The beginning of 2023 has been a busy one, not only are we celebrating our big 21st Birthday in February, but we have also been awarded with a Green Tourism Gold Award for our ongoing commitment towards sustainability, within our office and operations. We have also just released or Green Climate Action Plan for 2023, a requirement as a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration. The Glasgow Declaration was launched at COP 26, with the commitment, alongside many other tourism stakeholders, to halve our emissions by 2030.
Sustainable destination management can be challenging, and it may sometimes be difficult to know where to start. From reducing GHG emissions, becoming nature-positive, supporting local businesses, managing waste, water and energy efficiently, etc., destination managers have a lot of responsibilities. All the while marketing and positioning their destination to attract visitors and satisfy their expectations.
Sustainable destination management can be challenging, and it may sometimes be difficult to know where to start. From reducing GHG emissions, becoming nature-positive, supporting local businesses, managing waste, water and energy efficiently, etc., destination managers have a lot of responsibilities. All the while marketing and positioning their destination to attract visitors and satisfy their expectations.
Sustainable destination management can be challenging, and it may sometimes be difficult to know where to start. From reducing GHG emissions, becoming nature-positive, supporting local businesses, managing waste, water and energy efficiently, etc., destination managers have a lot of responsibilities. All the while marketing and positioning their destination to attract visitors and satisfy their expectations.
Sustainable destination management can be challenging, and it may sometimes be difficult to know where to start. From reducing GHG emissions, becoming nature-positive, supporting local businesses, managing waste, water and energy efficiently, etc., destination managers have a lot of responsibilities. All the while marketing and positioning their destination to attract visitors and satisfy their expectations.
Sustainable destination management can be challenging, and it may sometimes be difficult to know where to start. From reducing GHG emissions, becoming nature-positive, supporting local businesses, managing waste, water and energy efficiently, etc., destination managers have a lot of responsibilities. All the while marketing and positioning their destination to attract visitors and satisfy their expectations.
The trend of Influencer marketing has taken off in the last decade and is currently one of the fastest growing activities within the digital marketing space. The movement has been on the rise due to the growth of social media and the influence of word-of-mouth marketing. For marketers “brands are no longer what companies tell consumers but rather what consumers tell each other”.
As we celebrate the UNWTO’s World Tourism Day with the theme ‘Re-Thinking Tourism’, one can’t help but look back at the highs and (many) lows that the Tourism Industry has experienced over the last three years. And, although the lows were very low, we must look to the future and be thankful in a way that tourism did slow for a small while, as it gave us the unique and needed opportunity and realisation that there was a dire need for the tourism industry to stop and ‘re-think’ its future development.
Online bookings are increasingly popular as they provide a convenient, trustworthy experience for customers, allowing them to book services from anywhere at any time, with real time information, while having full control over the experience.
Your website is the face of your business, and a powerful tool to connect with your customers, present your products and services and grow your business. A great website can make or break your business. It is increasingly becoming essential for customers to find out about your business.
Here at Acorn Tourism Consulting, we believe in the strength of working together to build a greater sustainable future for the tourism sector and beyond. We have been promoting some sustainable tourism through our social media platforms and decided that it would be helpful to also collate them all into one blog.
As part of our journey towards carbon neutrality to help compensate our emissions we already support a flight offsetting charity called Atmosfair. Our donations provide efficient cooking stoves in Lesotho which save 80% of energy, produce less smoke and avoids deforestation reducing the need for firewood. We chose this charity in Lesotho as we have worked there and work regularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Alongside sustainability certification, there has been a growing number of competitions arising throughout the travel industry around sustainable development and growth. Some of these competitions help to promote businesses and initiatives, whilst others provide funding and support to help organisations prosper and grow in a sustainable and regenerative manner.
It is good business practice to keep in regular contact with contacts on your database and email newsletters, which are easy and cheap to produce, are the best way of doing this. Broadly, email newsletters are the first step towards generating a sale at some point in the future.
Some may tell you that there is no magic potion for success in business, whatever industry, or sector one is working in. We disagree. There is one principle that, if followed, will almost always bring success: ...
Tourism is very clearly in the recovery phase following COVID-19, but to really understand the level of this recovery, and at what point visitor numbers, spend, footfall (whatever is important in your destination) surpass where they were before the pandemic, regular tracking is required.
User Generated Content (UGC) refers to content created about a brand by individuals rather than brands. Different types of content can be considered UGC: text, videos, images, reviews, etc.
Tourism businesses are facing increasing pressures to conduct their activity in a sustainable way to reduce their impact on the planet and contribution to climate change or biodiversity loss. A sustainability certification for tourism businesses can help provide structure and guidance with clearly defined steps to take to achieve these sustainability goals.
Tourism often plays an important role in a destination’s economic development, bringing in visitors to spend money in local businesses, inward investment to develop infrastructure and providing jobs for residents. However, managing a destination sustainably is not an easy task. Tourism, if not planned and managed appropriately can become destructive – over tourism, degradation of the environment, loss of culture, disruption of local community’s lives, seasonality, etc.
Social media has become an incremental part of any business’ digital marketing strategy. With a constantly growing number of users, social media is a convenient and cost-effective way for a business to reach the market, engage with consumers and grow.
Destinations are complex entities with many stakeholders that may have different interests. They are also faced with an increasing number of challenges linked to economic, social, and environmental sustainability. For destinations sustainability is a journey which requires constant work and improvement.
