If you’re a regular traveler, you’ve probably returned to a treasured destination only to find that it’s not the same experience you remembered. Maybe it’s more developed, more crowded or has been left to run down. Whatever the reason, it has changed.
The fact is that more people are traveling to more destinations around the world than ever before. While the global economic recession has taken a toll on travel and tourism, the long term growth trends haven’t changed. Tens of millions of new tourists (think China, India, Brazil and Russia) will mean even more pressure on travel destinations - particularly historic sites and those with sensitive ecologies.
Growth is good for the travel and tourism industry, but it comes with a responsibility not only to provide the best travel experiences today but to preserve those experiences for future generations of travelers. That’s why GTA North America/Travel Bound has formed a strategic global partnership with Tourism Cares, a US-based, non-profit organization dedicated to responsible and sustainable tourism.
Tourism Cares is helping preserve the travel experience by “awarding grants to natural, cultural and historic sites around the world; presenting academic and service-focused scholarships to hospitality and tourism students; and organizing volunteer efforts to restore tourism-related sites in need of care and rejuvenation.” It does this by mobilizing the travel and tourism industry and travelers. (You can find out more at www.tourismcares.org.)
In past years, Tourism Cares volunteers started the restoration of the Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans, Louisiana, which had been virtually closed since Hurricane Katrina, and helped clean up the historic Ellis Island in New York harbor, where millions of immigrants first set foot on American soil.
On Sept. 11, a group of 65 GTA employees in the U.S. traveled to Washington, D.C. to join other volunteers from the industry for the Tourism Cares for America Volunteer Day - a clean-up project at the National Mall and Memorial Park in Washington, D.C. The weather, unfortunately, did not cooperate and the event was cancelled, but the rain did not dampen the GTA team’s commitment to Tourism Cares and future volunteer events.
Tourism Cares is also helping in other ways. Since 2003, it has awarded nearly $2 million in grants for conservation, preservation and restoration of natural, cultural and historic sites in 25 countries around the world, including the ancient rock city of Petra in Jordan, Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal and Bartolomeo Island in the Galapagos.
As a strategic partner with Tourism Cares, GTA is encouraging our employees and partners to support the Tourism Caretaker program, which enables all of us in the industry to make a small financial contribution to support the organization’s initiatives.
The activities supported by Tourism Cares send an important message about the commitment of the travel and tourism industry to preserve travel experiences for generations to come. They also show that it takes more than money to promote responsible and sustainable tourism; it takes volunteers who are willing to invest personal time to serve a good cause.
GTA is proud to partner with Tourism Cares. The way we see it, it’s good for travelers (today and in the future), good for our customers and good for the long-term health of the travel and tourism business.
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