Opinion.


Dr Harold Goodwin has worked on 4 continents with local communities, their governments and the inbound and outbound tourism industry. He is a Professor Emeritus and  Responsible Tourism Director at the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, Managing Director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership and adviser to the World Travel Market on its Responsible Tourism programme at WTM London, which attracts 4000 participants each year, and WTM Africa and Latin America and Arabian Travel Market. He chairs the panels of judges for the World Responsible Tourism Awards and the other Awards in the family, Africa, India and Latin America. Harold founded the ICRTD series of International Conferences on Responsible Tourism in Destinations in 2002, he co-chairs the conferences with the local host organisation. He is also Founder Director of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism which he founded in 2002 and which promotes the principles of the Cape Town Declaration.

28 September 2023

All that we really need to do is to stop burning fossil fuels, oil and coal

In London, Just Stop Oil quotes Sir David King, the former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government in 2021, “What we do over the next […]
20 September 2023

Postponing action on climate change is a tragic mistake

The UK Prime Minister is apparently considering weakening some of the government’s key commitments in a major policy shift. He is apparently considering a major change, […]
20 September 2023

European Parliament’s game changing pilot project for sustainable aviation fuels

The aviation industry plays a vital role in the global economy connecting people and goods across long distances. However its reliance on fossil fuels has made […]
20 September 2023

Empowering Europe’s small and independent accommodations

Travel is a force for good in the world, and it is also a powerful economic engine. Before the pandemic, WTTC calculated that the tourism sector […]
22 August 2023

Destination management is a local government function

In 1999 John Swarbrooke wrote the major textbook on Sustainable Tourism Management, it quickly became a mainstay of tourism courses in universities in Europe and around […]
17 August 2023

A promising pilot project to empower the future of tourism

The European Parliament (EP) approved a resolution in March 2021, establishing an “EU Strategy for Sustainable Tourism”. This marked the first initiative of its kind during […]
26 July 2023

Now we have to adapt to climate change

On Monday, most UK newspapers led on the impact of fires on holidaymakers in Greece with headlines screaming “Rhodes on Fire” (Metro), “Our Terror” (Mirror), “Run […]
19 July 2023

Package Travel Directive – a revision to be done

The Package Travel Directive (PTD) stands as a pivotal piece of legislation within the European Union, carrying profound implications for the tourism and travel industry. It […]
18 July 2023

Is the future net positive?

Whilst most of the commentary and certification efforts around travel and tourism have been focused on minimising negative impacts, efforts are underway to reverse today’s catastrophic […]
13 July 2023

Is certification the answer?

The answer, of course, depends on the question. It is a broad question. Will the certification help us to achieve sustainable tourism? I believe it may […]
4 July 2023

It cannot be about us, without us

A couple of years ago I interviewed Keith Henry, President and CEO of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada and we talked about the cultural diversity […]
29 June 2023

European accommodation barometer signals record revenue expectations

After a year of robust recovery in occupancy rates and room prices, almost half of European hoteliers are anticipating 2023 to generate the highest revenue ever […]
23 June 2023

For better sustainable and wealthy Outermost Regions

Europe still remembers the hard times during the Covid pandemic, which obliged also politicians, at all levels, to manage the health and economic crisis with firm […]
21 June 2023

Has climate change become the new normal?

I am in Jyväskylä in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland, about 270 km north of Helsinki. It is the white night season; the days […]
12 June 2023

Urgency of green transition in the spotlight at the Astana International Forum

On June 8and 9, Kazakhstan’s capital assembled an impressive array of current and former government and industry leaders; policymakers; CEOs of multinational organizations; representatives from International […]
7 June 2023

Overtourism, parasitism and the tragedy of the commons

Fundamental to Responsible Tourism is the principle that the destination belongs to the people who live there and their descendants. The 2002 Cape Town Declaration on […]