Green Circuit Green Light

There's a nice idea from Raj Gyawali of Socialtours.com in Nepal who has put together a consortium of Specialist TourOperators under the banner 'The Green Circuit'. His partners are are Socialtours.com in Nepal, Help Tourism in NorthEastern India, Grass Routes in Orissa, East India, The Blue Yonder in Kerala and Ecosphere in Spiti Valley, NorthernIndia. Each tour operator, is an expert in their respective region and specialise in deep rooted community based responsible tourism initiatives.

This is unusual in itself since these operators would normally be competing against each other to get business and here they are working in unison. Each tour operator is a committed expert in their chosen field and offer unique tourism product specific to local environmental and cultural conditions

With the GreenCircuit you have a unique collective of operators dedicated to ethical and sustainable tourism at a grassroots level. The accountability is much higher because they work in the very same communities they conduct their tours.

The GreenCircuit is an eco-tourism loop that circles the Indian subcontinent. Made up of individual tours with a definitive focus on natural and cultural heritage; each tour (handled on the ground through respective operators) links together to explore the subcontinent's astounding diversity.

There are many benefits here. A lot of theory on responsible tourism already exists, but actual documented accounts and practical tips from the grassroots is rare, at least as far as the Indian Sub-continent is concerned. While each operator will have indigenous solutions for their respective areas, there is always scope for different perspectives to shed light on common problems. Here there can be dialogue between operators traditionally isolated by geographic distance and a conscious decision to focus efforts on the field. It provides a perfect platform to share experiences, develop ideas and grow collectively.

The right way is the wrong way

An interesting piece from the USA where a right-wing think tank that is influential with the state of Utah's Republican-controlled Legislature wants to abolish the Utah Office of Tourism.

This recommendation comes from the conservative Sutherland Institute as the state faces an estimated $850 million budget shortfall and is a rebuke of the policies put in place by former Gov. Jon Huntsman.

Huntsman, a moderate who is now the U.S. ambassador to China, made developing and promoting tourism in the state one of his economic development priorities. He increased the tourism department's annual advertising budget from $900,000 (roughly Vail, Colo.'s summer ad budget) to about $10 million in 2005. He also pushed through liquor law reforms to make the state more appealing to tourists that the Sutherland Institute opposed, saying it compromised state values for the sake of making a dollar.

In a position paper the think tank is circulating to state lawmakers, the institute says the growth in tourism spending is a waste because air travel hasn't grown enough and visitation to state and national parks has declined from their peak in the late 1990s. The institute contends money could be better spent elsewhere.

"The point is, we're not getting a great return on our dollars that we're spending," Sutherland Institute Policy Manager Derek Monson said. He says he is unaware of the state's return on investment figures "When you think about it, the reason people come to Utah is because of the things there are to see here in Utah, not because the government spends a lot of money promoting tourism," Monson said, noting that he didn't have anything beyond anecdotes to base that on.

This is staggering stupidity. In fact, tourism travel and spending have reached record levels since the infusion of funding came in 2005. Visits increased from 17.5 million in 2004 to 20.4 million in 2008 as spending by tourists increased from $5.6 billion to $7.1 billion.

Tourism officials also note that state and local governments have received more than $12 in tax revenue for every $1 spent on advertising.

"The tourism industry is one of the few agencies in this state that is really making a buck to put back in the general fund to pay for those things," Ski Utah President Nathan Rafferty said. "Now is absolutely not the time to scale back. ... This is a cash cow in Utah. Whether its skiing or hiking in Moab and St. George and our national parks, it makes a whole lot of sense to continue the support."

The Governor's Office of Planning and Budget estimates that tourism spending reduced the tax burden on each Utah household in 2008 by about $708.

This is narrow minded thinking that truely fails to appeciate the long-term economic development benefit that tourism can bring to regions, states or economies.

Tourism for Tomorrow

The World Traveland Tourism Council is looking for finalists for their 'The Tourism for Tomorrow' awards, aimed at recognizing best practice in sustainable tourism within the travel and tourism industry worldwide. Given the concern about natural and cultural resources, the awards provide the WTTC with the opportunity of promoting and partnering with the industry leaders in responsible tourism, highlighting the prime examples of best practice.

