Tourism Cares’ Meaningful Travel Summit Inspires Change Across the Tourism Sector

The Boy and Girl Scouts of America have, for years, urged their members to leave the world a better place than they found it. It’s a motto the travel industry, as a whole, hasn’t always embraced.

But it’s a responsibility more travel companies are accepting, including the 50-plus tour operators, tourism authorities, hotels, travel agency groups, wholesalers, and other travel-related entities that attended last week’s Meaningful Travel Summit, organized by Tourism Cares.

“We’re here in a show of collaboration to work for the betterment of our industry,” said Greg Takehara, CEO of Tourism Cares, which turns 20 next year.  “It’s really important that we chart a path forward with all of you for a more sustainable future… We know that creating impact requires action and ideally this is done through collaboration, planning and education. Let’s work together to amplify our positive impact.”

For this summit, the first in two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, attendees gathered in Lake Tahoe to hear about ways the travel industry can tackle climate change, build inclusivity, and partner with local organizations and indigenous people to benefit the local communities they bring tourists to.

Diversity & Inclusivity
Of the many sessions offered, the “Diversity in the Outdoors” provided some valuable takeaways that travel companies can use to open the world of travel to more people.

“When you start to look around at what opportunities there are… you start to see how limited is the population who can actually access them,” said Marina Gardiner, guest services director of Achieve Tahoe, a non-profit that provides outdoor recreation activities in Lake Tahoe for people with cognitive, sensory and physical disabilities.

Though she was speaking specifically of Lake Tahoe, her words can be applied to destinations and activities all over the world. “It’s really important for people in the tourism industry to think about how we can expand the population of people that are able to access what it is that we’re encouraging people to enjoy.”

Amy Berry, CEO of The Tahoe Fund, asked a similar question – again specifically related to Lake Tahoe, but appropriate for anyone in the travel industry, “What does it mean ‘for all to enjoy’? Who does that include?”

Gardiner, who is herself a wheelchair user, said that expanding that access can be as simple as communicating what’s available.

“Speaking to people who work in the tourism industry, getting the information out that you have accessible options and what is available to people is really important. Figuring out, on a personal level, what might work for me, where I might be able to go, and how I’m going to get there requires a lot of preplanning on my part. The more that I’m able to discover that information easily and know what it is I’m getting myself into, the easier it is for me to access whatever it is that you might be selling.”

Tourism Cares Isn’t Only for Suppliers
Though travel suppliers and product companies dominated the attendance at the Meaningful Travel Summit, a tiny group of travel advisors was in attendance as well.

Thinking about how to make the travel industry more responsible and how to leave the world a better place isn’t only incumbent on the suppliers, they all told Travel Market Report.

“I’m stumped as to why there are not more travel agents here because we are the ones who are actually servicing clients,” Christina Turrini, a travel consultant with Frosch, and one of three advisors in attendance, remarked to Travel Market Report. “We’re on the front lines. We’re talking to clients… I appreciate this conference because I feel like everyone who is coming and is part of it, they have a commitment.”

Meeting suppliers who are invested in responsible travel is part of what Turrini appreciates about the summit.

“If I know that a supplier is here, I know that that’s a step in the right direction… I do seek out companies that are more aligned with sustainable travel.”

Andrey Zakharenko, Owner of Always Travel, also said he came to meet with attendees, in particular, the local nonprofits in the Lake Tahoe area.

“I wanted to meet more of the charities that I could inform my clients about… For example, if they’re going to the Ritz Carlton or the Hyatt Incline Village, I can say hey, if you’re interested and you enjoyed your experience, here’s some of the charities, maybe consider donating $100.”

For Felicia Troy, an advisor with AAA Northeast, attending the summit was less about vetting supplier partners and more about learning what she can do, rather than depending on the suppliers to do it all.

“If every travel advisor feels like we can’t control it, because it’s above us then we’re making no change as a whole. We can choose what tour companies we use. We can influence millions of travelers. And I felt like if I took the time to come and learn how I could do that, I could then bring it back to the 200 travel advisors that I work with. And say, here are the choices that we could be making to create an impact for ourselves, for the environment, and for the world.”

Turrini added that as much as she likes coming to the summits (this is her second) to meet suppliers she can feel confident working with, like Troy, she also comes for the inspiration.

“The whole unite, inspire, activate. For me it’s really that. It’s to be inspired.”

Travel advisor feeling overwhelmed or unsure of how they can help can take the words of Spencer Cox, communications and corporate relations manager of SOS Outreach, a local nonprofit in the Lake Tahoe area, to heart.

“Just remember that baby steps in the right direction can collectively achieve great things.”