Destinations as living ecosystems for equitable tourism
When it comes to tourism, often communities are left out of important decisions about their future, whereas a living systems approach is required so that tourism is not just an end in itself, but a means to positive impacts.
At Adventure Elevate Europe, one of the most vibrant discussions was between diverse destinations from Tajikistan and Cabo Verde to Kaçkar in Turkey. In the case of the latter, Ceylan Sensoy explained the importance of aligning people and places first before tourism can happen. For her destination, this means designing from the inside out, not top down. This involves co-designing tourism strategies with communities, together with the government and tourism board, seeing destinations as living ecosystems. In terms of tourism participation in Kaçkar, communities came round to the benefits of sustainable tourism thanks to the opportunities for their children to live locally, without the need to move elsewhere.
Sophie Ibbotson of Maximum Exposure who works with destinations including Tajikistan advised meeting stakeholders where they are and avoiding a copy and paste approach to destinations.
From sustainability to positive impact
One of the most powerful sessions was a dialogue between Alex Narracott, CEO of Much Better Adventures (MBA) and Chalie Cotton, CEO of E-Collective. The conversation focused on sustainability as a strategy. Interestingly, both no longer talk about sustainability, instead use terms like ‘impact’ that are more actionable and forward-looking.
Adventure travel delivers 75% of tourism spending to local communities, as opposed to 14% for mass tourism, as reported by ATTA. Alex of MBA warned against resting on one’s laurels and that it is vital to influence the rest of the industry to encourage mass travel to deliver even double what they do now in terms of equity.
When it comes to who is driving sustainable transformation, sadly the verdict was that customers are not bothered, and it’s up to owners and employees to lead, as customers expect them to be dealing with it. Storytelling was touted as a solution to the lack of consumer interest, especially from guides and being honest about what doesn’t work when it comes to climate action.
Is there an optimum metric?
MBA’s work into equity using AI through its partnership with Equator Analytics in collaboration with ATTA is groundbreaking, looking at where the economic impact and leakages are across all its trips and suppliers.
In terms of the best metric, the ratio of money left in destination per CO2 emitted was recommended, however, this may be too technical for customers but still useful for trade. Some smaller operators like Alex Chang at Fresco Tours and Maria at Patagonia Trails report up to 90% of spending left locally which is something to be championed. With over 80% of tourism made up of SMEs, the potential for delivering equity at scale is huge.
Adventure travel can act as the wider travel industry’s north star when it comes to driving equitable tourism based on shared futures.