The awards are determined in 4 categories:

DESTINATION STEWARDSHIP AWARD:

This award goes to a destination – country, region, state, or town – which comprises a network of tourism enterprises and organizations that show dedication to, and success in, maintaining a program of sustainable tourism management at the destination level, incorporating social, cultural, environmental, and economic aspects, as well as multi-stakeholder engagement.

CONSERVATION AWARD:

Open to any tourism business, organization, or attraction, including lodges, hotels, or tour operators, able to demonstrate that their tourism development and operations have made a tangible contribution to the conservation of natural heritage.

COMMUNITY BENEFIT AWARD:

This award is for a tourism initiative that has effectively demonstrated direct benefits to local people, including capacity building, the transfer of industry skills, and support for community development.

GLOBAL TOURISM BUSINESS AWARD:

Open to any large company from any sector of travel and tourism – cruise lines, hotel groups, airlines, tour operators, etc. – with at least 200 full-time employees and operating in more than one country or in more than one destination in a single country, this award recognizes best practices in sustainable tourism at a large company level.

An independent panel of judges, including some of the world's most authoritative experts of sustainable development (and a stringent application process involving on-site verification visits by these experts) has earned the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards growing levels of respect among key audiences - the industry, governments, and the international media.

The winners and finalists are honored at a special ceremony during the Global Travel & Tourism Summit held from May 25-27, 2010 in Beijing, China.

For more information about the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards and how to apply check out the website: www.tourismfortomorrow.com

Hugh Morgan gets Cross

Sockless, swearing, pseudo-spanish, sophisticate Hugh Morgan, overseas purchasing and operations director for Cosmos, has just been awarded the Cross of Officer of the Spanish Order of Civil Merit!

The ‘Cruz de Oficial de la Orden del Mérito Civil’ was presented to Morgan this week by Carles Casajuana, the Spanish Ambassador to the UK, on behalf of King Juan Carlos.

The award is in recognition of the role Morgan has played throughout his career in the UK travel industry to further tourism to Spain.

Morgan said: ‘I am deeply honoured and extremely proud to receive this decoration.

‘It is a very rewarding and emotional experience to receive recognition in this way and I am deeply flattered.’

Ignacio Vasallo, director, Spanish National Tourist Office, added: ‘I am absolutely delighted that Hugh, who has played such an important role in the British travel industry related to Spain, has been honoured by the Spanish Government.

We have know Hugh for many years and have always been impressed by his quick wit, appalling dress sense and colourful language, and of course, for his a sharp business acumen! Well done Hugh!

The Spice is Right..

Congratulations to SpiceJet, the low-cost carrier for the Indian domestic market, which has just secured recognition at the World Travel Market for it's growth and multi-channel approach to distribution.

World Travel Market Chairman Fiona Jeffery presented an award to the carrier’s CEO Sanjay Aggarwal, at today’s WTM 30th Anniversary VIP Opening & Reception Ceremony.

SpiceJet currently connects 18 domestic destinations with 125 daily departures. The depth of its network provides customers a variety of options for interconnecting flights, giving them access to second tier destinations via connections at major hubs.

It has been growing recently, despite the economic pressures. SpiceJet increased its daily departures from 98 in October 2008 to 125 by May 2009. Its market has increased from 7.9% in September 2008 to 12.8% in June 2009, making it the fastest growing airline in India during this period. During the first seven months of the current year, SpiceJet’s passenger traffic has grown 14% compared to a 5% decline in the overall Indian domestic traffic.

Unlike many other low-cost airlines, it has a multi-channel approach to sales - 24% of bookings come directly from consumers booking at www.spicejet.com, 14% book through its call centers, online travel agents account for 30% with offline travel agents its largest sales channel with 32%.

It differs from other low-cost carriers by having a cargo business, which covers 13 stations. It has carried more than 19000 tones of cargo since May 2008. This side of the business currently contributes more than 3% of its total revenue.

Overall, it deserves credit for having made a profit while growing during an economic slowdown In the first three months of the year it made a profit of INR 26.3 crores (£3.6m) after two quarters of near breakeven numbers.