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WTM WRTD Events 2012

Key debates and workshops on crucial responsible tourism issues facing the industry today are both challenging and provocative.

WTM World Responsible Tourism Day events are deliberately thought provoking and at times, inspiring, pushing the boundaries, questioning long held beliefs and opinions and highlighting good practice.

WTM World Responsible Tourism Day 2012 will be no exception.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Activity Tourism
11.00 - 12.00, South Gallery Rooms 21 & 22

Activity tourism is fast becoming an important source of income to many nations. The industry has responded to demand by helping holidaymakers to travel to remote parts of the world, for example, to ski, dive and climb - often in areas where these activities are relatively unmanaged.

WTM World Responsible Tourism Day asks what responsibility do tour operators and activity providers have to ensure the safety of travellers and or the protection of the environments they use?

Chairperson

John Swarbooke, Professor of Tourism and Hospitality, Manchester Metropolitan University

Speaker(s)

Mountaineering and Trekking: Ashley Hardwell, Senior Lecturer Leeds Metropolitan University
Skiing: Veronica Tonge, Consultant, Responsible Skiing

Diving: Claudia Townsend, Consultant, Hidden Britain

Tourism and Child Protection
12.30 - 13.30, South Gallery Rooms 21 & 22

Child protection has long been a major concern of many people working within the industry including World Travel Market who, in the past, has worked with the UNWTO and ECPAT, the champion of children’s rights, promoting greater awareness and recognition of the issues.

Disquiet continues to grow as travel and tourism unwittingly contributes to internal child trafficking. Unscrupulous orphanages are recruiting or purchasing children to ‘earn’ money from tourists. What must the industry do take responsibility for children and young people - whether in the destination or amongst the holidaymakers?

The panel will explore how the industry can more effectively address the challenge of protecting children.

Chairperson

Harold Goodwin, Professor of Responsible Tourism Management, Leeds Metropolitan University

Speaker(s)
Marina Diotallevi, Programme Manager - Ethics & Social Dimensions of Tourism World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Claire Ellaway, Director, WCE Group Operations
Stephen Farrant, Director, International Tourism Partnership and Youth Career Initiative
Michael Horton, Chairman & Founder, ConCERT Cambodia
Julie Naylor, Head of Customer Relations, Thomas Cook

Wildlife Tourism
12.30 - 13.30, South Gallery Room 19

The trend of millions of travellers who like to watch animals in their natural habitat is growing every year and has become a significant source of employment and income for developing countries.

But rapid development also brings numerous environmental concerns that could endanger wildlife.

The session will study how the industry can positively contribute, educating visitors, helping to fund conservation, creating wildlife dependent livelihoods for local people.

Chairperson

Chris Breen, Founder and Managing Director, Wildlife Worldwide

Speaker(s)

Abhishek Behl, Wild Navigator
Dickson Ole Kaelo, Conservationist, Maasai Mara
Joss Kent, Chief Executive Officer, &BEYOND
Caroline Warburton, Wild Scotland

Maximising Local Economic Development
14.00 - 15.30, South Gallery Rooms 21 & 22

Tourism claims to be the world’s largest industry and employs 1 in 12 people. In this panel we look at how tourism can increase its contribution to the local communities in destinations through employment, local sourcing of goods and services and by encouraging tourists to buy local.

Chairperson
H.E. Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary General

Speaker(s)
Chris Gale, Project Manager, City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development.
Lamin Drammeh, Project Manager, Sandele Showcase and Guaranteed Gambian Producers Group
Manisha Pande, Village Ways
Garry Wilson, Product & Purchasing Director, TUI

Is Tourism Inclusive Enough?
14.00 - 15.00, South Gallery Room 19

Is an annual holiday something which everyone should expect? In this panel we’ll look at the different assumptions in Europe and further afield about the right to an annual holiday and look at the different ways in which the industry rises, or not, to the challenge of making provision for everyone.

Chairperson
Paul Maynard, MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, All Party Group on Social Tourism

Speaker(s)
Charles-E.Bélanger, Director, Organisation Internationale du Tourisme Social (OITS)
Luc Gobin, Head of the Tourism for All Department, Toerisme Vlaanderen
Fiona Harris, Director of PR & Brand Development, Kuoni Travel Limited
Thea Joldersma, Programme & Policy Manager, Family Holiday Association (FHA)
Ian Reynolds, Chairman, Family Holiday Association (FHA)

Progress in Responsible Tourism
15.30 - 16.30, South Gallery Rooms 25 & 26

Rio+20, the landmark United Nations conference on sustainable development, takes place in June 2012 and in November WTM World Responsible Tourism Day will be looking back at progress since 1992.

