Good tourism happens when the host community buys into the concept, contributes to ideation, encourages generations of people to be educated professionals supporting the industry, and wants to be part of the welcome
I spent a good part of May at PATA Annual Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea and IMEX in Frankfurt, Germany. One covers the broader travel and tourism landscape while the other centres on business events, and both presented overlapping takeaways for me.
One: Responsible tourism development continues to dominate conversations on stage and off, and the focus is now far more than just meeting the expectations of an increasingly discerning customer base. Industry professionals across the travel, tourism and business events industry are increasingly directed by national policy to ensure developments benefit local communities into the distant future. At the same time, there is growing understanding among destination managers and professionals that good tourism happens when the host community buys into the concept, contributes to ideation, encourages generations of people to be educated professionals supporting the industry, and wants to be part of the welcome.
Two: An ESG system does not only satisfy regulations, it creates a structure for destinations and businesses to nimbly respond to challenges posed by the macroenvironment.
Three: The good that tourism and business events achieve must be communicated more loudly to the public. It is easy to see tourists jostling for the best shot of springtime blooms or event attendees disrupting traffic as they arrive en masse, and then be annoyed with them for straining public services. But it is harder to see the sustenance of traditional craft, job creation, expansion of knowledge and trade exchange, improved living conditions of underdeveloped communities, and more.
I see the movement towards responsible tourism as a sound solution for the tourism and business events industry’s pressing need for young talents. If the younger generation is increasingly seeking meaningful work, then tourism as a vehicle for good – made possible by proper governance, destination management, and focus on resilience – will speak to their hearts and encourage more of them to be part of the industry.
