on Community Based Tourism (Frasers Hill)

The perfect setting for a workshop with WWF Malaysia’s Community Officers – lush green forested areas, cool temperatures and an array of wildlife and flora. The Wild Asia tourism team and Sandra Tagal, director of Borneo Jungle Safari’s was invited to speak at the “Community Based Eco-Tourism workshop” in Frasers Hill on 27-29 June 2012. The two-day workshop saw 15 people from all walks of life coming together to share a common vision and passion – to see communities empowered to venture into alternative source of livelihood via tourism.

Community Officers set the tone at the start of the workshop by giving the team and their colleagues an overview of their project site, initiatives, challenges and lessons learnt. Each took pride in sharing their experiences and each shared a common empathy on the struggles faced when dealing with communities.

A few success stories surfaced from the sharing and among them were the engagement with tourism operators in Kinabatangan, Sabah. Programme Officer, Lavernita Bingku talked about her two year journey in putting a conservation and visitor levy for the Kinabatangan, the second longest river in Malaysia that is steadily growing in tourist numbers and businesses. Kick-starting the implementation of the Conservation Levy Programme was no easy feat; however with the right authorities supporting and continuous support and effort from the Kinabatangan Corridor of Life Tourism Operators (KiTA) themselves, the Conservation Levy Programme was successfully implemented. Through the levy, they’ve raised a substantial amount that will be used for conservation efforts in the within the area.

Another amazing story was that of PEWANIS, a local women’s entrepreneurs group in a coastal village in Setiu, Terengganu. WWF was involved in identifying members for this group and further identifying avenues for secondary source of income for these women. The group started producing banana chips for sale. Although the chips were selling well, profits were not enough to sustain the growing number of women in the group. So, WWF and PEWANIS came together to rehash and agreed on offering low impact nature tourism products and activities to tourists. Strategically located on the coastal front, the village has astounding views of the sea and is easily accessible via boat. There are also major hotels around the area setting the scene for healthy flow of tourists. The women developed and marketed tourism activities such as mangrove tree planting, environmental education activities, kite making and cooking classes. Currently, the group is going strong and all efforts are fully developed and managed independently by the community.

After listening to inspiring stories from around the country, Wild Asia’s associate programme manager, Deborah Chan shared on concepts of community based tourism and eco tourism. She highlighted case studies from around Asia of community led and managed tourism projects. She drew examples from Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Award winners and finalists. Among them was Ecosphere, a secluded hilltop village in Spiti, India who successfully established a tourism business that generates half of the community’s income annually, Andaman Discoveries, initially a relief aid NGO set up in Thailand after the tsunami and now a very effective tour operator with responsible community based tourism projects across Thailand. Wild Asia’s responsible tourism coordinator, Amy McLoughlin also enlightened the group with her experiences with two grassroots community projects in India – Kabani Homestays and Agri Tourism India.

Community officers learnt the ingredients that make successful community projects and tools to monitor and measure these successes using standards like the Global Sustainable Criteria (GSTC) and the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Checklist. They also learned the importance of communicating their lessons learnt and ways to market tourism products in order to ensure transparency and profitability.

[pullquote style=”left” quote=”dark”]Passion and heart for the community are the very essence that determines the success or failure of a community project. People must come first…[/pullquote]

Reflecting on the two-day workshop, Liza Jaafar who’s overseeing a turtle project in Malacca and hoping to develop the destination for turtle tourism expressed that tourism is far more complicated then she thought and she now understands that tourism is a volatile industry and hence it needs to go hand-in-hand with other innovate sources of income.

Another participant, Jennifer Matthew said, “I have learned so much from this workshop particularly the need to involve all members of the community when it comes to decision making and to ensure equitable distribution of wealth. I will take this lessons learnt and implement them for future projects in the highlands of Bario, Sarawak.”

Among the results of the workshop was healthy dialogue about how to introduce tourism into existing community initiatives and ways to establish positive working partnerships with industry players. Wild Asia hopes to partner with WWF to create sustainable community based tourism projects in Malaysia. This two-day workshop is a foretaste of (hopefully) greater collaboration.

Download Presentation

View the slides presented by Wild Asia on Community Based Tourism (CBT). It outlines basic concepts CBT in the context of environmental conservation, economic benefit and development of local communities with case studies of our previous Responsible Tourism. Responsible CBT projects can produce revenues for local communities and improve local attitudes towards conservation. If you would like to engage Wild Asia for future talks or workshops, please contact rt@wildasia.org.

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Call for Inspiring Stories

Is the local community, environment and wildlife better off because of what you’ve done?

We want to hear from you. Inspire others with what you have done for your destination.

* Please note the deadline for submitting your Inspiring Story 2012 has now passed and closed *

This is your chance to impress customers, industry players, potential buyers and the media by showing them that responsible tourism is possible and powerful in making a difference if done right.

International platform for your stories

Send us your story and you may have the chance to present at the ‘Responsible Tourism Event’ at ITB Asia this coming October in Singapore. Three successful entries will have the privilege to present their stories in a two minute presentation as the curtain opener to our Responsible Tourism Event supported by ITB Asia on 19th October, 2012 (Friday) from 11am-1pm. (If you can’t make it, videos or slideshows can be delivered).

The selection of successful stories is based on the authenticity of the story, creative and innovative elements and the power to inspire other toward making responsible tourism a reality.

On top of that, selected 10 entries will also be featured on Wild Asia’s website where travelers explore the wonder of destinations and how they can enjoy a different kind of travel; one that’s earth & people friendly.

Example of 2011 Inspiring Stories

Submit your story

Submit your stories in any of the following form:

In words; no more than 1,500 words
Video; no more than 5 minutes
Slideshow; no more than 20 slides
Podcast; no more than 5 minutes

Email your entries to rt@wildasia.org by 24th September, 2012 (Monday). Please title your email “RT Stories for RT Event at ITB Asia 2012″ and include your Name, Email, Organization and Destination in your email. Successful applicants will be notified via email by 28th September, 2012.

We can’t wait to hear your story!

The Responsible Tourism Event is a continuation of the successful Responsible Tourism networking events that started in 2009. Organized and supported by ITB Asia, Wild Asia, The Blue Yonder Associates and The Green Circuit, this annual event hopes to bring together sustainable tourism practitioners to share, engage, learn and be inspired to make a difference.