Escorted tour operators have a responsibility to educate guests on sustainable travel and tackle overtourism, a panel of experts agreed.
Collette’s John Sutherland, manager of corporate responsibility, said: “We are trying to fold this into our business model so that other companies can see Collette is doing better because they are being sustainable. Then other companies will see it’s something they have to do because their bottom line will be affected by it when customers take note.”
In March this year, Collette launched its first formal Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) platform which is focused on four key pillars: people, community, product, and environment.
He praised companies like Intrepid that have committed to a social responsibility as they grow and said the responsibility was on his company, and others, to lead by example. “One thing we can do to promote sustainable tourism is to talk about it,” he added.
Paula Vlamings, chief executive of Tourism Cares, urged operators to look at the companies in their supply chains to ensure they are working with like-minded, socially aware companies that help boost economies within destinations.
She added: “Because [operators] are so big, they will start to pay attention to what you are asking them for. They will shift what they are doing – and that will have an incredible ripple effect.
“The industry can learn from each other, and then everybody rises as the product gets better, but the whole industry has a responsibility.”