An FD Element dispatch.

We recently spoke with Erich Schwartz, Founder and President of Greenomics on the rise of Sustainable Tourism. His “Sustainable Practices in Business Tourism” workshop on September 21st in Vancouver, BC attracted hotel owners and operators, restaurant owners and operators, senior, industry association executives and destination marketing organizations.

Vancouver is one of the world’s most sought after tourist destinations and will host millions of citizens and athletes from around the globe during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in February.

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation estimated that, in 1999, tourism accounted for 11.7 percent of the global GDP, or US $3.5 trillion. Of this, seven percent was generated though nature-based tourism activities. While sustainable tourism is on the rise from 1999, it still has a long way to go.

In August 2009, Carissa Bluestone in Worldchanging.org sums up the ‘cultural psychosis’ of sustainable tourism and more importantly, vacation time, when she says that, “Americans love environmentally unsound vacations — power-boating beerfests, three-day Cancun bacchanalias, check-your-mind-at-the-door packaged tours and cruises.”

Eric, Why sustainable tourism? What is its significance in British Columbia, Canada and North America?
Sustainable tourism speaks to the very need to do business differently. [It] consciously understands the footprint our industry leaves on society and the environment. It also speaks to how we can work together in the industry and with our suppliers to jointly find more creative ways to make a positive impact on our collective goals.

In terms of significance, its is vitally important for our industry to have a societal values shift in the direction of conservation and preservation of our quality of life and for future generations. The consequence if we do move forward as an industry…is that we those companies will remain healthy and economically stable business entities.  Those that don’t will struggle along until the next economic crisis and may not survive the next one. Business that are making changes benefit from a cost perspective and the creation of a strong, loyal workplace culture. In doing so, they will weather any storm and ultimately thrive.

What are some of the opportunities for businesses inside and outside the tourism industry to be involved in the sustainable tourism field?
This goes back to the many other industries the tourism industry relies on to serve the travelling public.  Our operations [in British Columbia] rely on energy providers, such as hydro, gas, cleaning products, paper products, carpet, paint, landscape, horticulture, farmers, food distributors, etc.

Who do you think is paving the way for sustainable tourism in North America? What is so exciting and unique about what they are doing?
Our values are changing not only because of the climate change concerns but also, our desire to become more socially responsible. Since this is a joint effort, there are two answers to this question. First, for the BC Partnership for Sustainable Tourism, we do not know of any other organization like us in North America. The closest tie would be EcoTourism.org, which is a useful resource and support for us. It has a global focus and we have a very concentrated focus on the province of BC.  As well, the Icarus Foundation has a broader focus on Canada. Second, Greenomics drives the business case for sustainability, which is, quite simply, that we we need to save our businesses. This means we need to preserve the environment and be socially responsible to remain competitive.

Drilling down underneath that increasing societal support for sustainability, I believe innovative tourism business leaders are also paving the way for sustainable tourism in North America.  Because many of our BC tourism businesses operate in the natural environment, they have a comprehensive understanding of the need to ensure that this province’s incredible beauty exists for future generations to enjoy.

Similarly, local and provincial governments are starting to understand that the future of the economy and our communities will depend upon more sustainable businesses practices. This includes mitigating and adapting to climate change. [These government bodies] are beginning to pave the way for sustainable tourism in North America through policy, regulation, instigating stakeholder dialogue, funding organizations such as BCPST and so forth.

Thank you, Erich.

An FD Element dispatch. The leaders in sustainability and advocacy communications and advertising.