In a crowded marketplace, tourism businesses and destinations struggle to differentiate themselves and to attract tourists, travellers and explorers. Even the language used to describe the clients we are trying to attract reflects our efforts to differentiate our ‘product’ from all the others. The travel and tourism sector comprises transport, accommodation, attractions and shopping, the sector’s satellite accounts include elements of many industries.
Generally, we dislike the concept of ‘product’, we sell experiences, or aspire to. Pine and Gilmore in their book on The Experience Economy, argue that experiences are ‘as distinct from services as services are from goods.” They point out that Disney created the first theme parks, which immerse guests, “never ‘customers’ or ‘clients’ … cast members (never ‘employees’) stage a complete production of sights, sounds, tastes, aromas, and textures to create a unique experience.” Most of our sector relies on other people’s homes, and other species of fauna and flora, to create those memorable experiences. Way back in 1994, Sir Colin Marshall, then Chair of British Airways, launched their Travel for Tomorrow Awards and spoke of the tourism and the travel industry as “essentially the renting out for short-term lets, of other people’s environments, whether that is a coastline, a city, a mountain range or a rainforest. These ‘products’ must be kept fresh and unsullied not just for the next day, but for every tomorrow.”
Coincidentally in 1994, I took up a post at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, DICE, to lead a three-year government-funded research project, to look for ecotourism in national parks in the developing world. We didn’t find it when we looked at the park level; ecotourists used the same vehicles and accommodations and paid the same entry fee. They generally had guides with higher educational qualifications, but their impacts on the park were the same as those of the “mass” tourists. The planes and vehicles used for transport also had the same climate change impacts as mainstream tourists.
Everyone in our sector is engaged in the selling of places and experiences of those places. The challenge for businesses and destinations is to differentiate their ‘product’ as better than the others and to get bookings. In marketplaces relatively untroubled by consumer rights and mis-selling protections, our sector has been inventive in developing language to indicate that the experience will be better, more meaningful, and more memorable than those offered by our competitors.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet.” So declares Juliet as she laments the name of her beloved in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. There are many examples of destinations and businesses actively engaging and working to make tourism better. They are, knowingly or not, taking responsibility, and their efforts will likely not fall foul of the emerging EU Green Claims Directive.
- Explain why you are addressing a particular issue – why does it matter to your business or others in your place, the destination?
- Describe what you are doing and how it is funded, if you are claiming credit for it.
- Report the impact of your efforts.
A growing number of tourism businesses are claiming that they are regenerative. There will be very few making regenerative claims once the EU Green Claims Directive is applied. There are many examples of tourism securing the future of historic buildings when they are reused for accommodation or to house attractions, often but not always as museums. But increasingly, holidays are being described as regenerative when they mean no more than having a positive impact on the destination.
A tourism business can contribute to the regeneration of a destination, and a great holiday can be regenerative for the holidaymaker. Regenerative is a big word and a big claim, it needs to be used with care and when claimed, substantiated.
This is one of many examples where tourism is contributing, if only marginally, to regeneration – every little helps.
Making a contribution to the regeneration of a landscape matters, but it is important to acknowledge that it is but a small contribution.
In the Responsible Tourism Awards, we look to recognise businesses and destinations which are taking responsibility to #maketourismbetter, an explicit commitment to Responsible Tourism is not necessary to win an award. We look for examples of businesses and destinations where tourism is having a positive impact. We look first for evidence, replicability, and innovation. We “are looking for evidence of real change, businesses which can convincingly demonstrate positive impacts, or reduced negative impacts, quantified wherever possible.”
EMBOO won a Gold Award in the WTM Africa Responsible Tourism Awards this year – you can read more about What, Why, How and their impact here.
In this year’s cycle, the Europe and India regional awards are still open. The Europe Awards are open until 23 June, and the Gold winners are automatically entered into the Global Awards, sponsored by Sabre. Consider entering, or if you know of good examples of businesses or destinations actively making tourism better, then encourage them to enter.
The ICRT.global offers a course on Responsible Tourism, written by Harold Goodwin, Professional Certificate in Responsible Tourism, International Centre for Responsible Tourism global.