Speakers will examine the sustainability contribution by industry and destinations, identifying current priorities.

Chairperson
Martin Brackenbury, Director, Classic Collection Holidays

Speaker(s)

Jane Ashton, Head of Sustainable Development, TUI Travel plc

Harold Goodwin, Professor of Responsible Tourism Management, Leeds Metropolitan University

Shaun Vorster, Special Adviser to the Minister of Tourism, South Africa.

Responsible Volunteering
16.30 - 17.30, South Gallery Rooms 21 & 22

Increasing demand for volunteer experiences is being met by a growing number of volunteer service organisations, most of whom have their headquarters in the developed world.

Most of these emerging companies have excellent, transparent credentials with the aim of matching volunteers to projects and ensuring that communities see widespread benefit. However, there is increasing concern amongst host governments about the activities of some volunteering companies.

This session will search out the problems and how they can best be addressed

Chairperson
Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive, ABTA

Speaker(s)

Sallie Grayson, Co-Founder and Programme Director for responsible volunteering, PeopleandPlaces

Richard Oliver, Chief Executive, Year Out Group

Paul Miedema, Owner,Calabash Tours, Chair Calabash Trust

Speakers Corner
Delegates talk about their own responsible tourism activity, explore new ideas and introduce opinions on ethical trends.

Stand Location: AS275 - South Hall

Time	Speaker	Company	Country	Topic
12.00-12.10	Pandurang Taware, President & Managing Director	Agri Tourism	India	Pioneering Agri Tourism in India as Supplementary income and livelihood in Agriculture to address the migration of rural youths to cities.
14.00-14.10	Joss Kent, CEO	&Beyond’s CEO	South Africa	The Way I See It: Luxury experiential travel in Africa and South Asia.
15.30-15.40	Judy Matengo, Sales & Marketing Manager	Ol Tukai Lodge	Kenya	On the traumas of young African girls facing life without education.

Stand Location: UKI30 - North Hall

Time	Speaker	Company	Country	Topic
12.30-12.40	Chrispin Joseph Beer-Sheba, Executive Director	Kushiland Expeditions & Tours	Tanzania	How a tourist attraction can help poverty reduction.
14.30-14.40	Dominic Hamilton, Head of Communication	Metropolitan Touring	South America	Raising the bar in sustainable building and socially beneficial tourism development.
16.00-16.10	Iaia Pedemonte, Founder & Journalist	Gender Responsible Tourism	Italy	How responsible tourism can help women with expert advice, data and good practice.

Location: AS275 - South Hall and UKI1230 - North Hall

Wednesday 7 November

Official WTM WRTD Opening
10.30 - 11.00, Platinum Suite 3 & 4

WTM World Responsible Tourism Day's opener for this year is Charlie Mayhew MBE, Founder & Chief Executive of Tusk.

Founded by Mayhew in 1990 to help combat the devastating effects of ivory poaching in Kenya, Tusk is now changing the lives of rural communities right across Africa. Thanks to ground-breaking education initiatives and its radical approach to human wildlife conflict, Tusk is helping to alleviate poverty by ensuring a sustainable future for Africa’s priceless natural heritage.

The charity has raised more than $25 million and now, with the launch of Tusk USA , and the invaluable support of Royal Patron, Prince William. Mayhew is ready to meet the renewed challenge of poaching; only this time its elephant and rhino under threat.

Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards
11.00 - 12.00, Platinum Suite 3 & 4

Organised by Responsibletravel.com

Presentation of the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2012, the largest awards of their kind in the world.

WRTD HOTseat
12.00 - 12.30, Platinum Suite 3 & 4

Wolfgang M. Neumann, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating officer of The Rezidor Hotel Group – one of the world’s fastest growing hotel companies – is to take WTM World Responsible Tourism Day’s HOTseat.

He will be interviewed by Stephen Sackur, BBC World’s presenter of HARDtalk, the flagship news and current affairs programme about ‘Think Planet!’ an ambitious new group-wide initiative to save energy at more than 330 hotels in 70 countries.

The Think Planet programme aims to reduce consumption of 25% by 2016 in all Rezidor hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

HOTseat is respected as an honest and forthright assessment of major responsible tourism activity by a multi-national company.

