BY: SHANE K BEARY

There was a time when I subscribed to the concept of ‘responsible tourism’ as the best model to ensure a sustainable future for the industry, yet resigned myself to the fact that in our consumer-driven society where money alone is king, and where we place a financial value on our ideals, most people give the idea little more than lip service.

That of course was before circumstances and events conspired to create a situation in which responsible tourism appears to be the only viable solution to the tourism industry’s woes. The have’s will have to help the have not’s in order to ensure their own survival.

The mainstream media has brought the direct results of the economic crisis into sharp focus, beaming into our homes graphic images of the poverty, hardship, and suffering it has wreaked on those in the developing world. There are many who, aware of the structural failings that brought about the economic crisis, doubt the ability of our elected leaders to prevail over the entrenched vested interest groups that are hindering efforts to address the challenges of our time: global warming, environmental degradation, poverty, lack of opportunity, inequality, confrontation over ideology, and rapidly diminishing natural resources.

The tourism industry, already long overdue a serious restructure, is reeling from the economic fallout. Its members are in survival mode, and are desperately seeking ways to lower costs and to increase their share of a shrinking, less affluent market. There are no quick fixes, but the responsible tourism model offers a lifeline through cost saving practices of energy conservation, waste reduction, recycling, and more; engaging host communities in the sustainable success of tourism operations that affect them; and, tapping into the social conscience of special interest tourists – those that hitherto stayed close to home to pursue their hobbies and pastimes.

Making all of this more possible today is the advent of web 2.0 technology, which facilitates user-generated information, content and feedback and gives the consumer the tremendous power to influence the direction of tourism (and many other areas of social and political life). Web 2.0-enabled media give travelers the power to have their demands heard. They can instantly upload to online forums their opinions on the products and services they have experienced. This customer-generated feedback (CGF) is more readily accepted by prospective travelers as a reliable source of information than the promotional copy on a hotel or tour operator’s website and brochure, no matter how glossy. Anyone who has any doubts about the power of CGF has not studied Trip Advisor.

While it may be a perceived threat to some in the industry, Web 2.0 and CGF offers significant opportunities to everyone to open up new frontiers in special interest tourism and fill the long unsatisfied demand for an alternative to mass tourism. I believe that the ‘special interest tourist’ is by nature almost always a ‘responsible tourist’, a fact well supported by businesses that have already made the transition. The very pursuit of his/her interests in a country other than one’s own furnishes the special interest tourist with a ready ice breaker that allows them to learn more about the people, customs and culture of the country they are visiting.

Special interest tourists are well aware of the power they hold and how to use it through new media channels. Where they have access to information they perceive as reliable, they will spend their tourist dollars with service providers they deem committed to a ‘responsible tourism model’. Thus, a responsible tourism model filtered through Web 2.0-enabled CGF that reflects a growing social conscience is therefore the best solution to the problems the tourism industry is facing today. The survivors of the present economic crisis will be those who are quick enough to adapt during this period when the ‘responsible model’ replaces the ‘slash and burn model’ at the mainstream of tourism. All tourism business operators and destinations, regardless of their financial resources or skill levels, can participate. Those who are slow to adapt will be swiftly swept away.

Shane K Beary is the CEO of Track of the Tiger T.R.D. (Tourism Resources Development.) The company will launch the Responsible Tourism Alliance at the end of June 2009. The alliance is an innovative Web 2.0-driven solution for the tourism industry and its client base that combines everything the service provider needs to make the transition. It includes a simple ‘service provider designed – tourist customer appraised’ RT compliance monitoring system that will make many of the ‘green’ certification schemes on the market redundant. Contact tiger@loxinfo.co.th for a fact sheet preview of the business model.