on 24 September 2009 
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What is my agenda for the site, what do I say, what is my voice, my goal, my cause, what will I write about?
Those of you who know me well are already aware of what drives my personal ambition as well as my writing: travel, technology and the environment.
And while future posts, articles and theoretical ramblings will present a stronger focus on tourism technology, I felt it appropriate to address a larger subject. Global, if you will.
At present, while you sit at your desk or check in on your various RSS feeds via the ubiquitous Blackberry, the world is changing. At grassroots gatherings and worldwide summits, such as the recent Climate Week in New York City, thousands of our peers are addressing the issue of our time…climate change.
I submit to you that climate change is not simply an issue for Greenpeace and the United Nations; it is now an issue for you, for us and for our industry. The time has arrived to lend our voice to the congregation and become a part of the solution. The travel industry…utilizing technology…can help lead the way.
Sounds good you say, but how? And furthermore, why? Why us? Why me?
All of us love (or should love) to travel. We travel to see the world, to experience different cultures and to embrace the variety of natural wonders that exist on our wide-ranging planet. Beyond that wonderful and sugar-coated fact, we sell destinations and, for the most part, we sell the natural surroundings that exist in these destinations.
Our budgets, profits, local taxes, salaries, families, friends and bankers depend on the revenues that are generated due to the splendors of these amazing sites. On top of that, our jobs depend on the environment that we sell so eagerly to willing travelers. That fact alone should be enough cause for you to read on, regardless of personal opinion.
But, as quickly as these wonders of the world are being discovered by the masses, they are at risk of being destroyed due to a changing climate.
The crumbling and deteriorating ruins throughout Greece and Egypt are under attack by the acid rain produced, in part, by exhaust of the rental cars and buses that bring thousands of tourists to these marvels in the first place.
Or, take the first 90 degree day in the Valley of the Sun… Phoenix…a location from which I speak with experience. According to yearly readings from NOAA, the first 90 degree day in Phoenix over the past 25 years is, on average, April 1, however when isolating the last 10 years, that date jumps to March 29. On paper, only a two day difference, but in terms of evolutionary time, those two days (over such a short period) represent a large shift in climate patterns.
As you can imagine, it becomes difficult to sell the idea of a lovely alfresco lunch when the temperature reaches 120 degrees. Trust me; all the misting systems in the world will not cool you down.
Perhaps the most startling and troubling example of this disastrous trend is the tiny nation of Maldives. The archipelago lies just off the coast of India and is literally being washed off of the map due to our lack of action on such issues as capping carbon emissions.
And the list goes on…drought in Australia, an overpopulation of pine beetles in Colorado and much of the Rocky Mountain West as well as glaciers disappearing from mainland Europe.
The destination that we sell is being destroyed, or at best, becoming nearly unrecognizable.
But we have a green program, you say.
Nothing more than talk, I say.
Sure, you have a couple of recycling cans in the office, perhaps you even buy locally grown produce for your restaurant and let us not forget about that expensive ‘We are Green’ brochure on your website.
Kudos, perhaps the people of the Maldives can build rafts out of those shiny new brochures and sail off to a new island home.
We need to do more.
We need to be at the head of the table, providing real and tangible ideas and solutions for our community to survive.
Solutions like the E-Move Charging Station in Denmark. The newly unveiled carbon offset kiosk at SFO. Bicycle exchange programs such as the successful experiment in Paris. Recycling programs like RAFT in Denver, which provides school supplies to teachers from leftover convention materials.
We need to use technology to educate our consumers about the natural beauty that surrounds them and what we, as the travel industry, are doing to protect it on the local level.
We need to stop printing guides, materials and mailers that consumers do not want and start thinking about how our decisions can be improved with technology and how that technology can improve the natural world.
Simple answers do not exist in this post or topic. This is a serious issue that calls for serious and thoughtful solutions, which unfortunately cannot be provided in a nice, neat bulleted list.
However, I can provide one solution for this paradox that I have so willingly unleashed on these virgin pages. We, the travel industry, need to start talking.
We need to start talking to each other, to our consumers, to our peers, to our politicians and to the world. All too often we spend endless hours discussing the best way to entice visitors to our destinations without even mentioning or blatantly ignoring such issues as air quality, carbon offsets and the potential for environmental damage. We have trained ourselves to focus on short-term gains and let someone else worry about long-term effects.
Technology is standing by and ready to make an impact on more than the way we communicate with tourists. Technology is ready to help us change the future. We simply need to start the conversation.
If you have made it this far into the post, then congratulations, I can assure you that future rants will provide more actionable solutions than the previous novel. And we will certainly talk at length about Twitter, AR, GIS, GDS and every other techie acronym that we can think of, but this subject is beyond important.
