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Spread the Word ::
If you want to spread the word about sustainable travel, refer us to your friends, contact us or link to us!
MyClimate™ :: Offset the greenhouse gas emissions associated with your client's and your businesses' air travel and earn revenue while helping to protect the planet!
Eco-directory ::
Visit our online eco-directory - a unique destination guide designed to help you make responsible travel choices, so you can book and buy with confidence.
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Sustainable Travel Report
The Responsible Tourism e-Newsletter
A Message from STI's President
With a New Year comes new challenges and opportunities for greater rewards.
Achieving a return on investment is paramount to survival, let alone success, within the travel and tourism industry. Although cause marketing related to sustainable business practices is attractive, it is important to take more of a holistic approach and focus on integrating proven management strategies and systems into your operations.
Management systems that focus on sustainability provide an operating framework for better controlling business operations, helping, for example, to reduce waste and increase efficiency. They're also designed to help measure and manage your triple bottom line - increasing profits and improving environmental performance while providing socio-economic benefits for local and regional businesses and economies in your region of operations.
Taking this approach encourages creative and relevant solutions from the business itself, offering innovative opportunities for being proactive and taking a comprehensive approach to establishing and meeting defined performance targets. Don't just take our word for it - there's ample research and evidence to support the case for sustainability. The important thing to remember is that it's not only marketable - it's profitable.
For more information on creating and implementing sustainable management systems, please contact us. We're here to help!
Happy New Year,
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Thinking About a Personal Energy Policy
By Rick Price and Paola Malpezzi-Price,
owners of ExperiencePlus! Specialty Tours
Personal coaches and employment counselors encourage their clients to write personal mission statements. They claim that this helps clarify values and develop personal goals. But have you ever had anyone encourage you to develop a personal energy policy?
The price of gasoline may be the catalyst that will push many Americans to do so. I expect not many of us have one. Or do we? Here's how Paola and I developed ours...
Continue reading "Thinking About a Personal Energy Policy".
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Low-impact Travel Tips
for the Business Class
There's no doubt about it - business travel is big business.
According to the 2004 Business and Convention Travelers Report, business travel comprised only 18 percent of total travel volume in 2003, yet 38 million business travelers generated nearly 211 million person-trips, equating to 31 percent, or $153 billion, of all domestic travel spending. In 2004, 50 percent of guest rooms were reserved by business travelers, helping the lodging industry gross $16.7 billion in pretax profits, according to the American Hote and Lodging Association. This is good news for the travel and tourism industry, considered by many to be the largest industry in the world. But it can be bad news from an environmental standpoint.
Continue reading "Low-impact travel tips for the business class."
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Ecosystem and Biodiversity Conservation
Ecosystem and biodiversity conservation help to maintain the delicate ecological balance of the planet. Biodiversity provides us with life-sustaining systems such as clean air, productive ecosystems, fresh water and fertile soil. We also depend on healthy, diverse gene pools for medicine, science and for the survival of threatened and endangered species.
Measuring Your Impact: Your Contribution to Conservation
Business activities undoubtedly affect our ecosystems and biodiversity. Since individual business impacts vary considerably, you will need to consider the specific ecosystems and habitats where your business operates in order to measure and manage your related impacts.
In terms of measurable variables, you will need to determine the following:
- Annual value of charitable donations allocated toward environmental, ecosystem and biodiversity conservation.
- Total number of hours of in kind and / or volunteer contributions allocated toward conservation annually.
- You may also want to measure your performance based on the number of acres preserved from development annually.
Managing Your Impact
To help conserve ecosystems and biodiversity, consider the following:
- Utilize your business' influence to make environmental improvements by contributing to or sponsoring local or regional conservation projects. Sponsorship is ideal if you aren't in a position to volunteer your time, and monetary contributions are almost always welcomed. However, volunteering your time, or that of your employees, is oftentimes the best way to contribute.
- Plant or replant native and endemic species to provide a natural habitat and rehabilitate damaged areas. A local nursery or landscape designer will be able to help you choose plants that are appropriate to your specific needs. There are also numerous books and websites that thoroughly address the subject.
