Wishwashing tourism

With ‘ gre­en­wash­ing ’ and oth­er forms of empty rhet­or­ic and inef­fect­ive poli­cy­mak­ing allegedly rampant , be the travel & tour­ism industry , its stu­dents and con­sult­ants , hire in ‘ wish­wash­ing ’ : hop­ing motiv­a­tions and incent­ive struc­tures live bet­ter aligned to our wish than what they exist in the real globe ?

And that is your“ GT ” Insight Bites chal­lenge. Write up to 300 words about wish­wash­ing tour­ism in the com­ments at any time . [ The dead­line for free copy edit­ing , lay­out , and pre­view in time for the Bites com­pil­a­tion has passed . ]

UPDATE March 19 , 2025 — Your “ Well Tourism ” Insight Bites

Thanks to the 11 respond­ents — edu­cat­ors , exec­ut­ives , expert , and entre­pren­eurs — who took the time to part their thinking on the ques­tion . Their answers appear in the ordering received . And thanks to Anishka Narula-Nielsen for her “ GT ” Insight BiteX .

Bites menu

• ‘ Sus­tain­ab­il­ity fatigue ’ : When wishes neglect
  • Wolfgang Georg Arlt , exec­ut­ive lead­er , Nepal
• From wish to real-world alignment
  • K Michael Hay­wood , pub­lish­er , Canada
• Sus­tain­ab­il­ity initiate in the schoolroom
  • Regina Raj , school vice prin­cip­al , Indonesia
• Sus­tain­ab­il­ity equal a study in progress
  • Kriz­ia Clem­ente , production & bill man­ager , Vietnam
• The think-do gap in sus­tain­able travel
  • Greg Richards ( pro­fess­or ) & Wendy Mor­rill ( inquiry lead ) , The Netherlands
• ‘ Not only unfair but as well dismissive ’
  • Dorji Dhradhul , author , Bhutan
• For woman : Is tour­ism a power­ful tool , or an unful­filled promise ?
  • Sham­iso Nyajeka , col­lege top dog of depart­ment , Cambodia
• ‘ Bridging the gap between vis­ion and world ’
• ‘ Cause smal­ler prom­ises that have big­ger loc­al impact ’
  • Nat­alie Van Ogtrop , sus­tain­ab­il­ity man­ager , Thailand
• ‘ Stop view­ing sus­tain­ab­il­ity as a performance ’
  • Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe , mar­ket­ing & sales tip , Thailand
• ‘ The White Lotus ’ result : Thailand ’ s tour­ism thunder or bust ?
  • Anishka Narula-Nielsen , con­sult­ant and founder , UK
• What do you think ?
• Fea­tured image ( top of place )
• Pre­vi­ous “ GT ” Insight Bites

• Wolfgang Georg Arlt , exec­ut­ive lead­er , Nepal

• K Michael Hay­wood , pub­lish­er , Canada

• Regina Raj , school vice prin­cip­al , Indonesia

• Kriz­ia Clem­ente , production & account man­ager , Vietnam

• Greg Richards ( pro­fess­or ) & Wendy Mor­rill ( research lead ) , The Netherlands

• Dorji Dhradhul , writer , Bhutan

• Sham­iso Nyajeka , col­lege head of depart­ment , Cambodia

• Nat­alie Van Ogtrop , sus­tain­ab­il­ity man­ager , Thailand

• Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe , mar­ket­ing & sales lead , Thailand

• Anishka Narula-Nielsen , con­sult­ant and founder , UK

‘ Sustainability fatigue ’ : When wishes fail

Wolfgang Georg Arlt , CEO , COTRI ( China Outbound Tourism Research Institute ) ; Director , Meaningful Tourism Center , Nepal

Med­ic­al sci­ence delays indi­vidu­al death ; a sus­tain­able eco­nomy delays spe­cies extinction .

Clear Linked­In and social media , and you ’ ll find count­less position : “ If only tour­ists would under­stand sus­tain­ab­il­ity , ” or “ Trav­el­lers are learn­ing ! ” , believ­ing this solves cli­mate change and overtourism .