Austrian born Wolfgang Neumann joined Rezidor in May 2011, bringing a wealth of international hospitality expertise and knowledge to the company. Previously, he spent more than 20 years with Hilton International.

He has helped to lay the foundations for Think Planet and has been driving the project on the Executive Committee and at Board level since its launch in January 2012.

The Debate: Is the travel and tourism industry taking responsibility for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions?
15.30 - 17.00, South Gallery Rooms 21 & 22

Following the success of last year’s debate on who benefits from tourism this year two teams will debate whether the industry is doing enough to reduce the carbon pollution caused by transport and accommodation or is it necessary for government to regulate the world’s largest industry?

Chairperson

Prof Harold Goodwin, Responsible Tourism Management, Leeds Metropolitan University

Leading the case FOR the industry
Matt Gorman, Chair, Sustainable Aviation

Witnesses

Jonathon Counsell, Environment Director, British Airways

Stephen Farrant, Director, International Tourism Partnership

James Whittingham, Environment Manager at TUI Travel PLC

Leading the case AGAINST the industry

Paul Peeters, Associate Professor Sustainable Transport & tourism of CSTT, NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences

Witnesses

Scott Cohen, Surrey University

Dr Janet Dickinson, Bournemouth University

WTM WRTD Networking Reception
17.00 - 18.30, Platinum Suite 1

An unrivalled chance to meet and share views on responsible tourism with experts amd those who are new to reponsible tourism or are considering responsible tourism activity within their business for the first time.

Speakers Corner
Delegates talk about their own responsible tourism activity, explore new ideas and introduce opinions on ethical trends.

Stand Location: AS275 - South Hall

Time	Speaker	Company	Country	Topic
12.00-12.10	Thomas Armitt, Founder and CEO	West Africa Discovery	UK	The responsibility that international consultants have when working with developing countries to implement tourism products.
14.00-14.10	Jo Owen, Trustee of Harnessing Job Opportunities through Play & Education	Soria Moria/ HOPE Cambodia/ conCERT	Cambodia	Good communication bringing key community benefits in Siem Reap.
15.30-15.40	Simon Beck, Sales and Marketing Manager	Safari Legacy	Tanzania	Africa’s wildlife under critical threat from poaching.

Stand Location: UKI230 - North Hall

Time	Speaker	Company	Country	Topic
12.30- 12.40	Sarah Allard, Co-founder	Lost Earth Adventures	UK	Outlining work of the International Porter Protection Group.
14.00- 14.10	Sallie Grayson, Programme Director	People & Places	UK	The key ethics of volunteering with children.
14.30- 14.40	Andrej Brglez, Project Leader	EGOZERO	Slovenia	The beginning of a journey of responsible discovery - travelling by electric car.
15.30-15.40	Roland Monsegu, Director	Explore World Heritage	Ireland	The challenges of marketing World Heritage sites.

Location: AS275 - South Hall and UKI230 - North Hall

Thursday 8 November 2012

Is the industry doing enough to cater for people with disabilities?
11.00 - 12.00, South Gallery Rooms 19 & 20

Last year we looked at the “Business Case For Taking Responsibility For Ensuring Access For All”, this year we want to take a hard look at whether the industry is doing enough. How much progress has the industry made? Is it taking it responsibility seriously? What more need to be done? Is more regulation the answer?

Chairperson
Philippe Rossiter, CEO, Institute of Hospitality

Speaker(s)
Magnus Berrglund, Scandic Accessibility Ambassador
Lynne Kirby, Managing Director, Enable Holidays
Andrew Stembridge, General Manager, Chewton Glen
David Stratton, Spikemarketing

Are tourists paying enough for entrance to the world’s natural & cultural heritage?
12.30 - 13.30, South Gallery Rooms 19 & 20

The world’s natural & cultural monuments and museums are vital resources for the tourism industry, as more and more people travel and visit these cultural sites crowding and wear and tear results. How are these natural & cultural heritage sites to survive the onslaught? What can the industry do to help conserve out world heritage?

Chairperson
Dr Simon Woodward, ICRT, Leeds Metropolitan University

Speaker(s)
Kath Bateman, Director Càlédöñiâ, Languages - Culture - Adventure
Hetty Byrne, Forest of Bowland, AONB Sustainable Tourism Officer
Ruth Kirk, Fundraising Manager, Nurture Lakeland

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