The Future of Tourism - Color It Green

The 2008 Tourism Cares Summit will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada from August 3-6 and will feature networking, golf, dinner and an exciting new twist - seminars on responsible tourism and how it impacts your business.

Contact Natalie King for more information

CALL FOR SPEAKERS

TIES is pleased to announce a public call for speakers for the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference 2008 (ESTC 2008), to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from October 27-29, 2008.

This important conference will present timely and innovative strategies for sustainable tourism development in the U.S. and Canada, and will bring together over 500 experts, industry leaders and community stakeholders from across the region.

APPLY NOW

TIES is working with a diverse international expert advisory committee to select the ESTC 2008 speakers, who are industry leaders and innovators actively implementing strategies for sustainable change.

If you would like to play a role in this important event by showcasing your knowledge and experience, please complete the application form now using this easy online application.

We strongly urge you to review the ESTC 2008 goals and objectives, which will serve as a basis for the speaker selection criteria.

Deadline for the ESTC 2008 speaker applications is May 15, 2008.

“Making Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM Work for Development, Business, and Conservation”

The Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (CESD), a nonprofit research institution based in Washington D.C and at Stanford University, is organizing an international conference on Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM. By bringing participants together in Arusha, Tanzania, December 3-5, 2008, CESD aspires to promote and strengthen this emerging form of development assistance generated by travelers and the tourism industry.

CESD’s Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM program promotes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the travel industry, and encourages individual businesses and their travelers to give “time, talent, and treasure” to support social service and conservation projects in host communities. This is an increasingly important source of development assistance for communities located near tourism destinations.

2008 Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM Global Conference

Tanzania, a world leader in ecotourism, and Arusha as the gateway to Mt. Kilimanjaro and the northern safari circuit including the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, provide an ideal venue for this conference. The Tanzania conference builds upon the initial international Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM conference held at Stanford University in the USA in 2004.

The three-day conference in Arusha will bring together 200-300 practitioners from socially responsible tourism businesses, experts in the field of sustainable tourism and philanthropy, community based organizations and global and regional NGOs doing development work, the United Nations and other development agencies, philanthropic foundations, government, and the media. A growing number of leading tourism businesses, organizations, and international agencies are co-sponsoring this important conference.

The Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM Conference 2008 will provide a venue for collective learning and exchange among the group of global participants. It will facilitate discussion of the tools and capacity needed for effectively running and evaluating community projects. A goal is to move Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM from a mere set of ideals to applied best practices.

More generally, the conference will build media and public interest in socially responsible travel. The conference will include presentations on some of the leading Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM initiatives around the world. It will also offer a range of optional safaris before and after the event, hosted by leading East Africa tour operators that include visits to community and conservation projects.

Register Now! Early Bird price- $395, After August 1, 2008- $495

Competition Seeks Innovations in Tourism

The National Geographic Society introduces its first Geotourism Challenge collaborative competition to identify and showcase innovators in tourism development, management and marketing. The one-of-a-kind online competition, at www.changemakers.net/geotourismchallenge, will raise awareness about how tourism can help sustain, enhance and preserve local culture and environment. Three winners will each receive a cash prize of $5,000 and an opportunity to present their innovations at a Geotourism Challenge Summit this fall.

Coordinated in partnership with Ashoka’s Changemakers, the global “Geotourism Challenge: Celebrating Places/Changing Lives,” will accept online applications through Wednesday, April 9, 2008. Applicants must demonstrate an innovation that furthers geotourism, defined as “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place — its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the well-being of its residents.” During this 10-week period anyone can debate, endorse or provide additional information on the applicants.

Travelers can nominate additional candidates and provide feedback about unique travel experiences and quality destinations. A distinguished panel of judges will review the applications and select a dozen finalists. The online community will then vote for three Geotourism Challenge winners.  

The Geotourism Challenge is Changemakers’ 15th collaborative competition and draws on Ashoka’s 27 years of experience in identifying leading social entrepreneurs around the world. To date, the competitions have sourced over 2,000 local innovations on various themes from more than 125 countries.

Anyone who completes the online nomination form is automatically registered for a chance to win two trips for two, including airfares, accommodations and spending money, anywhere in the world where WHL Travel operates.

Find out more about how to nominate, enter, comment and vote in our collaborative competitions at www.changemakers.net.