Global Issues and Solutions for a Sustainable Tourism - Part 2 - by Florie Thielin

GLOBAL ISSUES & SOLUTIONS
FOR A SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
By Florie Thielin, Master's level course – 2017
PART 2

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This presentation was produced with the intention
of being openly utilized by the public and other
professors in order to help the progress of the
tourism sector towards more sustainability.
It may be broadcast and used freely. If you find it
particularly useful, feel free to send out a quick
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Email : floriethielin@gmail.com

Summary
Part 2 A. Case Studies
B. Good practices in the industry
1. Corporations vs SMEs
2. Corporations
3. Greenwashing vs. Greenhushing
4. SMEs (Small and Mediums
Entreprises)
5. Tools and tips

Summary
Part 2 A. Case Studies
1. Corporations vs SMEs
2. Corporations
4. SMEs (Small and Mediums
Entreprises)
5. Tools and tips
C. Niche Markets
1. Community-based
2. Nature / Ecotourism
3. Birdwatching
4. Slow tourism
5. Dark tourism
6. Last chance tourism
7. Transformative tourism
D. Communication

1. Instructions
Your company was recently awarded and you’re presenting its case during a
conference about sustainable tourism at IBTM Barcelona :
 Your company : What are its story, vision and good practices ?
 Issues : Which are the main tourism challenges faced by its destination ?
 Perspective : And what next in the future ?

1. Instructions
 Make teams of 2 students.
 Choose a tourism companies which was awarded in the past.
 Look for information online and contact at least one pertinent contact in the
destination to ask him/her about the main tourism issues faced in the
country/region/city.
 End up with creative ideas of new and pertinent good practices that the
company could implement (present them as if there were indeed the
company plans for the future).
 Present your case study to the class (15 min) on Monday 11th Dec.
 The best presentations might be showcased on an article published on one
of those medias : Voyageons-Autrement / TV5MONDE / Sustainability-
Leaders / Travindy / Hopineo

2. Webography – websites
 In English :
 Travindy : media
 Sustainabilty Leaders : media
 UNWTO : United Nations World Tourism Organization
 See the list of international organizations on Hopineo.
 In French :
 Voyageons-Autrement : portail d’information
 ATD – Acteurs du Tourisme Durable : association française professionnelle
 ID Tourisme : blog du consultant Guillaume Cromer
 Hopineo : plateforme collaborative
 English & French : The Conversation

2. Webography – social media
 Look for specific hashtags on Twitter like :
 #SustainableTourism
 #IY2017 & #TravelEnjoyRespect (using Hootsuite, tweetdeck)
 Ask questions on specific Facebook groups like :
 Irreponsible Tourism
 Global Ecotourism Network
 Connect with pertinent tourism professionals on
LinkedIn to ask them questions.

3. Criteria of assessment
 Topic well addressed and illustrated (with examples, pictures, patterns).
 Transparency & pertinence of data sources and investigation method.
 Quality of the oral presentation.
 Appealing Power Point, well structured.

1. Corporations vs. SMEs
What’s the most sustainable ?
or

What’s the most sustainable travel agency ?
or

What’s the most sustainable accomodation provider ?
or

What’s the most sustainable restaurant ?
or

The big involvement of the smallest ones is usually
the most « sustainable », but…

…the little changes of the biggest ones,
can also generate big impacts.

Read : ”Interview with Kevin Teng on Sustainability Practices at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore”
An example :
Other companies can now also get
affordable environmental friendly materials.
+ =
Encourage
suppliers to
provide
alternative
solutions and get
certified.

?
What do you think of
Read : “McDo France lance un burger végétarien”

A way to decrease
world meat
consumption ?
What do you think of
Read : “McDo France lance un burger végétarien”
A way to get even
more market
shares ?

2. Corporations
Could a tourism industry
without « big multinational corporations »* exist ?
* talking particularly about publicly traded companies owned by shareholders.

2. Corporations
Yes please!
Always more $$ for rich
shareholders
Leakage issues
Tax havens
Unfair competition
Lobbying
Not really…
Capital investment needed (for
infrastructures)
Cheaper, better marketed : tourists
are buying anyway.
Could a tourism industry
without « big multinational corporations » exist ?
We don’t need : But :

Watch the video :
« Airbnb, l'autre visage d'un géant
du partage - Tout Compte Fait »
2. Corporations
Read the article :
« La carte Airbnb permet
d’échapper au fisc »
The example of Airbnb

So how can the negative impacts of big tourism coporpations be reduced ?
 We need first to better understand their way of thinking.
2. Corporations

2. Corporations
How does a publicly traded company owned by shareholders work ?
Watch the video :
« Social Responsibility Perspectives: The Shareholder and Stakeholder Approach »

