Tourism Concern gets the key of the door

Showing the less acceptable face of tourism

Tourism Concern celebrates 21 years with new successes, directions

For 21 years, Britain’s only non-governmental organisation dedicated to human rights in tourism has influenced and challenged the global tourism industry. Today, Tourism Concern has announced new strides in campaigns, new staff and new directions.

What started in 1989 as an educational network of just six people has become an internationally respected, independent charity with major achievements to speak of. Tourism Concern is a voice for poor communities negatively impacted by tourism development, lobbies UK and international official entities, creates codes and network groups enabling tourism providers to improve their practices, and provides information and resources to schools and universities. Tourism Concern’s key achievements include:

• The Himalayan Trekking Code (1991): the first multi-stakeholder code of its kind, it has helped ensure decent working conditions for mountain porters. In 2002, it became the Trekking Porters’ Code and is now used by over half of UK operators.
• The withdrawal of many UK tour operators from Burma in 1997, following a joint effort with the Burma Campaign UK.
• The insertion of sustainable tourism case studies in the UK curriculum, following the distribution of 5,000 teaching videos in 1999.
• The creation of the Travellers Code in 2001, distributed by Gap Year companies.
• The collaborative work with the UK Government that led to the institution of The Travel Foundation in 2003.
• The formation, also in 2003, of a permanent multi-stakeholder panel to regularly review Foreign Office Advisories, which sometimes damage tourism for an unnecessarily long time in many destinations.
• The adoption by all UK leading tour operators of policies on labour conditions for hotels (2004).
• The development of a training manual for NGOs working with community-based tourism initiatives, following a successful pilot project in Mexico in 2008.

2010 will end very positively for Tourism Concern. A significant progress for its Human Rights campaign was the meeting, in October, between Tourism Concern staff and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary-General to push for the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism as a means to safeguard human rights, and for an increased participation from NGOs in UNWTO processes.

Tourism Concern’s powerful photography exhibition, Destination Tsunami: Stories and Struggles from India’s Southern Coast, was a success in London, Bath, Bristol and Edinburgh, and is now opening in Newcastle (15 Nov.-3 Dec.)

New positions have been created to raise Tourism Concern’s profile and enable the organisation to grow.

Tourism Concern has decided to celebrate its 21st birthday by showing unwearied enthusiasm for its cause, and by giving itself the means to embark on a journey with passionate and concerned travellers. Look out for more results in the years to come.

See interview with John de Vial: www.travelmole.com/stories/1145382.php

Valere Tjolle

Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite: EXTRA SPECIAL OFFER at:
www.travelmole.com/stories/1145345.php