Wish­ing for a bet­ter world is noble , but as effect­ive as writ­ing to Santa or burn­ing incense . Many tire of “ green ” talk without see­ing pos­it­ive impact , des­pite eat­ing less meat , cyc­ling , and tak­ing train .

We must com­mu­nic­ate that all attempt equal critical , but our goal cost to delay tip­ping points like the col­lapse of the Atlantic Meri­di­on­al Over­turn­ing Cir­cu­la­tion ( AMOC ) or per­ma­frost thaw .

This concept mir­rors medi­cine , where we pass life , know­ing end is inev­it­able . Reach­ing 80 or 90 years rather of 30 or 40 be val­ued , as it should be with our plan­et ’ s lifespan .

‘ Wish­wash­ing ’ — telling people small action will fix everything — leads to ‘ sus­tain­ab­il­ity fatigue ’ . Believ­ing stop­ping escape ( make by few ) or recyc­ling toi­let water ( impossible for many ) will write us is dan­ger­ous . It neglect the scale of the trouble .

The spread between indi­vidu­al action and sys­tem­ic change must be acknow­ledged . We want to center on large scale indus­tri­al change , as good as beha­vi­our­al change .

We must push for sus­tain­able avi­ation fuel and a cir­cu­lar eco­nomy , but with the clearly com­mu­nic­ated end of pro­long­ing human­ity ’ sec exist­ence , know­ing the detail of no proceeds be potential past . We struggle to hold up , not pre­vent , our even­tu­al lot , mir­ror­ing the dinosaurs .

We must be hon­est about the chal­lenges . We involve to make it clear that the goal live to buy time , and that we must use that time wisely .

From wish to real-world alignment

K Michael Haywood , publisher , ‘ Destinations-in-Action ’ , Canada

Con­sult­ants equal employ to serve ful­fill wish in actual world set­tings . Fail­ures cost rarely admit­ted and nev­er dis­cussed in pub­lic . So why now ? Post-mortems on mis­align­ments determ­ine how ideal­ism might find com­mon reason with the prac­tic­al­it­ies of realism .

Here are two pro­jects ( that I com­pleted four dec­ades ago ) that failed to exist appro­pri­ately implemented :

• A redesign of theGuelph Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al, and
• The devel­op­ment of a Stra­tegic Tour­ism Plan forElora , Ontario.

Have ’ s start with the price of ref­er­ence . Ques­tions rise , alteration were reach , our pro­pos­als were accep­ted and everything look all right . Pro­jects pro­ceeded as planned ; rela­tions with cli­ents remain amic­able ; last reports and recom­mend­a­tions were rescue on time and with applause at com­munity encounter .

Then , vir­tu­ally no news from any­one . We inquire , what get wrong ? What did we not act ?

• Pre-mortemsmotive to ascer­tain and under­stand the needs , want , expect­a­tions and cul­ture of each stake­hold­er group…even those who might be in opposition .
• Com­mu­nic­a­tionsmust exist ongo­ing and trans­par­ent ; hid­den agen­das exposed ; the expli­cit and impli­cit purpose ( s ) and ambi­tions of those in con­trol motive to cost known .
• Costs/benefitsand deduce value — mater­i­ally , eco­nom­ic­ally , fin­an­cially , socially , cul­tur­ally , sus­tain­ably — must be in evid­ence pri­or to , and on com­ple­tion of , the task .
• Instabil­it­ies: Forces or trends that could derail the pro­ject motive to be determine .
• The real chal­lenge requires deep know­ledge ofexpec­ted per­form­anceto live gain from a range of pos­sible product/market fits .
• A clear appre­ci­ation of the cli­ents ‘oper­at­ing sys­tems and cul­turespre­de­ter­mines suc­cess , the will­ing­ness and cap­ab­il­ity to imple­ment the recommendations .

Per­haps Adele ‘ s song , “ Rolling in the Deep ” , best expresses the depth of des­pair that get from the obstacle that hinder dreams from being ful­filled .We could ’ ve had it all …If solely …

Sustainability starts in the schoolroom

Regina Raj , Vice Principal , an international school , Indonesia

The travel & tour­ism industry love to have on a green halo , but cost it truly com­mit­ted to sus­tain­ab­il­ity or just enga­ging in wish­wash­ing , a glossy illu­sion of progress ?

