Leaders of ‘responsible tourism’ launched the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT) global in London on Monday, with founder Professor Harold Goodwin declaring “all tourism can be more responsible”.
Goodwin, emeritus professor and responsible tourism director at the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, said “I’m driven crazy by people talking about eco-tourism” which he dismissed as “mostly marketing hype” and said the question for politicians is “do you want to use tourism or be used by tourism?”
He suggested protests over tourism in parts of Spain resulted from a “failure to take responsibility” and said: “It has almost gone out of fashion to talk about tourism as an extractive industry, but it is.”
Goodwin suggested “you get overtourism where people don’t accept responsibility”, calling it “irresponsible travel” and insisted: “Responsible travel drives sustainability.”
He emphasised the Responsible Tourism Charter definition of 2022 “making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit” and said: “You would be amazed how many people get those the wrong way round.”
ICRT global chair Debbie Hindle said the centre, set up as a non-profit organisation in September and formally launched this week, would act as “a hub to share collective knowledge” and promote responsible tourism through training, awards and events.
The centre will offer online courses in responsible tourism from January along with study sessions with Professor Goodwin and is in discussions with universities to develop responsible tourism courses.
Hindle said: “As an industry we tend to overlook what academics study, because a lot of academic work is behind paywalls. We’re going to make a point of sharing responsible tourism papers openly.”
EasyJet Holidays chief operating officer Matt Callaghan told the launch meeting: “Sustainable tourism is not just about reducing harms it has to be about enhancing the places we visit.”
He highlighted the need for education and collaboration and called for rapid implementation, suggesting “prioritise pace over perfection”.
Callaghan said: “Find the right people to collaborate with and get on with it. Not everything needs everyone to be in the room.”
Tim Williamson, joint managing director of holiday company Responsible Travel, argued: “I’d love to think this is demand led, but we know from Google search that isn’t true. We have to drive this. We have to create good holidays that are responsible. We have to lead as businesses.”