2. Corporations
Shareholder
Model
 Profit maximixation
to make money for
shareholders.
Stakeholder
Model
to make money for
shareholders...
…through satisfying
multiple stakeholders.
Different approaches to social responsibility :

2. Corporations
Shareholder
Model
to make money for
shareholders.
Stakeholder
Model
to make money for
shareholders...
Different approaches to social responsibility :
X

2. Corporations
Shareholder
Model
to make money for
shareholders.
Stakeholder
Model
to make money for
shareholders...
2nd
1st
• Special interests
groups
• Media
• Customers
• Employees
• Investors
• Suppliers
• Governments
• Communities
Primary and Secondary stakeholders :

2. Corporations
Watch the video :
« Creating sustainability value »
More concretely, how can a business create value
for its shareholders through sustainability ?

2. Corporations
Video : « Creating sustainability value »

2. Corporations
Having said all that,
let’s lauch our own CSR Awards !
*Corporate Social Responsibility

2. Corporations
 Hotel Groups

2. Corporations
 Hotel Groups
6,000 properties
in 122 countries

2. Corporations
 Hotel Groups
5,000 properties
825,00 rooms
in 103 countries

2. Corporations
 Hotel Groups
5,221 properties
777,675 rooms
in 100 countries

2. Corporations
 Hotel Groups
4,200 hotels
600,000 rooms
in 95 countries

2. Corporations
 Hotel Groups
214 properties
41,000 rooms
in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland)

2. Corporations
 Hospitality, Leisure & Entertainment

 Online Travel Agencies (OTA)
2. Corporations

2. Corporations
 Airlines Companies

2. Corporations : good pratices ?
Which concrete actions are taking
the biggest tourism companies ?
 Choose one corporation (from the list or another one of your choice!)
 Have a look at its CSR policy
 List one concrete action that you particularly liked (with clear numbers,
transparency and proofs ?) and present it to the class.
Listen to the others, you’ll be part of the jury, and together we’ll vote for the 3
finalists and the winner !
 Google Sheet

2. Corporations : alternatives ?
?

It’s a real challenge for new platforms to emerge as the bigger players have :
• Particularly for
technologies investment
and marketing.
Enormous
budgets
• Of service providers
and customers.
Huge
communities
Ex : Possibility to connect with
a channel manager ?

Greenwashing
Greenhushing
versus

Greenwashing ?
Read : Hotel ‘greenwashing’ dirties eco-friendly reputation
When a company is
communicating about being “green”
but doesn't do much.

Greenhushing ?
Read : Greenhushing: why some sustainability committed accommodation
businesses only communicate 30% of what they do
When a company is
implementing great “green” initiatives
but doesn't communicate about it.

Greenhushing ?
Read : Greenhushing: why some sustainability committed accommodation
businesses only communicate 30% of what they do
When a company is
implementing great “green” initiatives
but doesn't communicate about it.
By :
• Lack of communication budget and skills
• Choosing to not communicate as they perceive
that the customers might :
• not care,
• link it to a low quality offer,
• question (greenwashing or real ?).

4. Small & Mediums Entreprises
Which concrete actions are taking
the smallest tourism companies ?
 Watch some of the following short documentaries.
 Which Hopineo category & GSTC criteria do they correspond to ?

Construction
Social Responsibility
Local Development
Travelers’ awareness
Local Heritage & Biodiversity
Energy
Water
Waste
Agriculture & Catering
Transport
Concrete examples of good practices on www.Hopineo.org

Good practices documented during my 2 years through Latin America :

4. Tools : to measure
How to measure sustainability ?
Let’s have a look at a few tools that already exist
or in development.

How to measure sustainability ?
Pick up one tool, have a look at it and present it to your
colleagues !
• Betterfly softwares :
• Hotels : Environmental label & Winggy
• Restaurants : Edgar
• Destinations : Green Passport
• CCI Business Optimizer
• Info Compensation Carbone
• Hotel Footprint Tool
• The Global Sustainable Tourism Dashboard

Environmental labelling
Read : « L’affichage environnemental se déploie dans les hôtels en France »
Experimented since 2011 in France, it might become an obligation in the future for hotels ?

Winggy
For hotels : environmental impacts assesment and reduction.

Edgar
For restaurants : food waste assessment and reduction
Read : « Energy Efficiency in the Kitchen »

Green Passport
For destinations : impact assessment and reduction.

CCI Business Optimizer
For hotels and restaurants : compare and reduce your consumption.

Info Compensation Carbone
For everybody : compensate your CO2 emissions
Read : Evaluer, réduire, et compenser ses émissions de CO2

Hotel Footprint Tool
For hotels : measure and compare your hotel carbon emissions and energy use.

