Back in July 2007 we were struggling to complete the
rewrites of the Modules for the new MSc in Responsible Tourism Management and
anxious about recruitment. In the event we recruited a cohort of 50+ students
and we graduated out first MSc Responsible Tourism Management student, Kate
Walters, yesterday.

We have done well enough to convince the University to fund
4 new posts to grow the ICRT and enable us to broaden our expertise. Three of
our new colleagues demonstrated their expertise today: Dr Emma Harvey talked
about carbon reduction; Dr Rebecca Hawkins debated the industry response to the
ethical and responsible agenda; and Andreas Walmsley linked Responsible Tourism
with CSR and pointed to the importance of employment and labour condition to
our agenda for study and change.

Out team has been strengthened by the appointment
of a dedicated administrator Maria Alcahuz-Chacon. Maria has strengthened the
ICRT and we look forward to sustained growth in 2008-9

Kate
Walters graduated with a distinction for her MSc in Responsible Tourism
Management, the first student to graduate from the ICRT at Leeds Met. Kate
joins an alumni composed
of graduates from Masters programmes at the Universities of Kent and Greenwich.

Kate
achieved a distinction for her course work at Greenwich and for her Professional Report which
she submitted to Leeds Met. Her report was the basis for the report No Water No Future – Tourism Drinking Destinations Dry which was published by World Travel on World Responsible
Tourism Day in November 2007

At the same ceremony Karen Schwartz was awarded a PhD for
her thesis on Sustainable Supply Chain Management in UK Tour Operations. 

Back in 1999-2000 I worked with the Association of
Independent Tour Operators to develop their Responsible Tourism policy. In 2000
AITO committed to a set of principles which have guided their practise and that
of their members.

AITO acknowledged “that wherever a Tour Operator does
business or sends clients it has a potential to do both good and harm,” and
they recognised “that all too often in the past the harm has outweighed the
good.”  You can find their policy on
their website at www.aito.co.uk/corporate_RTGuidelines.asp

I worked with AITO to develop the policy and was struck by
the diversity of the habitats, cultures and activities which AITO
members
engaged with. Tour operators facilitate travel to a very diverse range
of destinations.
The social, cultural, environmental and economic issues and impacts
differ from
destination to destination. In some destinations the availability of
water is a
major issue, in many destinations it is not � although it is an issue
in an increasing
number of destinations. The cultural impacts also differ between Africa
and Asia between � and within) Christian and Islamic cultures.

We live in a diverse world. Responsible Tourism has, since
Krippendorf articulated it in The
Holidaymakers, recognised and celebrated that diversity. The Cape Town Declaration
in 2002 for example spoke of

“Relishing the diversity of our
world's cultures, habitats and species and the wealth of our cultural and
natural heritage, as the very basis of tourism, we accept that responsible and
sustainable tourism will be achieved in different ways in different places.” www.icrtourism.org/Capetown.shtml

Tour operators reflect the diversity of the destinations
they operate to and the travellers they attract. Some operators focus on wildlife
and conservation, others on social projects and cultural conservation.

There is no all encompassing definition of what constitutes responsibility.
As Krippendorf argued, and as I have echoed many times, we need active and
engaged travellers and locals  willing to
debate what constitutes responsible behaviours in particular places.  

 Tom Robbins used Explore as an example of a company where at
least one client felt they had been less than responsible. Robbins appeared to
endorse a global label as the solution to defining responsible.

I am not convinced. Labels cannot cover everything. I chair
the judges for the annual Responsible Tourism Awards and we Highly Commended
Explore in 2005 � see http://www.responsibletourismawards.com/winners05.html
Explore has high quality labels from AITO (the industry) and Tourism Concern (a
campaigning NGO). Explore is rightly commended for its achievements in Responsible
Tourism � it is one of the leaders in this field.

Explore has the labels � and rightly so � but what gives
life to the idea of Responsible Tourism, to the aspiration for responsibility,   is the debates
which go on around it. We each will define responsibility differently and no company
will be impeccably responsible in everything it does � all companies can be
challenged to do more and they are.

As I argued in Responsible
Tourism and the Market published in November 2005

“There are some significant differences between the two
approaches of certification vs. responsible tourism. Certification is of most
utility for businesses concerned to audit their supply chains and improve their
management. It is process orientated and rarely provides the holidaymaker or
traveller with an enhanced experience; provided that the business does not
claim to have a current certificate when it does not, there is no risk of
litigation, and it tends to produce a level playing field with no differentiation
between certified products and little marketing advantage. It certainly does
not excite the end consumers.

By contrast responsible tourism is market driven, both
responding to and creating tourists who demand a more real encounter with the environment
and the community, based on values of respect for other people and their
places. These informed consumers subject the products and experiences to
continuous review. When they like it they recommend it to others and return
themselves. When a responsible tourism product fails to match its claims, the
tourist complains and in the worst cases the enterprise risks litigation for
misrepresentation. There is a ratchet effect as consumers expect and demand more
� benefits accrue to those companies and products which enable consumers to
realise their aspirations, as do the communities and environments around them.”
www.icrtourism.org/certification.pdf

Responsibility will never adequately be reduced to a label �
as Krippendorf opined we need “rebellious tourists and rebellious locals”.

It would help if the journalists too asked the same kinds of
questions about the industry as a whole – regularly. Responsible Tourism is only a niche if
we let it be � all forms of tourism can be more responsible � keep asking the
questions. Keep challenging the operators – all the operators not just those who are trying to make a difference.

Recognise those like Explore who are so much better than the
industry average, recognise what is achieved � tell others and encourage them
to book with the responsible operators � but keep asking the questions an
debating the issues.

