Responsible tourism gets green light

 Responsible tourism will headline several seminar theatre sessions at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) as government legislation, increased focus on the traveller footprint and the impact of natural disasters on country economies put the spotlight on the importance of effective sustainable travel strategies.

Exhibitors including The Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia, Namibia Tourism Board, Gray Line and FHRI Hotels & Resorts join other hotel groups, tour operators, airlines and other industry sub-sectors are focusing additional resources on exploring new opportunities in responsible tourism.

According to industry commentators, responsible travel trends for 2016 include seeking out locally sourced food, traveller interest in the preservation of local culture and authentic experiences, ‘voluntourism’, pro-environmental hotel development and a significant focus on energy saving by operators as well as guests.

'More and more companies are re-evaluating their business model to incorporate responsible tourism products and programmes, and are using this as a tool to attract ethically and environmentally minded guests and clients as well as to support local government efforts or in response to legislated change,' said ATM exhibition manager Nadege Noblet-Segers.

According to a 2014 Blue & Green Tomorrow’s consumer survey, 43 per cent of respondents said they would be considering the ethical or environmental footprint of their primary holiday, with almost 10 per cent partially considering this when planning their travel.

BEST PRACTICE

The line-up of responsible tourism seminars taking place at this year’s Arabian Travel Market includes two afternoon sessions on April 26, entitled ‘Coping with success, the sustainability challenge in the region’ and ‘Environmental leadership in the Middle East’. This will be followed b a special master class on using responsible tourism for market advantage and to drive increased revenues.

'We are already seeing some great examples of best practice in the region especially when it comes to the environment, and with a number of exciting green building initiatives underway, there is a clear opportunity to raise global awareness of grassroots activity and secure additional business,' said Noblet-Segers.

The UAE already has more than 5,000-sq-km of protected natural areas with associated tourism opportunities. These include Dubai’s Ras Al Khor nature reserve, Fujairah’s Bird Island and Abu Dhabi’s extensive Desert Islands programme.

'Experiential tourism is another area where the Middle East needs to get into the traveller mindset and create added value by developing exciting, forward-thinking responsible tourism programmes, and our master class session will build on the discussions from the WTM London 2015 roundtable event,' said Noblet-Segers.

Sharjah’s new ecotourism project in Kalba, which is scheduled to open in 2017, is a good example of experiential tourism, and will include a turtle rehabilitation centre, visitor centre and bird of prey centre, she added.