- Rehabilitate or improve an existing waterway on your property or in the region(s) in which you operate by putting up fencing or re-vegetating the banks along the waterway. Benefits include improved habitat for native plants and animals, reduced erosion and nutrient inputs, decreased sediment loads and turbidity, and improved aesthetics.
- Ensure that your impacts are minimal by following the seven Leave No Trace® principles of low impact travel: plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste proerly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, and be considerate of other visitors. For more detailed information, visit the Leave No Trace® website.
- Help to perverse the habitats of threatened and endangered species. When species' habitats are preserved, entire ecosystems may benefit. The preserved ecosystem may harbor other flora and fauna that are valuable to agriculture or medicine or that perform functions essential to the health of the ecosystem as a whole.
- Check with relevant parks and public land agencies where you operate to get involved and to learn more about their management plans and how your business might support ecosystem and biodiversity conservation.
Useful Links
For more useful ideas, purchase a copy of our Guide to Sustainable Tourism or view it on-line.
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Free Marketing Opportunity:
Green Travel Market
The Green Travel Market promotes sustainable tourism products worldwide. Its aim is twofold - to motivate tour operators to include more sustainable products in their packages and to inform the media and other professionals about related initiatives.
The barriers to entry are minimal. Your products can be hosted on the Green Travel Market website for FREE. However, participation is open only to companies and products that are officially recognized by a credible third party (e.g., STI) as contributing to environmental conservation and / or socio-cultural preservation.
For more information, contact us. To apply today, visit the Green Travel Market website.
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Responsible Travel:
Jungle Bay Resort & Spa
Jungle Bay Resort & Spa is a model for tourism development in the Caribbean. Located on the Caribbean Island of Dominica (pronounced "Dom-in-eek-a"), this new 55-acre tropical retreat is situated along the country's scenic southeast coastline bordering Morne Trois Pitons National Park, the only UNESCO World Heritage Park in the Eastern Caribbean.
The resort is designed to host retreats, conferences, weddings and visitors seeking to explore the island's natural attractions. Guests can practice yoga, swim, hike or take a tour of the surrounding area. Organically grown, gourmet local cuisine is available at the resort's restaurant, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. Jungle Bay, however, is much more than just a hotel or a resort. It's an example of how high quality guest accommodations can be developed without adversely impacting the natural environment.
The resort hires exclusively from surrounding communities and purchases services and supplies from local farmers and entrepreneurs. Jungle Bay also recently financed tuition fees for all high school students in the Carib Territory, the Caribbean's last remaining indigenous Carib Indians.
The project has been deliberately labor intensive in its construction in an effort to provide broad financial benefit to the surrounding communities. During construction Jungle Bay helped unemployed farmers from the surrounding villagers that were displaced by the island's banana crisis develop a range of transferable construction skills.
In maintaining the rainforest in it's pristine state, the construction techniques and operating practices of Jungle Bay minimize adverse impacts on the environment by using conservation technology through waste management, energy use, and other techniques ensuring limited disturbance of the ecosystem.
The owner, Sam Raphael, has also spearheaded several important community development and tourism aw areness initiatives. He helped found the South East Tourism Development Committee (SETDC) whose mission is to help develop local capacity to be able to take advantage of the economic opportunities that Jungle Bay offers as well as to help ensure the environmental protection of the area. Some of the many community projects SETDC has spearheaded include development of sites and trails linked with heritage-based economic activities, and working with school in highlighting awareness among young people with respect to conservation issues. Jungle Bay and SETDC were also partners in starting the turtle preservation efforts in the southeast of the island to counter poaching activities, while simultaneously proving an educational attraction to resort guests and a source of revenue the community residents.
Jungle Bay is an exceptional example of a high quality luxury resort can be built with low impact construction techniques integrated with the community involvement and a capacity building strategy for surrounding communities.
For more information or to learn more about Jungle Bay, call +1 767-446-1789, email, or visit STI's Eco-Directory or the company's website.
