May 03, 2021
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Travel Weekly’s April 19 feature story pondered the idea that the tourism industry would sharpen its post-Covid focus on sustainability. The story states: “Indeed, more than a year into the pandemic, it appears the Covid-19 shutdown of most international travel has advanced a number of sustainability initiatives.
“The formation last July of the Future of Tourism Coalition underscores the eagerness among players across the industry to work more closely together on rebuilding tourism better. What started with just 22 signatories is now an amalgam of more than 500 companies, destinations, academics and policymakers from around the globe,” the story continues.
The ideas of conservation and sustainability in the tourism industry have been around a long time of course. But the pause of the pandemic has allowed the industry to take a collective step back and assess the world around it. For one thing, we’ve learned that nothing can be taken for granted, and that the absence of tourism has had a deep, profound impact on individuals and communities, large and small. One long-time proponent of conservation has his own ideas on the subject.