January 2017 – International Institute of Tourism Studies

GW’s Dr. Hannah Messerli and Professor Emeritus Don Hawkins were in Madrid for the launch of The International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, which the UN has designated to allow the industry to further drive responsible development that increases livelihoods, promotes the well-being of local communities and protects cultural and natural resources. “The United Nations’ recognition of sustainable tourism will support global sharing and innovation,” noted Messerli. “Key events in all regions will enable public and private sector stakeholders to share ideas and foster better tourism practices.”

While in Madrid, Messerli and Hawkins also attended a related event—the launch of the UN World Tourism Organization’s 13th Awards for Excellence and Innovation. Messerli, served on the award jury for public policy and governance applications. “These awards allow destinations from around the world to showcase and share their new ideas and—importantly—show how they can be successfully implemented,” she explained. “This year’s awards were diverse and demonstrated new achievements in measuring and monitoring tourism’s impact. It is exciting to see the increasing emphasis on all stakeholders—from tourists to governments to the private sector, and especially residents.”

The public policy and governance award went to Mexico’s Guanajuato Ministry of Tourism for a plan that aims to significantly increase tourism development in the state while developing its ability to measure and quantify impacts in a way that is useful to local communities, governments and businesses. “It is very thorough and based on extensive community participation,” said Messerli. In addition to the Guanajuato submission, Costa Rica’s Social Progress Index in Tourist Destinations, which measures the well-being of individuals living in destinations, was also noteworthy.

Over the course of the year, GW will actively participate in thought-leadership events around sustainable tourism including a global conference in November that will draw the development community, governments, donors and locals to focus on collaboration and best practices in the tourism industry. Along with UNWTO, the Jamaican government and the development group Chemonics, GW will help to organize the landmark gathering.

“With the dynamic nature of tourism, there are many opportunities to adapt and recover in the face of adversity—economically, socially, environmentally and even politically,” noted Hannah Messerli, The Dwight D. Eisenhower Research Professor of Tourism Policy Chair of the International Institute for Tourism Studies.

Messerli recently moderated the 2016 Fall Colloquium: Resilience in Tourism, organized by the International Institute of Tourism Studies and Tourism for Tomorrow. Discussions focused on the importance of resilience in the face of challenges including natural resource depletion, political turmoil and the changing habits of tourists. Keynote speaker Kelly Craighead, Executive Director of the National Travel and Tourism Office, U.S. Department of Commerce, was joined by Norie Quintos, Editor at Large, National Geographic Travel Media; Neil Ardeshna, Senior Director of Business Consulting, Marriott International; Carla Portalanza, Cultural and Press Attaché, Embassy of Ecuador in Washington, D.C.

Neil Ardeshna, whose team is charged with leading strategic, enterprise-wide initiatives for Marriott’s 6,000 hotels and 500,000 associates, described how the global hospitality company has built corporate resilience by diversifying its footprint across over 110 countries and by offering 30 brands that can ensure almost any traveler can find a hotel that matches their preferences and price point. Locally, Marriott hotels are both influencing and influenced by their local economies, policies, and cultures in a number of ways…

• Marriott hotel owners, general managers, and local business councils work with local governments and businesses to help ensure local tourism is resilient
• Hotels adjust rates to balance supply and demand. If there is a shift in any given market, room rates can be adjusted to help maintain demand at a hotel, which directly helps to buoy tourism in that city.
• Marriott is constantly driving the development and adoption of innovative tools to help predict demand and react to any demand spikes or dips

Ardeshna also described how Marriott is always responding to long-term consumer trends. Rather than segmenting travelers purely on traditional demographics, for example, they instead work to focus on the traveler experience. “Whether it’s for business or pleasure, we want to make sure that travel is something people look forward to.”

Communications consultant Norie Quintos, who advises destinations and travel companies on how to effectively tell their unique stories, focused on the importance of the media. “Destinations that want coverage need to adapt and change,” explained Quintos. “The tools are affordable and now in everyone’s hands.” She cited examples of initiatives including Conversations with the Earth, a website that relies on participatory journalism and serves as a platform to allow how indigenous communities to share information on their strategies for adapting to climate change.

She also discussed strategies for engaging the media post disasters. “We know that the longer sustainable tourism lags after a natural disaster, the more damage is done to the social fabric of a place and its economic well being,” said Quintos. She described that because positive, where-to-go stories are the bread and butter for travel media, travel reporters tend to shy away from coverage of a destination following a disaster. She suggested that destinations strategically pitch journalists when they’re ready for coverage. “Focusing on the return of a destination following a disaster is always a great angle,” remarked Quintos.

Month: January 2017

GW Plays Leadership Role in UN Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development

Creating Resilience in the Tourism Industry 1