About Dominica. The government of Dominica has embraced ecotourism as its new form of economic development, as it has proven to become a m ore viable long-term alternative to the mass tourism focus of many areas in the Caribbean. In fact, Dominica was the world's first nation to be declared a Green Globe 21 Benchmark Certified destination, a feat that only two other destinations have since earned. The benchmark certification shows the country's dedication to environmentally and culturally sensitive tourism.
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Responsible Travel:
Atlantic Sea Kayaking in Cork, Ireland
Warmed by the Gulf Stream, the coast of West Cork, Ireland, is sprinkled with deserted islands, ancient castles, sea caves and an abundance of marine life. Atlantic Sea Kayaking offers travelers a unique opportunity to explore this wild landscape in a nature-friendly way.
Kayakers have the option of several different trips, including half-day, full-day or nighttime when phosphorescence lights the ocean. They explore bays, inlets, the shoreline, i slands and sea caves, as well as venture into the open sea. Those who choose to extend their nighttime excursions into camping trips will land on an uninhabited island, set up camp and cook an organic meal under the stars.
The guides pass information about the surrounding environment to the travelers. A "no trace" policy is followed, which requires sites to be left as they were found. Guides also teach kayakers how to be economical in their use of natural resources, including heat, electricity and water. In addition, the company's sea kayaks are made with recyclable plastics and do not emit noxious gases or greenhouse gas emissions.
Although marine life, including native birds, seals, otters and a number of species of whales, is a major part of the excursion, the company's policy is to "look but not touch." However, animals in distress are regularly rescued, such as dolphins caught in nets. Jim Kennedy, the company's proprietor, is an active member of the local Coast and Cliff Rescue Service and Whale and Dolphin Rescue Unit.
In addition, the company encourages kayakers to collect discarded bottles and foreign materials found en route, which are later recycled if possible. Kayakers are also encouraged to patronize locally owned establishments, including restaurants, hotels and shops. Most of these businesses produce their food locally and organically.
For more information, email Sea Kayaking West Cork or visit their website.
Please note: This article appeared in the September 2004 issue of Eco-Structure Magazine.
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National Geographic Adventure
Special Advertising Opportunity
Reach 525,0000 Adventure Enthusiasts! National Geographic Adventure and STI are collaborating with one another to offer a special "Responsible Travel" advertising section on the first page of National Geographic Adventure's Travel Directory.
The cost is only $875 for a 1/12 page, full color ad which reflects a significant discount. The special section will appear in the May 2006 issue which is on sale April 25th and in homes around April 18th. For only $200 more, $1,075 total, you can also receive a classified ad in any 2006 issue of choice (i.e., June/July, August, September, October, November, or Dec/Jan). And as an added value, receive free reader service, both in the magazine and online as well as a Travel Directory listing on the National Geographic Adventure website.
National Geographic Adventure was named Best Travel Magazine of the Year by the Society of American Travel Writers, so take advantage of this offer today by contacting Kathleen Kertesz and mentioning this offer and STI.
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The Zapara Threshold Project
As cultures continue to disappear rapidly across the globe, STI is committed to providing opportunities for our readers, and the industry at large to help save those that are endangered:
The Zapara culture in the Ecuadorian Amazon is in danger of disappearing within one generation as the "shimanos" often die without ever having the opportunity to pass on their knowledge to their sons and daughters. Sadly many Zapara youth are leaving their villages to head to the bigger cities thus slowly losing their ties to their local communities. Unless there is a renewed interest in the Zapara culture, it will disappear. Much is in jeopardy of being lost including language, forests and shamanist traditions which include spiritual and healing practices that utilize medicinal herbs. The best way to prevent this from happening is to invest in Zapara youth as they must be the custodians of their heritage.
Preservation efforts include the creation of a film on Zapara Cultural Preservation produced by a group Zapara youth age 18 to 30 years old. The film will concentrate on the Zapara holders of knowledge, in particular the seven Zapara speaking Elders, who remained in Ecuador, of their own accord to begin the transmission of their ancestral knowledge (including preserving Zapara language, recording oral history and myths and documenting traditional medicine) to younger members of their communities.
