World Responsible Tourism Day takes place on November 8 at World Travel Market, and concentrates on responsible tourism efforts and actions across the travel industry. World Travel Market will host a variety of events to spread awareness on what travel and tourism businesses can do to facilitate more responsible tourism behaviours.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) suggests that travel and tourism makes up over 10% of the world’s GDP and the sector provides one in ten jobs, globally. World Responsible Tourism Day aims to channel the social and economic power of this vast sector to improve the local environment. Visitors are offered a variety of seminars, panel discussions with leading experts, interviews, and debates, as well as a networking event. This year’s event provides travel and tourism businesses with tools to further their knowledge of incorporating responsibility into their practices, the opportunity to meet like-minded people, and be informed on the latest initiatives.
Supported by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, the targets of World Responsible Tourism Day are to: educate industry professionals and travellers on responsible tourism behaviour; use case studies to discover how countries and destinations can become more sustainable; debate vital environmental problems to educate the market and its leaders; finally, to use the influence of World Travel Market as an international business event to progress its responsible tourism agenda forward.
The show closes with the 2017 World Travel Market Responsible Tourism Awards on November 8, influenced by the 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. This year, the awards focus on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The categories for the awards are based on the most relevant sustainable development goals to the travel industry: 8,12, and 14. The awards underline the significance for travel and tourism businesses, organisations, and destinations to transparently report on the outcomes and impact of their efforts and operations to make tourism more sustainable; whilst keeping in mind the ultimate goal which is to use tourism to make better places for people to live in.
The work done by Considerate Hoteliers aligns to the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Global Compact and the objectives set in The Paris Agreement at COP21.
To register for World Travel Market click here.