Global Sustainable Tourism Dashboard
For destinations : impact assessment and reduction.

Global Sustainable Tourism Dashboard
How can tourism help achieve the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) ?
What share of the global tourism business happens in developing countries ?
How is tourism distributed around the planet ?
What’s the total global passenger carbon dioxide emissions ?
How efficiently are energies used in the hotel industry ?
How many natural World Heritage sites have a tourism management plan ?
What’s the proportion of female employed in the tourism workforce ?
How many deaths per year due to terrorism acts that involve tourism ?

4. Tips : for start-ups
How to start and help with financing your
sustainable tourism initiative ?
• Join a network or incubator
• Start a crowdfunding campaign
• Hire a consultant, such as GoodProject
• Apply for subventions : « Guide des
financements de l'UE pour le secteur du
tourisme 2014-2020 »
Read : Comment financer ma démarche de tourisme durable

You’re an entrepreneur in tourism,
and you are looking to start off on the right foot your business,
which incubator / accelerator could you join ?
 Google Sheet
Paris
Québec
Amsterdam
Troyes Nantes

Why joining an incubator / accelerator ?
• Let’s list the different reasons you found
out !

What’s the difference ?
Incubator
• + Innovation
• Coworking space with no
set schedule.
• Often focused on a
specific market or vertical.
• For France : www.mon-
incombateur.com
Accelerator
• + Scaling a business
• One-shot program with a
set timeframe : from a few
weeks to a few months.
• More selective application
process.
• Usually in exchange for a
small amount of equity.
• Pitch at the end attended
by investors and media.
Read « Incubateur de startup, accélérateur, comment ça marche ? »

Market Segments
Sustainable tourism is
NOT a market segment !

But some market segments can
be considered as more
“sustainable” by their core
nature.
Which ones do you think of ?
Market Segments

Market Segments – by motivations
Nature Sport CultureWellness
Some examples :
Community-
based
Adventure
Climbing
Wildlife,
birdwatching
Creative
Art
Religious
Diving, surf
Photography
Culinary
History
Cycling
Detox
Agrotourism,
rural, productive
tourism
Trekking, hiking
Street art

Market Segments – by demography
Tourism for all
Life cycleMinorities
Backpackers
Flashpackers
Families
Seniors
Accessible
GLBT

Market Segments – transversal
Dark tourism
Transversal concepts
Last chance
tourism
Voluntourism
Transformative
Slow Tourism Microadventures

Market Segments
Let’s have a closer look to some of them !

Market Segments
• Pick up one niche market  Google Sheet
• Review links and/or make additional researches
 Give a short definition.
 List a few concrete examples (destinations / sub segments / trends )
 What else did you learn you’d like to share with the class ?

1. Community-based tourism (CBT)
See : Some Proposed Models for Successful Community Based Tourism
Tourism activities should not damage the local community’s way of life or traditions. Usually
the ‘community’ works with a local tour operator. The local people get a fair share of the
benefits and profits. They also have a say in how incoming tourism is managed.”
Source : CBI
What is it ?
“CBT aims to include local communities in
tourism. The most important aspects are:
 benefitting local communities
(especially rural or indigenous
people),
 contributing to their wellbeing,
 preservation of their cultural and
environmental assets.

1. Community-based tourism (CBT)
Examples ?
In Latin America :
 Andean Lodges in Peru – video
 LARECOTURH in Honduras – video
 Tusoco in Bolivia – video
 ASTURS in Peru – video
 Ecuador, Amazon – video
 Bonete, Ilhabela island, Brazil – video
 Networks of associations through Latin America :
RedTurs, Travolution, Alba Sud, Village Monde
Read the CBI market study

What is it ?
“Nature tourism is based on experiences directly related to
nature. Enjoying nature is the primary motive for travelling.
According to the Rainforest Alliance, nature-based tourism
accounts for about 20% of international travel.
It focuses on:
 natural landscapes,
 flora and fauna
 lifestyles of people living in natural environments.
 It includes a wide range of ‘soft’ activities, for example:
camping, staying in a rainforest lodge, a boat trip,
walking, hiking, visiting a national park or wildlife
observation.”
Source : CBI

Examples ?
According to industry experts, popular nature and eco tourism destinations include:
Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, Cabo Verde, South Africa, Botswana, India, Indonesia, Thailand.

Source : Protected areas categories by IUCN
Examples ?
Different kind of protected nature areas that can be visited :
National Park
Wildlife sanctuary
Protected and reserved forests
No human activity inside the
buffer or core zone. Tourism is
permitted in some specific areas.
Some human activities are
permitted, such as indigenous
people living inside.
Biosphere reserve
+ strict

Examples ?
Different kind of protected nature areas that can be visited :
Biosphere reserve :
Notified areas which
cover a larger area of
land which may cover
multiple National Parks,
Sanctuaries and reserves
as well.
See the UNESCO’s Man &
Biosphere program.

