The Travel Foundation Reaches Out to New Destinations
LONDON, UK, November 16, 2005. Sustainable tourism charity The Travel Foundation is reaching out to new destination partners in its quest for more sustainable tourism projects around the world, as it receives strong backing from the UK Government Minister responsible for outbound tourism.
At World Travel Market The Foundation held a seminar on "Making Destinations Sustainable - practical steps to secure your future". It was aimed at new destination partners, with a view to making them aware of how the Foundation can work with them to strengthen their sustainability strategies, and identifying potential new projects which will benefit people, the environment and the economy in destination communities worldwide.
The seminar with senior figures from destinations worldwide is part of the practical, grass-roots work being done by the Travel Foundation in its unique role as a partnership between the UK outbound travel industry, the Government and NGOs to further the sustainability of tourism from the UK.
UK Government's support for the Travel Foundation's work was given a clear boost earlier this month (2 November) by Foreign Office Minister Ian Pearson, who urged the UK travel industry to support the work of the Foundation, fommenting "sustainable tourism can mean anything from respecting the local culture and heritage of the places we visit to using water carefully and protecting local environments, to ensuring that the economic benefits of tourism go to those local populations who need it most...We have a responsibility to safeguard the future of the places we travel to, and to use the clout of the travel industry to enhance the lives of local people".
The Foundation already has projects in Sri Lanka, Tobago, Mexico, the Gambia and Cyprus, tackling issues including protection of reef ecosystems, clean beaches, reforestation, local crafts, organic farming, and sourcing food locally for hotels.
Further projects are being sought which meet a clear need locally, improve the sustainability of tourism, and whose benefits are replicable in other destinations.
New projects are currently being studied in Egypt and the Dominican Republic.
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