![\"wtm-2016-debate\"](\"https:\/\/travindy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/wtm-2016-debate.jpg\")
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T<\/span>wenty years ago the post-apartheid government in South Africa adopted the principles of Responsible Tourism in their national tourism policy and the campaign for Responsible Tourism began in the UK. To mark this anniversary, and the fact that 2016 sees the 10th anniversary of the responsible tourism programme at WTM London, this year the flagship Roundtable Interview shifted from interviewing mainstream industry representatives, to discussing responsible tourism issues with some of the movement\u2019s pioneers, providing a chance \u201cobjectively and critically to see how much progress we have made and to look forward to see how far we can go over next 20 years,\u201d according to WTM London Senior Director, Simon Press. \u201cResponsible tourism should be the backbone of the industry,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs an activist you are never happy,\u201d said Justin Francis, CEO of Responsibletravel.com and founder of the annual World Responsible Tourism Awards. However, reflecting on the 20 years he has worked to make the industry take responsible tourism seriously, he did see signs of progress. \u201cWe have moved from no one knowing what Responsible Tourism was, to people saying they can\u2019t do anything about it, to people asking me to tell them what to do, to now people saying \u2018let me show you what we do\u2019,\u201d he explained.<\/span> Justin Francis was more optimistic, however, commenting that: \u201cOld production models are changing. No longer do companies build a project and launch it on a destination. Now they are collaborating with a destination and developing something together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Adama Bah disagreed, arguing that destinations continue to spend more on marketing than the businesses themselves. \u201cWhy should government spend the money, basically subsidising the companies and gaining nothing in return?\u201d he asked. \u201cCommunities are paying taxes into government and they are not getting the industry they want.\u201d<\/span> Instead, agreed Jane Ashton, Director of Sustainable Development, TUI Group, the industry needs to keep working to persuade consumers that sustainable tourism makes for better holiday experiences. \u201cWe have a long way to go to find the language to raise the demand among customers,\u201d said Ashton. \u201cWe have been hesitant because we were worried about greenwash, and now perhaps we are risking so-called \u2018greenhush\u2019 and not talking about it enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Roundtable provided chance to objectively and critically “see how much progress we have made and to look forward to see how far we can go”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[675,16,534],"tags":[1279,225],"yoast_head":"\n
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\n<\/span>Adama Bah, Director, Institute of Travel and Tourism of Gambia, agreed that the industry had made a great deal of progress, but felt that the focus needed to now be more on destinations, where it was much harder to gain traction. \u201cIn our experience in destinations politicians still call the shots,\u201d he said, \u201cand while industry may say it takes the lead, if a project is not supported by politicians they struggle. We have not been able to bring politicians as far as they should.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>\u201cWe need to stop teaching people to smile for tourists,\u201d said Auliana Poon, Managing Director, Tourism Intelligence International. \u00a0\u201cWe need to give them the livelihoods that mean their smiles come naturally.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n