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Eco-Directory: A unique destination guide designed to help consumers make responsible travel choices. The guide can also be a useful tool for tour operators interested in industry Best Practices.
PR Services and Media Kits: Tourism suppliers - get the attention of media professionals and travel writers through on-line media, feature story presentations, and email press releases.
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Sustainable Travel Report
The Responsible Tourism e-Newsletter
In this issue you will find:
1. Message from STI President, Brian T. Mullis
2. User's Guide to Sustainable Tourism
3. Eco-certification Pilot Test: Feedback Request
4. Featured Tourism Supplier
5. Travelers' Philanthropy: Porter Protection
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Message from STI President, Brian T. Mullis
Thanks
to all of our supporters, our Sustainable Tourism Eco-certification
Program™ (STEP) is in now underway! After years of research
and development, we are proud to take the next step and put our
program to the test. Register
online and let us know what you think!
We have also launched our on-line User's Guide to Sustainability for the travel and tourism industry. With this we offer a special thanks to the hard work of our research assistants, who came together from across the globe to help us bring it together.
Both the User's Guide and STEP are educational tools designed to encourage sustainable development within the tourism industry. By educating travelers and tourism providers about minimizing their environmental and socio-economic impacts, we can help to benefit local communities, host countries, and travelers and tourism providers themselves.
But in order to do so, we need your help. Call 800-276-7764 or email us today to find out how.
Eco regards,
Brian T. Mullis
President
brianm@sustainabletravel.com
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User's Guide to Sustainable Tourism
We
are happy to report that our User's
Guide to Sustainable Tourism is now available
on-line. This complementary tool to the Sustainable
Tourism Eco-Certification Program™ (STEP) may
also be used by companies who are not ready to pursue
certification but are interested in sustainability.
Designed to assist travel providers in implementing sustainable business practices and help them to progress toward eco-certification, the User's Guide provides practical tips on how to measure and manage business-related impacts, while improving business operations.
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Eco-certification Pilot Test: Feedback Request
The STEP Pilot Test is currently underway and is open to the public for testing and feedback. We are requesting participation from travel and tourism providers, governmental agencies, NGOs, and consumers who are interested in helping us to maximize STEP's impact as a positive force in the travel industry.
Our goal is to develop STEP as a useful, user friendly tool in a transparent manner - one that provides an incentive to travel professionals within the U.S. to apply for eco-certification and focus on their triple bottom line of environmental conservation, social responsibility, and economic profitability. In doing so, the program will allow consumers to easily identify and purchase through authentic responsible travel providers.
As
such, we need the input of all interested
parties. So if you would like to get involved,
simply register
online, and then follow the instructions
outlined at the top of the page.
The STEP pilot will be tested for two months through June 30, 2004. Following that, we will carefully assess the pilot results and performance before making final modifications and releasing the program within the U.S. travel and tourism market place later this year.
For additional information, call 800-276-7764 or email STI.
Disclaimer: STI's Sustainable Tourism Eco-certification Program™ ("STEP") is not in any way affiliated with the World Tourism Organization's Sustainable Tourism - Eliminating Poverty ("ST-EP") program.
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Featured Tourism Supplier
Andean Trails
Founded in 1997, Andean Trails specializes in small-group trekking and mountain bike adventures to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.
The company's activities are governed by their high respect for the people and environments of the Andes. They realize that they must look after the people and places they visit in order to sustain their business, preserve local heritage and protect the environment.
Their philosophy means putting as much as possible into the local economy. In fact, Andean Trails donates profits to local grassroots projects, chooses local over imported goods, and employs local agents, staff and guides. They also use public transport whenever possible as well as locally owned hotels and restaurants, and they purchase local produce for all of their programs.
The company is proactive as well. They actively manage their waste and use low-energy light bulbs, fair-trade and biodegradable products whenever possible. In addition, Andean Trails trains their staff and guests to develop positive relationships with local communities. For example, they donate goods such as clothes and shoes to local communities, and they support children's charities in Peru and Ecuador.
The guidelines they provide their staff and guests are quite thorough. We've paraphrased and outlined a few of the more notable ones below:
- Start enjoying your travels before you leave by tapping into as many sources as you can and gaining an appreciation for the cultures that you plan to visit.
- Think carefully about what's appropriate in terms of your clothes and the way you behave. You'll earn respect and be more readily welcomed by local people.
- Don't treat people as part of the landscape. Do not expect any special privileges - remember that you are only one of many visitors.
- Try and put money into the local economy; drink local beer or fruit juice rather than imported brands, and buy and eat locally produced food.
- Pay a fair price for the goods or services you buy - if you haggle for the lowest price, your bargain may be at someone else's expense.
- Think about what happens to your rubbish. Take biodegradable products and a water filter bottle so as not to add to rubbish disposal problems.
In summary, Andean Trails is a leader in responsible tourism in the Andes. For more information, visit STI's Eco-Directory or Andean Trails' web site
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Travelers' Philanthropy: Porter Protection
The International Mountain Explorers Connection (IMEC) is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 to promote responsible and sustainable connections between travelers and the people of developing mountain regions of the world. IMEC provides and coordinates education, assistance, and cross-cultural experiences for its members, volunteers, trekkers, and local communities in Nepal, Tanzania and Peru.
IMEC's work is groundbreaking. The organization has developed a very successful Porter Partnership Program to help tour operators improve conditions for working porters and the environments in which they travel. The social benefits are great as porters are better cared for. They are also provided with access to English classes, health and safety programs, clean warm clothing, and opportunities to acquire skills they would not have access to otherwise.
Many companies have embraced IMEC's programs because they make it easier for tour operators to access the information they need to implement best practices regarding porters.
If your company operates in Nepal, Tanzania and Peru or any other region where porters are employed, we encourage you to get involved and contact IMEC today.
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Over 4,100 conscientious consumers, travel companies, governmental agencies, and conservation-based organizations receive the Sustainable Travel Report each month. Please help us to expand our outreach by telling your friends about us.
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For More Information
Please
visit
our web
site, email
or call 800-276-7764. If you want to spread the word about
sustainable travel and tourism, link
to us!
Should you not wish to receive this and other information from Sustainable Travel International, simply reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL
P.O. BOX 1313
BOULDER COLORADO 80306
PHONE 800-276-7764
EMAIL info@sustainabletravel.com
BUSINESS HOURS: 8am-5pm MST
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