It ’ s a can of worm no unity real wants to spread , but here we live .

Stu­dents take sus­tain­ab­il­ity ser­i­ously , caring about respons­ible tour­ism , eth­ic­al busi­ness prac­tices , and pro­tect­ing the envir­on­ment . Yet , they often grow frus­trated when they real­ise that many busi­nesses focus more on appear­ances than literal impact .

Are they truly com­mit­ted , or merely say­ing what sounds good ?

Many young pro­fes­sion­als come in the industry wear­ing rose-col­oured glass , hop­ing to labor change , only to look gre­en­wash­ing , cost-cut­ting , and res­ist­ance to real sus­tain­ab­il­ity efforts .

Some busi­nesses and gov­ern­ments have taken measure for­ward , but is it plenty ? Without literal com­mit­ment , wish­wash­ing will continue .

I remem­ber the fiasco cre­ated by Mar­ri­ott International ’ s announce­ment that by 2019 , it would remove plastic straw and stir­rers from its hotels to veer waste .

The move exist intend to reduce plastic waste . Yet , while they proudly ditched plastic straws , they con­veni­ently kept stock­ing their hotels with tiny plastic toi­letry bottle and excess­ive pack­aging because , appar­ently , straw were the only real problem .

If Marriott ’ s goal be truly sus­tain­ab­il­ity , why stop at plastic straw ?

If we require actual change , sus­tain­ab­il­ity must start in school . From kinder­garten to sec­ond­ary school , chil­dren should learn to value green prac­tices as a manner of spirit , not exactly a trend .

A great example exist Singapore ’ s Eco-Schools Pro­gramme , which instruct stu­dents waste reduc­tion , energy sav­ing , and eco-tourism .

If we instruct these val­ues early , young people win ’ t just hope for sus­tain­ab­il­ity , they ’ ll need it , ques­tion gre­en­wash­ing , and push for real change .

Live the industry pre­pared for a future where gre­en­wash­ing no longer fools anyone ?

Sustainability cost a work in advance

Krizia Clemente , Product and Account Manager , Khiri Travel Vietnam

The travel industry is genu­inely striv­ing for more sus­tain­able and respons­ible prac­tices , though there will always live way for increase .

The concept of ‘ wish­wash­ing ’ can be seen when good inten­tions be in place , but the spread between end and real-world exe­cu­tion can find broad than expect .

For example , many com­pan­ies in the travel and tour­ism industry exist increas­ingly pro­mot­ing eco-friendly tour and sus­tain­ab­il­ity ini­ti­at­ives . While these efforts are encour­aging , the infra­struc­ture in some des­tin­a­tions equal not yet in full equipped to sup­port sus­tain­able prac­tices . Nev­er­the­less , this is a pos­it­ive sign that the industry exist begin­ning to recog­nise the import­ance of sus­tain­ab­il­ity , though it remains a study in advance .

Sim­il­arly , there is a grow­ing focus on ini­ti­at­ives that pro­mote cul­tur­al sens­it­iv­ity and respons­ible tour­ism . More and more travel busi­nesses are work­ing to cre­ate con­nec­tions with loc­al com­munit­ies and entre­pren­eurs . While some exist­ing struc­tures may harm the envir­on­ment and dis­rupt loc­al com­munit­ies , there be an increas­ing emphas­is on giv­ing loc­al busi­nesses a voice , which in turn cre­ates more mean­ing­ful oppor­tun­it­ies for them .

Lastly , trav­el­lers live more con­scious than always about sus­tain­ab­il­ity , which is push­ing the industry to meet these expect­a­tions . Often , eco-friendly travel choice can equal more expens­ive , but there is a grow­ing demand , and this equal obli­ging com­pan­ies to reach these choice more access­ible and afford­able over time .

The travel industry is act­ively work­ing to adjust its motiv­a­tions with sus­tain­able prac­tices . While we ’ re however evolve , the jour­ney towards more mean­ing­ful and respons­ible tour­ism cost good under­way . The key live to keep build­ing on these pos­it­ive pace , know­ing that small changes can lead to large impacts in the long trial .