3. Birdwatching
What is it ?
“Birdwatching tourism or avitourism refers to travel with the main
purpose of viewing birds in their natural habitat.
As it is centred on components of the natural environment, birds
and their habitat, birdwatching tourism is a subcategory of
nature-based tourism. This type of tourism takes place mainly in
natural environments, with the specific purpose of viewing and
experiencing the natural features of a destination.”
Source : CBI

3. Birdwatching
Examples ?
In Latin America :
 Canopy Tower in Panama
 Mindo, Ecuador
 Birdwatching Costa Rica
Watch the movie The Big Year (2011)
See Better attract birdwatchier travelers

4. Slow tourism
What is it ?
“Slow tourism : become part of local life and to connect to a place, its people, its
culture, by traveling more slowly, taking time to focus on one region of a country,
walking or biking for example.”

5. Dark tourism
What is it ?
“Dark tourism : tourism involving travel to
places historically associated with death
and tragedy.”
“Chernobyl Tour”
Ukraine
“Pablo Escobar Tour”
Medellin, Colombia

6. Last chance tourism
What is it ?
“Last chance tourism : tourists want to see
vanishing landscapes/seascapes,
disappearing species, ancestral cultures
before it is too late.”

7. Transformative tourism
What is it ?
“it’s travel motivated and defined by a
shift in perspective, self-reflection and
development, and a deeper communion
with nature and culture.”

How to effectively communicate ?

Key Takeaways
 Which economical, social, and environmental impacts may have tourism on
a destination / on the planet ?
 What can governments / tourism boards, tourists and tourism companies do
to reduce the negative impacts ?
 Which reasons can make a tourism company want to become more
“sustainable” ?
 Which are the pros and cons of sustainable tourism certifications for the
companies ?
 What’s the difference between the shareholder and stakeholder models ?
 What do we call “greenwashing” ? “greenhushing” ?
 Which niche markets that can be considered as more “sustainable” ?
 Watch again the movie “tomorrow” and read the article “Tourismophobie,
le grand bal des hypocrites”

To Conclude
Working in “sustainable tourism” ?
 Sustainable tourism is not a niche or a key skill.
 Develop the set of skills you like the most
(marketing, operations, management etc…)
 And choose to work for a company that follows
your values.
 Or start your own business !
Read : Travailler dans le secteur du tourisme responsible ?

To Conclude
You’re the next generation !

To Conclude
So, will you choose to be
ostruch or hummingbird ?

To Conclude
Nobody is 100% sustainable.
It’s a path you decide to take :
using common sense, thinking long
term for the company & its various
stakeholders, and keeping this in
mind in all daily decisions.

To Conclude
Conclusion of the movie “Demain”, from ,1m53”06

To Conclude
• Manger bio et peu de viande
• Opter pour un fournisseur d’électricité renouvelable
• Acheter dans des commerces locaux et indépendants
• Changer de banque
• Réduire, réutiliser, recycler, réparer, partager…

To Conclude
3
Create positive impacts
2
Reduce negative impacts
1
Take Responsibility

Start to follow :
 In French :
 Voyageons-Autrement : portail d’information sur le tourisme responsable
 ATD – Acteurs du Tourisme Durable : association française professionnelle
 ID Tourisme : blog du consultant Guillaume Cromer, chaîne YouTube
 Hopineo : plateforme collaborative pour collecter les bonnes pratiques
 Veille info tourisme : weekly newsletter
 English & French :
 The Conversation : articles écrits par des chercheurs et universitaires
 In English :
 CBI : many market studies by the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs
 Travindy : media
 Sustainabilty Leaders : media

Ideas of books to read :
5 books recommended by Sustainability Leaders :
 “Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism” by Elizabeth Becker (Simon & Schuster, 2013)
 “International Cases in Sustainable Travel & Tourism” by Dagmar Lund-Durlacher & Pierre Benckendorf
(Goodfellow Publishers, 2013)
 “Green Growth and Travelism: Letters from Leaders” by Geoffrey Lipman, Terry DeLacy, Shaun Vorster,
Rebecca Hawkins, and Min Jiang (Goodfellow Publishers, 2012)
 “Taking Responsibility for Tourism” by Harold Goodwin (Goodfellow Publishers, 2011)
 “Sustainable Tourism in Island Destinations” by Sonya Graci and Rachel Dodds (Earthscan/Routledge, 2010)

Global Issues and Solutions for a Sustainable Tourism - Part 2 - by Florie Thielin

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Global Issues and Solutions for a Sustainable Tourism - Part 2 - by Florie Thielin