Can Travel Advisors Be a Secret Weapon in Quest for Sustainable Tourism?

A growing number of people want to travel in a sustainable way, but knowing the right choices to make can be a complex and confusing process. Which hotels are truly minimizing their impact on the environment and which ones are simply greenwashing? Which have fair labor practices and support the local culture and economy? When it comes to nature activities, which providers are devoted to conservation and not engaging in wildlife exploitation?

Travel advisors who take the time to research and vet suppliers can be of great service in guiding travelers toward responsible choices. With in-depth destination knowledge, advisors can also provide tips on using public transportation, exploring locally owned restaurants, and enjoying authentic cultural exchanges. The results are not only good for local communities and the environment but create better travel experiences.

For more coverage of pertinent issues, click here.

Any suggestions for the coverage you would like to see are welcome. Feel free to contact me at mbl@skift.com.

— Maria Lenhart, Travel Advisor Editor

Featured Stories

The Often Overlooked Role Travel Advisors Play in the Path to Responsible Tourism: While it’s more obvious that hotels, airlines, and cruise lines have a big impact on sustainable tourism, travel advisors wield influence too. How they guide clients in the choices they make has ramifications for the health of the travel industry, as well as for the planet.

Cruise Chairman Deflects Concerns Over Industry’s Environmental Threats as ‘Fake News’: It makes sense that a longtime leader of a cruise company would give lip service to sustainability. To say consumer concerns about the sector’s sustainability are fake, however, risks alienating customers at a pivotal moment for the sector.

Tourism

U.S. Travelers Can Still Travel Legally to Cuba — But Confusion Over Trump Policies Is Keeping Them Away: President Trump hasn’t scrapped legal U.S. travel to Cuba entirely, but the drip drip of policies making it seem more difficult or complex will mean some travelers stay away.

SoulCycle’s Move Into Retreats Will Test Loyalty of Its Spin Fanatics: Considering SoulCycle is a fitness company, it’s not outlandish to think it would want to get into the wellness retreat business. Whether it will actually earn enough of a profit from the trips to make it worth its while is another story.

New Concepts Tackle Luxury Travel Abuse of Nature in Asia: Enough of abusing nature for luxury. Tourism players in Asia-Pacific share how conscious design and excursion-based wellness can change how we think about luxury resorts.

Hong Kong’s New Tourism Chief Rolls Up Sleeves to Tackle Huge Challenges: It takes a brave person to lead Hong Kong’s battered tourism industry. After a few months’ search, the tourism board has found a new lead, but now the hard work begins.

Lodging

Airbnb Finally Embraces Veritifed Listings After Halloween Deaths: Airbnb has avoided these policies under the guise of being just a platform, much like the rest of the tech platform companies. We just hope at some point that tragedies are not the only way to propel change that lots of stakeholders have been asking for all along.

What Luxe Hospitality Can Learn About Engaging the Senses From a Live-Fire Chef: The state of luxury is evolving and morphing. And the commonality of those who are forging resonant experiences is that they are looking outside of some of the tried-and-true formulas, mining heightened sensory territories that evoke something deeper in guests.

Car Rentals

Hertz Continues to Outshine Avis With Tech Investments for Operations: Hertz recently upgraded its internal and fleet management systems, helping it overcome the hurdles that are bogging down Avis.

Events

Los Cabos Is a Model for Mexico’s Events Industry After Tourism Board Closure: Los Cabos’ name recognition and infrastructure give it a huge advantage, so it makes sense that it emerged as a leader in the events space. Still, the city’s reworked meetings strategy has important info for other destinations.

Skift Travel Advisor Editor Maria Lenhart [mbl@skift.com] curates the Skift Travel Advisor Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday. Have a story idea? Or a juicy news tip? Want to share a memo? Send her an email.

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