Will travel journalists do the same – regularly?

Richard Hammond talked about his involvement in green and responsible tourism – concepts which he argued are used interchangeably. Richard's blog at www.greentraveller.co.uk weaves together the environmental, social and economic issues to create stories that  people want to read and repeat.

Richard argued convincingly that it is the story that matters – it is difficult to mix green and flying, but it is the experience that people want to read about, that is what makes them want to book.

Richard argued that in future people were likely to take trips closer to home and perhaps take one long haul trip a year to a developing country.

There was a lively discussion about the Tom Robbins Observer article (see previous blog) and about whether green labels could deal with the complexity of the issues. Veronica Tonge pointed out that it does not have to be all or nothing – there are very holiday experiences which are entirely responsible – it is better to do something than nothing.

Take a look at Richard's site www.greentraveller.co.uk
” GreenTraveller is a guide for anyone looking to travel in a way that
lessens their impact on the environment and provides genuine benefits
for conservation and local people in the destination.”

In Sunday�s Observer  Tom
Robinson asked �Are you being greenwashed?�

You can read the article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jul/06/green.ethicalholidays

The idea of ResponsibleTravel.com grew out of the ICRT when Justin
was a student on the Masters at Greenwich
and I co-founded ResponsibleTravel.com with him in 2001, although I sold my
shares some years ago.

When we created it very few people were talking about Responsible
Travel and we were told by many that the idea would never catch on. The website
was established as an online travel agency, a place where Responsible Tourism
operators could advertise their programmes and where larger tour operators could
advertise those trips. All the products on the site had to meet a minimum set
of criteria.

We established it as a business because our ambition was to change
the way the industry did business. Far from appropriating �responsible travel� Responsible
Travel.com has played an important part in establishing the idea in the UK market
place. Some progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go.

I agree with Ron Mader that what is needed now is �more
transparent communication and more engaging conversation� – it is only through
active engagement by travellers and holidaymakers that tour operators, hoteliers
and airlines can be held to account. As Robinson illustrates in his article the
Advertising Standards Agency is a useful tool and it should be remembered that
all the statements made by tour operators about the products they are selling
are part of their contract with their clients.

Explore is criticised in the Observer article for a trip to Brazil which
included staying at a cayman farm. Jamie Bennett quoted in the article has
posted a fuller critique on www.irresponsibletourism.info
more holiday makers should be posting on sites like this, taking responsibility
for raising the issues they care about.

 Krippendorf whose seminal book The Holidaymakers originated Responsible
Tourism argued that what we need is �rebellious tourists and rebellious locals�.
The issues are complex and contested they cannot be reduced to labels – transparency
and debate are essential to the Responsible Tourism movement. What constitutes responsible
and irresponsible behaviour is contested – we live in a diverse world where debate
and engagement is essential – Responsible Tourism cannot be reduced to a label,
it is an approach to travel and to business. Only questioning and debate can
help us to move forward.

 Explore has achieved three star status in the AITO classification

�The three star award is the highest level of RT recognition
offered by AITO. It means the company has successfully implemented and
continually improves an RT policy. To gain three RT Stars, the company must
also undertake a specific project which contributes to the economy, culture or
environment of a destination.�  

The cayman farm did not preclude Explore getting its
accreditation from AITO.

 NGO�s and others have interests in this field too. As Ron
Mader argues in his response to the Observer article �NGOs would make a greater
impact not by stating what is and is not 'certified' or 'eco' but creating
being more transparent themselves.� For example Explore is also member of Tourism
Concern�s Ethical Tour Operators� Group. http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/index.php?page=ethical-tour-operators-group

 Robinson is right when he says that

�In reality, there is a sliding scale of green, from hotels
that do little more than ask you to reuse towels, to those that provide
renewable energy for heating and electricity, recycle religiously, grow their
own food and offer discounts if you arrive by public transport.�

 Tom Robinson is to be applauded for getting a critical piece
into the mainstream travel press but he has barely scratched the surface – will
others follow? Will the travel editors allow the journalists to ask the questions
that need to be asked about the industry? Where is the critical consumer
journalism on travel and tourism to be found?

It is right to hold to account all tour operators for their
irresponsibility – not only those who are trying to change the way they do
their business, to be more responsible. Keep asking questions and raising the
issues.

In the absence of critical journalism responsible travellers
need to keep on asking the questions  and
complaining – use the web to do it.

www.irresponsibletourism.info

You can read Responsible Travel.com�s response along with a
few other comments at

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/travelog/2008/07/have_you_been_greenwashed.html

Justin Francis has responded on his blog see

http://www.responsibletravel.blogspot.com/

In The Gambia as part of an ICRT Leeds Met Africa initiative
with our West Africa sister organisation ICRT-WA for a series of workshops with
ASSET, the Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism, the Gambian
Tourism Authority and the Kartong Association for Responsible Tourism – it is now
a rare privilege to work at the village level. The ICRT has two alumni
completing their Masters from The Gambia and a marketing officer planning to start
at Leeds Met in September; and we have one of our centenary PhD students,
Louise Dixey, researching ASSET. It is an active and enriching partnership.

 
The partnership began with an encounter with Adama Bah at
the Commission on Sustainable Development at the UN in 1999. He persuaded me
that if I came to The Gambia for a workshop we would do some interesting things
together. I dug into my pocket for the airfare and a partnership was formed.
That workshop led to the creation of ASSET, still unique in the world, and to
the DFID funded action research which demonstrated that increasing market
access and improving product could dramatically improve the earnings of the poor
from tourism. Adama was right – the partnership blossomed.