At the World Travel & Tourism Council 2015 Global Summit in Madrid, the NGO Sustainable Travel International has unveiled an industry-wide campaign entitled 10 Million Better to monitor and scale up social and environmental benefits from travel and tourism.
The ten-year initiative convenes leading tourism corporations, organizations, and destinations around the goal of tracking and demonstrating improvements in the lives of at least 10 million people and their families by 2025, including growth in income and opportunity, and better protection of destinations' natural, cultural and heritage sites. The campaign will create and distribute an accessible, open-source impact monitoring tool designed to overcome existing barriers and allow all kinds of destinations and businesses to monitor tourism's benefits, establish a baseline, aggregate results, and report improvements over time.
Sustainable Travel International announced the 10 Million Better campaign in a joint presentation today at WTTC's "Tourism for Tomorrow" awards event in Madrid. It featured Dr. Louise Twining-Ward, CEO of Sustainable Travel International, Brian Mullis, Chairman of the Board and Founder of Sustainable Travel International, and Inge Huijbrechts, Vice President Responsible Business at Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.
Ms. Huijbrechts is among the industry leaders serving as a campaign ambassador. Others include representatives of Delaware North, Intrepid Travel, and the Soneva Group. The campaign is also endorsed by Sustainable Travel Leadership Network and Sustainable Destination Leadership Network, which represent leading brands committed to advancing the industry's sustainability efforts, including Globus, Finnair, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Ltd., United Airlines and others.
"Collectively, our industry has the power to influence the protection of the environment, promotion of economic equality and preservation of the social well-being and cultural traditions of communities around the globe," said Jerry Jacobs, Jr., Co-CEO of the global hospitality and entertainment group Delaware North Companies, Inc. "We're wholly committed to ensuring travel and tourism continues to do better by our world."
"There is a new readiness and urgency for the industry to act together," said Sustainable Travel International's Twining-Ward. "A big shift is needed to ensure tourism fulfills its potential to improve lives in tourism-dependent communities."
www.sustainabletravel.org