I leave you with one final thought.
It is our responsibility to protect and preserve the destination that we sell to millions of travelers each and every day. It is time we accepted this monumental task and stopped providing excuses.
Otherwise, our children might have no other choice except to visit the Maldives on Wikipedia.
Related posts:
Troy, you might be interested in this article about cloud whitening:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8214045.stm
The giant ‘yacht’ balloons look pretty impressive
Edd
Hi Edd,
Thanks for the comments. Great story from the BBC, thanks for passing that along.
Regards,
Troy
Yes, I have indeed read to the very end of your great article, Troy. You are raising issues that have been on the agenda now for almost forever with rather meager results, I might add.
I remember the then head of the Switzerland’s DMO who back in the early ’70s – yes, I go back that far and more! – coined the phrase “tourism destroys tourism” trying to raise the flag against what in those days was the major threat to the natural environment and beauty of especially the Alps and Mediterranean sea coasts, the reckless building of resorts consisting of huge and ugly apartment blocks that for most of the year would remain empty.
The threat is now even more serious and goes beyond just development which has, in many areas at least, become more attuned to local requirements and follows better environmental standards.
One way to address the issue is, as you suggest, to reduce the amount of printed material that goes to waste. Visit any travel trade show and watch the mountains of glossy brochures lying around and then check the garbage bins and waste collectors at the end. At least some it is printed on recycled material, but still, is it necessary at all?
Technology is part of the solution and thanks to websites the need for print is reduced but more needs to be done. There are no easy, sweeping solutions but only small individual efforts duplicate millions of times that might let’s hope make a difference.
Joe, you don’t look a day over 29 in that avatar.
Great comments, thanks. Love the idea of small, individual efforts building to an actual solution.
And the quote ‘tourism destroys tourism’ is spot on.
Good stuff. I knew you would be good for a comment or two.
Regards,
Troy
The tricks you can play with Mac Photo Booth, hides all the wrinkles!
@Joe. Ha!
Troy – Well said buddy. I grew up in the Maldives and even back in the 1980’s were absolutely baffled by the inaction by the UN and the industrialized world. Keep rantin’
Thanks Mo. Honestly, I had no idea you grew up there. We need to talk about a follow-up post.
Maybe you should be the one writing on this subject.
- Troy
Hi Troy, Great post! It’s good to see someone is actually talking about the issues most in the industry tend to ignore. I guess its like anything else, until it actually starts to seriously effect the bottom line (Have a dollar value) most hotels, operators and airlines will not care, and its not right.
I think we need to add a few lines to the Millenium development goals that relate back to the environment, we seem to still be stuck 50 years ago and base our business models off of the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure”. Yes, they do, but no one has the right do destroy an ecosystem. It’s time for new global regulation and standards to be set for all industries.
Thank you again for your post.
Graham
Thanks for the comments Graham.
Quite true, unfortunately, about the bottom line. Although, I sense some momentum in changing that ‘old’ way of thinking. Hopefully that continues to develop…and quickly.
Quite welcome for the post, I just ask that you send it to friends and coworkers.
We have to (re)start somewhere.
- Troy
I will definitely send it around the office. I used to be quite active with all this, forcing people to read “Earth time” by David Suzuki (even had a signed copy) but it felt like I had to give that up to be in this industry.
I remember a fairly prestigious hotel was doing a presentation and they were bragging about destroying the old CRT tv’s and wardrobes for a renovation. I think thats one attitude that we need to beat: Seeing waste as a sign of prosperity.
Thank you Troy for this important post. May I draw your attention to the work of The Icarus Foundation in Canada (www.theicarusfoundation.com) – formed to help the tourism industry there become more climate friendly. Honest talk is the right place to start. Destinations need to understand that even if their tourism businesses significantly reduce their individual footprint, they may not describe the destination as sustainable if their marketing strategy states volume growth of 5% per annum. We need to transform the very type of tourism that is experienced – that’s what the conversation needs to focus on now. I call it honest sustainability (www.desticorp.typepad.com/desticorp/honest-sustainability.html).
The IT community can play a very important role in increasing awareness; enabling the conversation; sharing knowledge so we don’t reinvest the wheel and substituting unnecessary travel so that travel that really does generate positive benefit can continue.
Thanks for this brilliant article. We must take care of our home, the earth planet, that will be the home of our children. And starting being sustainable and respectful with our environment. If we want life this is a must.
Awesome post! You have a great blog, absolutely the best Ive read so far. I will be looking forward to your next entry. Thanks again.