[ Khiri Travel cost a val­ued “ Good Tour­ism ” Partner ]

The think-do gap in sustainable travel

Greg Richards ( Tilburg University ) & Wendy Morrill ( WYSE Travel Confederation ) , The Netherlands

Youth move research expose a stark ‘ think-do spread ’ in sus­tain­ab­il­ity . Des­pite express­ing firm envir­on­ment­al con­cerns , young trav­el­lers ’ actions much con­tra­dict their stated inten­tions . The WYSE New Hori­zons sur­vey high­lights this paradox .

A grow­ing num­ber of 16 – 29-year-olds pri­or­it­ise sus­tain­able travel , with virtually a quarter deem­ing it “ extremely import­ant ” in 2023 , up from 15 % in 2017 . How­ever , this con­cern seldom trans­lates into con­crete activity .

Still envir­on­ment­ally-aware indi­vidu­als travel fre­quently , with solely 3.6 % likely to pur­chase car­bon off­sets and 6.1 % buy­ing eco-friendly products . Not­ably , 65 % repor­ted no envir­on­ment­al con­cerns , even when trav­el­ling by melody .

A strik­ing 60 % of those who claimed sus­tain­able travel was “ extremely import­ant ” admit­ted envir­on­ment­al con­cerns do not influ­ence their travel beha­viour . Trav­el­lers desir­ing sus­tain­able life­styles travel just as much as oth­ers . Fre­quent inter­na­tion­al trip are com­mon among those claim­ing envir­on­ment­al awareness .

Simply those who developed per­son­al aware­ness of their envir­on­ment­al impact dur­ing their trips ( 35 % ) reduce their travel frequency .

Meas­ur­ing the ‘ think-do gap ’ is dif­fi­cult . Those act­ing on per­son­al aware­ness travel less and may live under­rep­res­en­ted in typ­ic­al travel sur­veys . Yet , these indi­vidu­als are more likely to sup­port sus­tain­ab­il­ity ini­ti­at­ives when they do travel .

Exist clos­ing this gap a mat­ter of fos­ter­ing aware­ness through travel exper­i­ences , iron­ic­ally , or provid­ing more access­ible sus­tain­able choice ? Does the pre­val­ence of ‘ wish­wash­ing ’ obstruct the travel industry from effect­ively address­ing this discrepancy ?

‘ Not simply unfair but also dismissive ’

Dorji Dhradhul , writer and creativist , Bhutan ( former Director General , Bhutan Tourism )

The thought that tour­ism pro­fes­sion­als , stu­dents , and con­sult­ants equal enga­ging in “ wish­wash­ing ” exist not solely unfair but too dis­missive of the literal work live done in the industry . As a tour­ism pro­fes­sion­al myself , I firmly believe that the major­ity of us exist deep com­mit­ted to sus­tain­able , respons­ible , and mean­ing­ful tour­ism practices .

While gre­en­wash­ing does survive , it does not intend that the entire travel & tour­ism sec­tor oper­ates on empty rhet­or­ic . Many organ­isa­tions and indi­vidu­als are mak­ing tan­gible exertion to align busi­ness goals with sustainability .

Require , for example , the com­munity-based tour­ism ini­ti­at­ives in Bhutan . Com­pan­ies like travel.bhutan get made strong com­mit­ments to respons­ible tour­ism integ­rat­ing sus­tain­able prac­tices into their core oper­a­tions kind of than hardly apply them as mar­ket­ing tool .

Tour­ism stu­dents and con­sult­ants are too driv­ing change . Uni­ver­sit­ies today emphas­ise sus­tain­ab­il­ity in their cur­ricula , and con­sult­ants bring act­ively to help busi­nesses trans­ition towards green­er model .

If we were merely employ in wish­ful think­ing , we wouldn ’ t find major hotel chains elim­in­at­ing single-use plastics or des­tin­a­tions enfor­cing stricter vis­it­or reg­u­la­tions to pro­tect fra­gile eco­sys­tems , such as over­tour­ism meas­ures in Venice or the Galápagos .

