Responsible Tourism Kicks off in Oslo Norway
Junior Chamber International (JCI) Oslo invited several speakers and interested audiences to the first ever Responsible Tourism Conference in Norway.
The aim was to inspire and engage the audience to adapt responsible tourism policies and guidelines and to put the topic on their agenda. More than 100 participants had signed up to learn more. Writes Linda Verasdaal
The day was officially opened by the State Secretary of the Departement of Foreign Affairs, Ingrid Fiskaa who gave an insight to fair trade industry and talking warmly about responsible tourism. Lars-Kåre Legernes from Oslo Chamber, who were hosting the conference, also had a few opening words.
Georg Kamfjord from the Norwegian School of Business Management (BI) was the first speaker and started by telling about his first meeting with responsible tourism which happened in The Gambia through a trip organised by www.ethicaltravelportal.com. From there he gave an academic overview of responsible tourism. Erlend Lappegard from Inspiratour (www.inspiratour.com) was talking about the tourist – and where do the tourist fit in?
“It was fantastic to meet so many inspired people gathered to learn more about responsible tourism. It certainly gives us encouragement to do what we are doing even better” says Raj Gyawali from Socialtours (www.socialtours.com) who was invited from Nepal to speak at the conference about his company’s experiences on how “Responsibility makes (business) sense”.
From The Gambia, Daouda Niang was invited. The General Manager of Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET) in The Gambia (www.asset-gambia.com) gave an insight to the work ASSET is doing and how to improve local economic benefits of tourism through responsible tourism practises in The Gambia.
The conference also heard from the mass tourism operator, Star Tour, represented by Lena Petersson, Communication Director and CSR. She stressed that the travellers need to be educated and that the travel industry should take their responsibility for the future travellers. Arild Molstad, Journalist and Advisor talked about tourism as a tool for poverty reduction and protecting the environment.
The Panel debate was supplied by Ole Bernt Frøshaug and Dickson Ole Kaelho from Basecamp Explorer (www.basecampexplorer.com) and Vigdis Jordal a social entrepreneur from Hjertebanken (www.hjertebanken.no). Camilla Karstensen from The Body Shop had the last talk at the conference highlighting their campaign against human trafficking in partnership with EPCAT.
The conference created awareness and inspired travel companies, NGOs, academia, media and industry in general. It was good networking opportunities and many new partnerships were created and a continuing process after this event was agreed on.
Linda Veråsdal
Photo©Fredrik Pettersen
Edited by Valere Tjolle
Get free sustainable tourism reports from Vision on Sustainable Tourism HERE
Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suitewww.travelmole.com/stories/1143624.php
Valere
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports
All eyes on Qatar as Qatar Airways leads a season of global events