Episode 5: Community tourism. What does good community tourism look like and can we measure its benefits?

Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lemongrass⁠⁠⁠

Holly and Richard discuss the benefits of community tourism and how to measure it, with guests Manisha Pande, Founder and Managing Director of Village Way and Kelly Galaski, Senior Director, Operations & Head of Impact at Planeterra.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why some models work better than others
• How to put systems in place to avoid the dangers of tourism in rural areas 
• How to create impact through community rather than for community
• How to establish a constant dialogue to keep generating positive impact for a community 
• How to create an impact measurement and monitoring and evaluation tool
• How to monitor the impact of community tourism on an entire village or community 
• How to create replicable community tourism structures
• Why community run and operated tourism can lead to a better guest experience 
• The importance of communities not becoming over reliant on tourism, and how to prevent this happening
• The less expected benefits of community tourism

“The success lies in giving the communities collaborative ownership over what they are creating and offering to guests.” Manisha Pande

“We did our homework in what would have the best impact and we chose a model that works with an entire village rather than set up homestays.” Manisha Pande

Episode 4. Partnerships for Good. Are public-private partnerships the best way to accelerate change in the tourism industry?

Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠Lemongrass⁠⁠

Holly and Richard discuss the benefits of public private partnerships with guests Shannon Guihan, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation, Rebecca Armstrong, Head of Impact and Development from The Travel Foundation, Gwen Raez, Strategy Lead at Visit Scotland, and Dr. Anna Spenceley, consultant and Senior Research Fellow with the University of Johannesburg.

“We're excited to share this kind of example with other destinations because I think it's a real flagship for the kind of thing you can achieve when you work together.” Rebecca Armstrong

“Other destinations are now approaching us because they’re so inspired by this work… and for me, that's frankly far more impactful than any one single travellers choice.” Shannon Guihan

“I think the real value that destinations can offer is providing those connections – having a clear vision of where the opportunities are to drive the economic growth and where those quality visitor experiences are and then introducing them to the tour operators where we know will resonate with their guests' experience.” Gwen Raez

Find out more about our guests in this episode:

Gwen Raez, Strategy Lead at Visit Scotland

Shannon Guihan, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation

Rebecca Armstrong, Head of Impact and Development from The Travel Foundation

Dr. Anna Spenceley, former chair of IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Tourism, an independent consultant and Senior Research Fellow with the University of Johannesburg

Show notes

Intrepid’s partnership with MEET

Tourism Care’s Meaningful Travel Map

Batu Batu’s Cultural & Bio Assets Mapping: https://www.batubatu.com.my/whats-new/2021/8/23/mersing-cultural-amp-bio-assets-mapping 

Further reading from the Visit Scotland, The Travel Corporation, and The Travel Foundation partnership :

Qualifying criteria for The Travel Corporation’s MAKE TRAVEL MATTER experiences

Supporting tourism’s transition to a low carbon economy

Together on the road to net zero

Decarbonising the value chain in Scotland

Further reading from Anna Spenceley about public private partnerships and concessions in Africa: 

Tools and Resources for Nature-Based Tourism (2020) – World Bank (including all the links below)

Best Practice Guidelines on Tourism and visitor management in protected areas  (2018) - IUCN

Handbook for sustainable tourism practitioners: The essential toolbox (2021) - Edward Elgar

An introduction to tourism concessioning: 14 Characteristics of successful programs (2016) – World Bank Group

Guidelines for tourism partnerships and concessions for protected areas (2017) – Convention on Biological Diversity

Tourism concessions in protected natural areas: Guidelines for managers (2014) – United Nations Development Program

Collaborative management partnership toolkit  (2021) – World Bank 

Policy on tourism and wildlife concessions on state land (2007) -  Government of Namibia, Ministry of Environment and Tourism
Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please do like/ follow/ rate/ subscribe to the podcast if you like what you hear. 

Follow for more:

⁠Lemongrass PR⁠ 

⁠Holly Tuppen⁠  

⁠Richard Hammond⁠

==

It’s a Journey is a brand new podcast series hosted by Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert, and Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media. Sponsored by Lemongrass, the first five episodes tackle the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.

Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to ⁠⁠itsajourneypodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠

Get in touch about opportunities at ⁠⁠itsajourney.fm

Episode 3: The future of rail. Can train travel in Europe be a practical, affordable, low-emissions alternative to air travel?

Sponsored by ⁠⁠Lemongrass⁠

Holly and Richard, along with their guests Bjorn Bender, CEO and Executive Chairman of RailEurope, Mark Smith of The Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com), and Sarah Fussey, Marketing Director of Inntravel, discuss the future of rail.