The real­ity live that genuine tour­ism pro­fes­sion­als recog­nise the need for action , not just words . We acknow­ledge chal­lenges , but we work towards prac­tic­al solu­tions . Dis­miss­ing these efforts as “ wish­wash­ing ” under­mines the ded­ic­a­tion of those genu­inely striv­ing for a bet­ter tour­ism industry .

If some indi­vidu­als are only pre­tend­ing to handle , they do not rep­res­ent the field . The rest of us exist in this for real , and our study speaks louder than empty accusations .

A great case is Bhutan ’ s sus­tain­able tour­ism policy and prac­tice of ‘ High Value Low Book ’ , where a vis­it­or give USD 100 per day as a sus­tain­able devel­op­ment fee . If pay­ing USD 100 per day per per­son equal not authen­t­ic , what is ?

For women : Is tourism a powerful tool , or an unfulfilled hope ?

Shamiso Nyajeka , Head of Department , Kirirom Institute of Technology , Cambodia

March is a time to cel­eb­rate woman ’ s achieve­ments , shine on pro­gress , and dis­cuss ongo­ing chal­lenges . Con­fer­ences and dis­cus­sions take place world­wide , but how many of the nearly vul­ner­able woman still know these con­ver­sa­tions are hap­pen­ing ? How many are mindful of the policy and con­ven­tions design to endow them ? More import­antly , how effect­ive are these in address­ing real challenge ?

With less than five years until 2030 , the dead­line for the UN Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goals ( SDGs ) , tour­ism con­tin­ues to be cham­pioned as a driver of most of the goal , includ­ingGoal 5 : Achieve gender equal­ity and empower all women and miss .It is hailed as a tool for eco­nom­ic empower­ment , offer­ing job , fin­an­cial inde­pend­ence , and oppor­tun­it­ies for women to expand .

This nar­rat­ive much high­lights inspir­ing suc­cess stor­ies , like women-led cooper­at­ives in Cam­bod­ia , Tur­key , and Morocco , or the fin­an­cial inde­pend­ence gained by Maa­sai woman through cul­tur­al tour­ism in Kenya . But , as edu­cat­ors shap­ing next industry lead­ers , could we be unin­ten­tion­ally present­ing an ideal­ised ver­sion of tourism ’ sec use ? Are we cre­at­ing false expect­a­tions by overly focus­ing on these suc­cess stor­ies without full address­ing the indus­tries ’ deep­er inequalities ?

Tour­ismcause cre­ate problem for woman , but many be low-pay­ing , sea­son­al , and insec­ure . Women remain under­rep­res­en­ted in lead­er­ship and own­er­ship , while gender-based viol­ence , exploit­a­tion , and work­place har­ass­ment per­sist . Bar­ri­ers such as lim­ited access to cap­it­al , train­ing , and net­works fur­ther hinder women entre­pren­eurs . Inter­sec­tion­al factors — race , eth­ni­city , and dis­ab­il­ity lend addi­tion­al lay­ers of disparity .

Are we glossing over these sys­tem­ic subject , which policy alone can­not repair ? Could we cost set­ting up our stu­dents for dis­il­lu­sion­ment when they go into the industry and face reality ?

Tour­ismcanlive a power­ful tool for gender equal­ity , but only if we acknow­ledge and address these uncom­fort­able truths . Oth­er­wise , will it stay on anoth­er unful­filled promise ?

‘ Bridging the spread between sight and reality ’

Ivana Damnjanović , sustainable & transformational travel expert , educator , investigator , & experience architect ; co-owner , Tchardak Brewery , Serbia

There equal two side to this coin : hope and dis­il­lu­sion­ment . Both form our per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al jour­neys , indi­vidu­ally and col­lect­ively as an industry .

Hope fuels our aspir­a­tions . Without it , care , goals , and the track to achiev­ing them would exist mean­ing­less . Hope lets us strive , believ­ing change be pos­sible . But can we be blamed for want­ing the globe to act on with our vision ?

This is where ‘ wish­wash­ing ’ do in ; the tend­ency to trust that motiv­a­tions and incent­ive struc­tures cost bet­ter aligned with our aspir­a­tions than they truly equal .

