与旅行公司导航
byJessica Montevago/
Worldwide, more than 1.3 billion people travel internationally annually, up from 500 million trips in 1995, according to the Brookings Institution. And with about 140 million people joining the middle class annually, overtourism is only going to grow.
总体目标是对我们访问的目的地产生持久,积极的影响,Traver Corporation's(TTC)Treadright Foundabeplay银行卡tion致力于改善这一日益增长的关注。
Brett Tollman, TTC’s chief executive, and Shannon Guihan, TreadRight’s program director, shared their thoughts with Travel Market Report on the issues and the best way to stop and prevent overtourism.
Travel Market Report: What tourism initiatives have TTC brands put in place to combat overtourism?
Shannon Guihan: TTC brands have taken steps to encourage our guests to explore new and developing destinations that will benefit greatly from the redistribution of travelers today. Our family of brands does this through tailored travel styles so guests can choose the style that suits them best. For instance, Trafalgar’s “Country Explorer” and Insight Vacations’ “Country Roads” trips give travelers a chance to explore one country in depth, in a single region, steering clear of crowded tourist trails and more in the direction of hidden gems and unexpected adventures with lots of local flavor. Another great example is Brendan Vacations, which offers locally-hosted rail vacations in Ireland and Scotland.
Promoting destinations off-peak is another way to combat overtourism, especially across Europe. Traveling in the off-peak seasons allows more time to explore, thanks to fewer crowds, and it offers exceptional value. While guests are in overcrowded places, our brands try to give them the best experience, such as VIP access to skip the long lines. On Luxury Gold’s journey to Italy, guests get VIP entry into the Vatican Museum; and a private, after-hours tour of Doge’s Palace in Venice.
Brett Tollman: Undertourism is the most powerful thing we can, and should, all be focusing on. Over 90% of the world’s destinations are not currently facing overtourism. There are many more places crying out for tourists – throughout Africa, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Northern Ireland – and these are places we are promoting for more travelers to try.
There are many benefits of tourism, and travelers can make a lasting footprint on the destinations they visit. Through our brands, we’re educating travelers on the importance of learning about local customs, traditions and social practices; respecting wildlife and their natural habitats; reducing water and energy waste; treading lightly; and guiding them on how to become ambassadors for good in their own life. Once they return home, our goal is for them to share their knowledge and rewarding experiences to future travelers.
Insight Vacations为我们的客人提供了约旦的伊拉克Al-Amir妇女合作社的访问,在那里他们将体验该地区的当地遗产。他们将与伊拉克Al Amir妇女共度时光,并真正受到欢迎 - 通过尝试陶器制作,一起烹饪和分享餐点。对于客人来说,听到女性令人难以置信和强大的生活故事是一种荣幸,使整个组织变得更好。
对于每位在东非预订行程的客人,都为在非洲的儿童教育做出了贡献。南非预订了行程,通过非洲旅行公司与性感袜子的合作伙伴关系,支持开普敦女子缝纫合作社。
Luxury Gold also offers guests a unique five-day visit to the Amazon in Ecuador, to connect them with indigenous communities and participate in a sustainable international development project.
TMR:您认为哪些解决方案应该参与整体,以支持长期的旅游业可持续性?
SG: As a whole, our industry needs to be thoughtful about the destinations that we visit and the way we operate within them. More importantly, we need to recognize what makes a particular destination so rich, and work to preserve that cultural richness across-the-board. A great example is a new scholarship program that our TreadRight Foundation has launched with the Christina Heeren Foundation for Flamenco Arts, in Seville. The program will ensure that four top-year students can complete their training in Flamenco dance, guitar and dance.
The industry also needs to be aware of its impact. In Europe, we continually upgrade our equipment and maintain Euro 6 engines, the cleanest available. We recently stopped the sale of water bottles on our coaches and are instead working with hotel partners to provide water refill points and ask our guests to bring their own water bottles. The industry needs to behave in-destination the same way they do in their own homes.
TMR: Rome has recently made headlines for banning sitting on the Spanish Steps along with other restrictions to preserve its monuments. What are your thoughts on this tactic? Does it affect the quality of tours in the region?
SG: In fact, I think it affects the quality of tours to the region positively. A considerable part of our journey towards integrating responsibility into everything that we do is to work hand-in-hand with our partner destinations. Rome has taken a positive step towards protecting one of its greatest jewels, and we will always support and respect that mindset.
TMR: How is TTC supporting local sustainability efforts to sustain the places we travel to?
BT: The Travel Corporation has spent the past 11 years on a journey to integrate sustainability into its DNA, and it’s a journey we remain committed to. Through our TreadRight Foundation, we have supported more than 55 local projects in more than 26 countries, all dedicated to supporting people, the planet and our wildlife. The healthy functioning of the destinations that we visit, to us, is critical to delivering an incredible travel experience across all our brands, our primary goal.
TTC remains dedicated to removing as many unnecessary single-use plastics from its worldwide supply chains on our thousands of immersive trips and experiences delivered in over 70 countries around the world, every day. We continue to reduce most unnecessary single-use plastics within all Red Carnation Hotels, onboard all of our Uniworld ships, and within our TTC offices.
我们还有很长的way to go. We remain committed and dedicated to achieving these important steps by December 2022. Water bottles have been removed from 90% of our trips. Contiki and Luxury Gold have high-quality, reusable water bottles for travelers on their trips. Non-biodegradable name tags were eliminated from all our trips and brands at the beginning of this year; and we have removed 75% of our documentation wallets and the shipping costs associated with them.
我们的电子信息材料程序也非常吸引人,并且有一棵树木种植。自2017年以来,我们为旅行社和客人提供了将旅行文件以电子方式发送给他们的机会。当您选择e-Docs时,我们以您的名字种植一棵树。在过去的一年中,已经种植了超过500英亩的土地。
TMR: What advice would you give to travel advisors who want to help? How can they book clients in a way that protects the destinations they travel to and within?
SG:旅行顾问可以向他们的合作伙伴询问一些相对简单的问题:您是否制定了可持续的旅游政策?您是否确保与本地,内部指南和公司合作?您是否有可衡量的策略来减少办公室的影响?您是否制定了动物福利政策?您是否有计划减少塑料对全球旅游目的地的影响?beplay银行卡您是否将任何利润都重新投资回您运营的目的地?beplay银行卡
There are many brands that can answer yes to several of those questions. But Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, Contiki, Red Carnation Hotels, Uniworld and all TTC brands can answer yes to every one of those questions. This is how we are making sure that travel advisors can book responsible options for their clients.
At the end of the day, travel advisors need to give their clients what they want, but sometimes you don’t know what you want until someone tells you. Travel advisors who have earned their clients’ trust are in a unique position to educate them and provide them with new and exciting experiences with travel companies that care about the planet.