“The environmental cost of travel has been well debated and tourism has taken a battering. Consequently the industry and those who work within it feel deflated. Many travellers are left wondering whether they can and should continue to travel.”
This observation from Justin Francis, owner of responsibletravel.com, does not come by surprise. He further writes: “I approached Geographical magazine earlier this year with the idea of producing dedicated editorial on the sustainable future of travel and tourism. I wanted to start a positive and forward thinking debate around the future of our industry. Geographical’s Publisher Graeme Gourlay and Editor Geordie Torr were inspired to dedicate their entire December 2008 issue to the topic. You can read the editorial from our collaboration below. We look at the future of hotel architecture with visualisations by Jeremy Blake, a leading eco-architect; the innovations in aviation; developments in travel technology; and ‘geotourism’ as a growing trend. I also share my thoughts and suggestions for the future based on my own experience in the industry. I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers but I hope you’ll use this site as a place to tell us what you think and to share ideas.”
Read more @ www.futureoftourism.com
Opinion:
A great initiative to raise awareness of the impact tourism has on the environment and host communities. Do we still want to travel in 20 years? I do think so. Will we be able to enjoy the same beaches, small islands, intact nature? I really hope so. Justin is a forerunner for responsible travel promotion – there should be many more like him.
Picture credit: aussiegal
I don’t mean to be alarmist, but future tourism will be conducted in homes looking at videos of glorious destinations that once were if all entities involved in travel do not demand and execute sustainable tourism guidelines…read more on my piece at http://bit.ly/pRFogh
Posted by Dave Jones | July 12, 2011, 01:24Not sure about that, Dave. Unless those videos are real enough to get me some culinary tasters, the smell and feel of a place, I might still prefer to get there myself….
Posted by Florian | July 12, 2011, 16:43