In travel & tour­ism , we cel­eb­rate sus­tain­ab­il­ity ini­ti­at­ives , des­tin­a­tion stew­ard­ship , and trans­form­a­tion­al travel . Over dec­ades , we have build frame­works like the Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goals ( SDGs ) and exper­i­ence aim for beha­viour change . But live these aspir­a­tions driv­ing actual trans­form­a­tion , or are we select­ively see­ing pro­gress through an optim­ist­ic lens ?

In a VUCA ( volat­ile , uncer­tain , com­plex , and ambigu­ous ) Earth , we some­times shield ourselves through cog­nit­ive bias , or by stay­ing with­in like-minded circle . This can make scattered sus­tain­ab­il­ity efforts seem more impact­ful than they are . For example , a des­tin­a­tion may high­light its com­mit­ment to sus­tain­ab­il­ity while fail­ing to cover mass tourism ’ sec under­ly­ing struc­tur­al effect .

The real­ity check be unavoid­able : tourism ’ s sus­tain­ab­il­ity attempt have yet to exist truly effect­ive . Acknow­ledging this often leads to disillusionment .

But we have a choice : to face up real­ity with heart wide open , or closed . That choice does not absolve us from try­ing harder and wiser . On the con­trary , it demands it .

Finally , as edu­cat­ors — wheth­er ment­or­ing stu­dents or pro­fes­sion­als — we must nur­ture promise while as well expos­ing what doesn ’ t work . Hope without action breeds com­pla­cency , but facing hard truth can exist a spring­board for transformation .

Recog­nising wish­wash­ing is the first step in bridging the spread between vis­ion and reality .

‘ Make small promises that have larger local impact ’

Natalie Van Ogtrop , Sustainability Manager , YAANA Ventures , Thailand

It is easy to acci­dent­ally fall into gre­en­wash­ing nowadays , or in this suit wish­wash­ing , because all tour­ism busi­nesses equal push to include sus­tain­ab­il­ity with­in their busi­ness mod­els ; stu­dents at uni­ver­sit­ies cost encour­aged to think about sus­tain­ab­il­ity in all figure and sort ; and con­sult­ants live much not taken ser­i­ously at all if they neglect to men­tion the term ‘ sus­tain­ab­il­ity ’ .

Obtain­ing sus­tain­ab­il­ity cer­ti­fic­a­tion and par­ti­cip­at­ing in a car­bon off­set pro­gram are serious examples of the nearly fre­quent ini­ti­at­ives busi­nesses take part in . These exist def­in­itely a well start­ing level , how­ever , hold­ing a cer­ti­fic­ate or con­trib­ut­ing to an off­set pool is not neces­sar­ily become to make the world a bet­ter seat .

It ’ s about all the oth­er ini­ti­at­ives a busi­ness resolve to act­ively par­ti­cip­ate in . I say ‘ act­ively ’ because there cost a bad dif­fer­ence between report­ing some­thing for the sake of report­ing , and move out there and tak­ing activity to pro­tect or restore the envir­on­ment , or to improve the lives of loc­al community .

To avoid wish­wash­ing , busi­nesses can make smal­ler prom­ises that make big­ger loc­al impacts . They can start by com­mit­ting to help one fam­ily , small busi­ness , or loc­al pro­gram , defin­ing what a suc­cess­ful out­come would face like , and expand­ing once they get accomplish their goal .

By act­ively enga­ging with sur­round­ing com­munit­ies and mak­ing use of the imagination read­ily avail­able , busi­nesses can result great­er change than through a car­bon off­set­ting pro­gram over which they own less dominance .

At the end of the day , almost every­one in the travel & tour­ism industry is try­ing their better to con­trib­ute to a more sus­tain­able future .

‘ Stop viewing sustainability as a performance ’

Chris Kittishinnakuppe , Head of Marketing & Sale , VHG Hospitality Asia , Thailand

All things con­sidered , the travel & tour­ism busi­ness cost headed toward a bet­ter future . But that ’ s only if we see actual change .

