Community – the Lost Element of Triple Bottom Line

If you’re spending a lot of time at tourism industry conferences this year, I think I could get you to agree that there are only two themes being discussed – the economic downturn and sustainability. Multiple variations on those themes are found, and some of the most intriguing twists on those two topics come when you combine them. Finding ways to weather the economic downturn by attracting more travelers to your properties or tours invariably prompts desperate and frantic attempts to understand customer needs and desires in today’s marketplace (something the industry had lost focus on, along with most of the business world). It’s beyond obvious to say the travel industry’s review of customer desires and behavior has led to the current stampede to jump on the sustainability bandwagon.

A panel of travel executives on a typical tourism conference day over the last year has a group of newly informed top managers and CEOs summarizing the array of measures their company has taken, many in an impressively short period of time, to reduce their environmental impact. It’s an undeniably positive development. There’s talk of low- flow showers, faucets, toilets and landscaping irrigation, solar panels and a variety of power-saving technologies. The conversation has moved beyond changing light bulbs and hanging up towels, fortunately. But there are a few of us out there noticing that these lists of initiatives of what are generally significant operational cost saving measures are mistakenly being understood as comprehensive sustainability programs. Creating environmental impact reduction plans and getting internal buy-in can be a process, but generally successful, due to the easily applicable metrics available that show overall cost savings to the company. Everyone in a large organization can understand that an up-front investment provides energy and water cost savings over time.

There is something missing, though. That something is big, and important, even vital. That missing piece is people. Primarily because it is hard to quantify the impact of engaging local people in the tourism supply chain, it’s the aspect of triple bottom line business models that is being almost entirely neglected by mainstream tourism. For many years, ecotourism and sustainability practitioners have been trying to have their voice heard on the importance of involving local people in ways that create mutual benefit for tourism organizations and communities as one of the vital aspects of environmental preservation, as well as the more obvious socio-economic benefits for developing regions. Well-designed tourism projects involving local people give them economic alternatives to more extractive and environmentally damaging means of making a living, avoiding deforestation and overuse of natural resources.

Here’s why I was enthused about combining the themes of the downturn and sustainability – the shift in consumer values and reevaluation of personal priorities, presumably accelerated or even created by the economic downturn, is affecting travel. Now that travelers are shifting en masse to a style that involves some degree of meaningful and authentic interaction with local people and intact cultures, I expect attention to soon shift further to looking at ways to maintain cultural heritage in the destinations. Two recent conferences were very refreshing in their concentration and support of the cultural preservation and authenticity aspect of the future of tourism. The Adventure Travel World Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec and the Planet, People, Peace International Conference in San Jose, Costa Rica and its special presentation by the Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators, both provided substantial examples and ideas on how to move forward in planning that meets these needs. The market will push the industry in a direction that is positive for the communities in developing regions and their surrounding environments. As opposed to contrived encounters with locals that increasingly culturally savvy consumers will shun, those destinations and tourism providers that facilitate culturally rich experiences should expect to have the competitive advantage among this already large and now fast-growing market of experiential travelers.

– Richard G. Edwards

Richard G. Edwards is the director of the Planeterra Foundation, on the executive team of Gap Adventures. With over 20 years of experience in sustainable and adventure travel, integrated resource management, and international community development, he is committed to educating the world on how to take a more socially and environmentally responsible approach to travel.