We are hopeful the Zapara youth that chose to work as a team to create this film will have a renewed interest in protecting and preserving their culture. This, we believe, would be the greatest investment in the future of the Zapara culture.
The film would be used to garner international interest in the struggle of the Zapara people to preserve their culture and survive. A few of the youth who work on the film will then have the opportunity to travel to New York to attend the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples to bring their cause to the forum as well as to have the film's debut in the international community.
The film will also be used as a tool to launch a project on "Cultural Preservation and Economic Development through Eco-Tourism" by bringing people that have viewed the film and are interested in supporting the Zapara Cultural Preservation. The group of pilot tourists would have the opportunity to learn about Zapara traditions, spiritual and healing practices that use medicinal herbs, environmental conservation and more. The film would also be shared with the group of tourists and would run on solar power.
Until a few years ago, the Zapara were thought to have been extinct. Starting with the rubber boom in the early nineteenth century, the Zapara have experienced a history of slavery, massacres and sickness that has reduced their population from 20,000 to 350 (approximately 200 in Ecuador and 150 in Peru). The Zapara are now fighting to preserve their culture, language and traditional knowledge, and to have their lands legalized and demarcated. Their lands and cultures, however, are currently threatened by oil development.
Interested in donating funds to this project? Contact Pamela Kraft, Executive Director of the Tribal Link Foundation. Interested in going to Ecuador to visit the Zapara communities? Contact John Van Dyk.
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Conference Corner:
The 2nd Annual Business-NGO Partnerships Conference, Adventures in Travel Expo,
Sustainable Opportunities Summit,
and the Travel Technology Show
The 2nd annual Business-NGO Partnerships conference is taking place in New York City on May 9-10, 2006. The brochure and latest program are now available to download. High level executives from major businesses and NGOs will be presenting, including Visa, Timberland, Merck, Intel, Pfizer, Dupont, Nokia, Rainforest Alliance, Future 500, PETA, Oxfam America and many, more! Topics to be discussed include:
- Finding the right partner
- How to measure progress and address key measurement challenges
- Strategies for minimizing risk and conflict
- What makes a partnership succeed or fail
- How to set up and maintain clear communication between the business and NGO
Register now - this event is sure to sell out. Save $400 if you register before January 30th.
The Adventures in Travel Expo (ATE) is returning to Washington DC on February 10-12, 2006. And this is your FREE invitation to attend. STI will be participating and speaking on "Responsible Tourism Comes of Age: How It Is Transforming the Travel Industry" in conjunction with the Adventure Council, and we encourage you to attend or just drop by and say 'hi'.
ATE is the world's largest series of travel events serving major metro area "power markets" that provide an unparalleled buying audience, representing over $180 billion in travel purchases with the highest disposable income levels and ideal active travel demographics.
These premier events give attendeesthe opportunity to save thousands of dollars with "Show Only" discounts, enter to win door prizes, discover the best experiences that they may not find otherwise, and participate in numerous activities like scuba diving, rock climbing, snow shoeing, and much, much more! For more information, email Andrea Hutchinson, visit ATE's website, or call 203-878-2577 extension 100.
STI will also be presenting at the First Annual Sustainable Opportunities Summit in Boulder, CO from 9:45-11:00 am on February 24th. The Summit will highlight how cutting-edge innovators in large and small companies are discovering that the global movement toward social and environmental responsibility can improve profitability and boost shareholder value. New products, new services, and new ways of doing business all represent opportunities for savvy companies. A diverse group of leaders from major corporations, emerging and entrepreneurial companies, and investment firms will share their strategies to take advantage of this growing field.
This year's Travel Technology Show is set for January 31-February 1, 2006. Exhibitors will demonstrate travel technology products, services and solutions in the fields of sales, marketing, fulfilment, distribution and business operations.
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High Moon Cartoons
If you would like to purchase any one of High Moon's six cartoon books, you may order them directly from the Japan Environmental Exchange via email or JEE's website.
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This e-Newsletter is brought to you as a free public service by Sustainable Travel International, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. And we need your support! Become a Member, volunteer your time or make a tax-deductible donation.
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