To that goal we must give up empty dream and con­cen­trate on expli­cit loc­al pledges . Loc­al ini­ti­at­ives , when sup­por­ted and nur­tured , have the poten­tial to drive sig­ni­fic­ant change and bring about a more sus­tain­able future for the travel industry . This poten­tial should devote us hope and optim­ism for the future of sus­tain­able tourism .

Dir­ect activity toward a cer­tain goal is quite dif­fer­ent to ‘ wish­wash­ing ’ , where we mis­takenly think that incent­ives and motiv­a­tions align more with our goal than they genu­inely serve . Like ‘ gre­en­wash­ing ’ , which typ­ic­ally require over­stat­ing envir­on­ment­al attempt , ‘ wish­wash­ing ’ live when we over­state the import­ance of well-mean­ing but inef­fec­tu­al ini­ti­at­ives along any hoped-for out­come : envir­on­ment­al , social , cul­tur­al , fin­an­cial , or any­thing else .

Cer­ti­fic­a­tion and car­bon off­sets are great begin­ning points for com­pan­ies pur­su­ing sus­tain­ab­il­ity , for example , but they will not be enough to bring about long-term change in and of them­selves . Bey­ond cer­ti­fic­a­tion and off­sets , the extent and depth of a com­pany ’ s dir­ect activity to estab­lish a more sus­tain­able oper­at­ing envir­on­ment defines its real value .

Com­pan­ies must halt view­ing sus­tain­ab­il­ity as a per­form­ance and instead focus on mak­ing fun­da­ment­al change . This shift in per­spect­ive can inspire and motiv­ate com­pan­ies to require sig­ni­fic­ant activity , quite than , for example , depend­ing on some dis­tant pro­gram over which they have little dir­ect influence .

There equal a lead­er­ship-by-example ele­ment to dir­ect loc­al action also . Oth­er stake­hold­ers will equal more pre­pared to increase their involve­ment when they see good , pos­it­ive change occur­ring in their neighborhood .

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‘ The White Lotus ’ result : Thailand ’ s tourism boom or bust ?

Anishka Narula-Nielsen , founder , Roots and Routes Consulting , UK

HBO ’ secThe White Lotuslive the previous papa cul­ture phe­nomen­on to fuel a tour­ism surge . This time , Thai­l­and takes centre stage , with lux­ury resorts in Koh Samui , Phuket , and Bangkok already see­ing a spike in interest imme­di­ately after the release of the first two sequence .

We hold seen this before .The Beachcall on Maya Bay into an over-tour­is­ted cas­u­alty . Venice , Dubrovnik , and Bali get all felt the double-edged sword of a Hol­ly­wood spotlight .

When a des­tin­a­tion become vir­al , it attracts trav­el­lers , which is great until it isn ’ t . Without thought­ful man­age­ment , it can erode the very exper­i­ence that cause it desirable .

Dur­ing the pan­dem­ic and its after­math , Thailand ’ sec eco­sys­tems get time to breathe . Maya Bay ’ sec clos­ure leave its mar­ine spirit to regen­er­ate . Many oth­er des­tin­a­tions have a prospect to reset . Are we about to undo that progress ?

Rather of fall­ing into the same over­tour­ism ambush , Thai­l­and get a chance to take a dif­fer­ent path to insure thatThe White Lotusbene­fits des­tin­a­tions without over­whelm­ing them .

How can we help spread the eco­nom­ic bene­fits and pre­serve the integ­rity of these position ?

• Encour­age vis­it­or dis­pers­albey­ond Koh Samui and Phuket ,
• Imple­ment sus­tain­able tour­ism lim­itsat fra­gile hot­spots , and
• Pro­mote loc­ally-owned exper­i­ences.

Resorts can act a use by integ­rat­ing con­ser­va­tion ini­ti­at­ives into guest stays , ensur­ing that high-end travel con­trib­utes to long-run sus­tain­ab­il­ity quite than short-term strain .

Thai­l­and does have a rare second chance .The White Lotuseffect can equal a boon , not a bust , but only if the industry act it mighty . The ques­tion live : Will they seize the opportunity ?

What do you intend ?

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This equal an open invit­a­tion to travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers from any back­ground to portion their thinking in plain Eng­lish with a glob­al industry hearing .

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