Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
claims of environmental stewardship based on little more than changing towels less fre-
quently and therefore saving water.
Groups have tried giving out certificates for green tourism, responsible tourism, geo-
tourism and ethical tourism in a piecemeal fashion, and it has been difficult to know who
is backing these certificates. Some “green labels” are patent lies; others are simply disin-
genuous, because there is no certificate or uniform standards to distinguish who is genu-
ine. Businesses that adhere to high standards fear that if such a certificate is introduced,
they will be undercut by competitors who lie about their environmental credentials.
A group of tourism experts and international organizations set out to solve this problem
and found a champion in Ted Turner. He agreed to underwrite the creation of the certi-
ficate that would be as respected as the Michelin star system for restaurants.
Few people could have been more welcome than the glamorous businessman from At-
lanta, with deep pockets and an impressive record as an innovative entrepreneur, founder
of CNN, the first cable news network, as well as Turner Classic Movies, owner of the At-
lanta Braves baseball team—the list is endless. He used his wealth for conservation and
philanthropy. Turner bought 2 million acres of land in the United States, putting most of
it under conservation easement; he is the single largest private landowner in the U.S.
Turner headlined a press conference in Barcelona in October 2008 at which the cer-
tificate effort was announced. Standing with officials from U.N. agencies, environment
groups and businesses, Turner said he was putting his money and prestige behind the
world's first gold standard for ecotourism, or sustainable tourism.
Turner portrayed the new initiative as a commonsense approach that was in line with
good business practices. “Sustainability is just like the old business adage: you don't en-
croach on the principal, you live off the interest. Unfortunately, up to this point, the travel
industry and tourists haven't had a common framework to let them know if they're living
up to that maxim,” he said.
He then promised that a new “Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria” would change
that. Turner honored his pledge through his own United Nations Foundation, which has a
small project on tourism. Along with the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environ-
ment Programme and the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the U.N. Found-
ation was crafting the criteria.
Erika Harms, the foundation's tourism expert and the force behind the criteria project,
was named the executive director. When I asked her how she became interested in tour-
ism, she said it came naturally—she was from Costa Rica.
“We grew up seeing tourism in a different light. Ecotourism was in its nascent state
then. It meant no trashing a place. Instead, it was 'go, see, help preserve these pristine
places.' Originally it was pitched to backpackers. Spartan small hotels with plumbing and
electricity fulfilled your basic needs with no luxury. Families prepared the meals. There
were no restaurants per se,” she said.
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