The message from all our guests is loud and clear. Rail is here to stay and will get bigger and better but there’s a few key steps that the industry needs to take first: 

• Campaign for more competitors on routes 

• Work with third-parties to gain the booking benefits needed to compete with flights 

• Focus on communicating the convenience and affordability of rail 

Tune in now to hear our guests debating the future of rail, how the travel industry can jump on board, and their top rail booking hacks.

Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please do like/ follow/ rate/ subscribe to the podcast if you like what you hear. 

“What’s happening in rail now is what happened in aviation 20 years ago, and it is going to benefit customers with lower prices and more services.” Bjorn Bender, CEO RailEurope

“When we survey customers about why they want to get the train, it's about the experience and being able to get under the skin of the places that they're traveling in, which of course rail is brilliant for.” Sarah Fussy, Marketing Director, Inntravel

“The elephant in the room is that public policy is designed to get us flying. Austria, Germany, and other countries charge VAT on international train tickets for the same journey where there's no VAT on air travel. And of course, airlines get a massive hidden subsidy because their aviation fuel is tax free.” Mark Smith, Man in Seat 61

Find out more about our guests in this episode:

Bjorn Bender, CEO and Executive Chairman of RailEurope

Mark Smith of The Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com)

Sarah Fussey, Marketing Director of Inntravel

Show notes

Liberalisation of European railways leads to cheaper train tickets

Duetsche Bahn releases ticket sales 12 months in advance

The new Nightjet sleeper service

Inntravel’s Journey’s by Rail

Eurail/ Interrail passes

Rail Europe for tour operators and agents

Holly and Richard regularly write about travelling in Europe by rail. You can find extensive guides to flight-free journeys across Europe at https://www.greentraveller.co.uk/flight-free-journey-planner, and find some of Holly’s articles at https://www.hollytuppen.com/journalism 

Follow for more:

Lemongrass PR 

Holly Tuppen  

Richard Hammond

==

It’s a Journey is a brand new podcast series hosted by Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert, and Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media. Sponsored by Lemongrass, the first five episodes tackle the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.

Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to ⁠itsajourneypodcast@gmail.com⁠

Get in touch about opportunities at ⁠itsajourney.fm

Episode 2: Costing Nature. Can doing the right thing by people and planet also make commercial sense? Holly and Richard, along with their guests James Thornton, CEO of Intrepid Travel and Siddarth Shrikanth, author of A Case for Nature, explore how valuing nature and prioritising sustainability can be at the heart of a successful travel business.

Sponsored by ⁠Lemongrass⁠

“A third of travel businesses are really engaged, a third are looking for guidance, and a third are burying their head in the sand. That final group is in for a bit of a shock.”– James Thornton

“Tourism is all about buying a feeling. So, encouraging more people to buy the feeling of protecting and restoring nature and being in relationship to it is what we should be trying to get the tourism industry to do.”– Siddarth Shrikanth

Find out more about our guests in this episode:

James Thornton, CEO of Intrepid Travel

Siddarth Shrikanth, author of A Case for Nature

SHOW NOTES 

Buy Siddarth Shrikanth’s The Case for Nature here: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Case-for-Nature-by-Siddarth-Shrikanth/9780715655306 

Take a look at Mandai Nature’s strategy mentioned by Siddarth here: https://www.mandainature.org/en/home/news-and-update/conserving-southeast-asias-nature-through-tourism.html 

Find out more about the five drivers of the nature crisis here: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/five-drivers-nature-crisis 

Intrepid’s Annual Report 2024 can be viewed here: https://www.intrepidtravel.com/uk/newsroom/company-documents/annualreport 

World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)'s report on nature and tourism https://wttc.org/initiatives/vision-for-nature-positive-travel-and-tourism 

It’s a Journey is a brand new podcast series hosted by Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert, and Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media. Sponsored by Lemongrass, the first five episodes tackle the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.

Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to ⁠itsajourneypodcast@gmail.com⁠

Get in touch about opportunities at ⁠itsajourney.fm

Episode 1: Don't mention the S word. Communicating sustainability - should you shout about your sustainability actions? Hear key stats on consumer trust, outcomes from a groundbreaking new report that explores customer responses to sustainability messaging from hotels, and what the travel industry can learn from marketing and insight experts working across multiple sectors.

Sponsored by Lemongrass

Find out more about our guests in this episode

Denise Hicks, Global Climate Lead, C Space 

Xavier Font, Professor of Sustainability Marketing, University of Surrey

Further reading 

Read and watch C Space’s The S Word report

Read the Booking/Accor/University of Surrey report

And find out more about the Travalyst Travel impact model 

It’s a Journey is a brand new podcast series hosted by Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert, and Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media. Sponsored by Lemongrass, the first five episodes tackle the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.

Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to itsajourneypodcast@gmail.com

Get in touch about opportunities at itsajourney.fm