Responsible Tourism Awards 2008

I recently received a message from Alex Lyons at Responsible Tourism announcing that nominations are now being accepted for the 2008 Responsible Tourism Awards. It is pretty rare that direct messages like these actually make it through to the blog, but in this case, I really like the subject matter and I am passionate about the idea. In their own words: The idea behind the Awards is that all types of tourism – from niche to mainstream – can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people. The Awards recognise individuals, companies and organisations... Read more »

Travel is doing a lot for sustainability

The main topic at this year’s Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Dubai was sustainability and what the travel industry is doing to promote it.  I was really quite surprised at the amount of discussion around how “we” collectively can make a difference and do things on a corporate level to reduce our impact on the environment and make travel more sustainable.  The cost of fuel was of particular interest especially with the large airlines that attended the summit.  What many seem to forget is that the travel industry actually only accounts for about 2% of the global carbon... Read more »

Are Carbon Offsets the New Snake Oil? - Planning for a Greener 2008

So the response to my original post has been pretty good. I managed to stir up some emotions relating carbon offsets to snake oil, but that was after all my point. I didn’t really want to sensationalize it too much, but I did want to make the point that, right now, it is buyer beware. Scott, from Search Intelligence, Peter from Sustainable Travel, and Ian from Philathropic Travel all brought up really good points about the industry so I thought I would shift focus away from the potential problems with the market and focus on what you, as an organization or a consumer should look for in... Read more »

Are Carbon Offsets the New Snake Oil?

** Note: I updated the post based on feedback I received from Peter at STI. Thanks to Peter for helping to clarify some of the inaccuracies. Additions are noted in green. I was contacted recently by a client who wanted to integrate a carbon offsetting program into the checkout process of their travel booking engine. They had been recommended to partner with a company (who shall remain nameless) who sells Carbon Offsets. Upon further investigation, I learned some very important information about Carbon Offset schemes. In response to the request from my client, I contacted Peter Krahenbuhl,... Read more »