Because most visitors to a place come from another and because most other places are far away, suppliers of tourism services have inevitably had to adopt a global perspective. Considerable attention is given to understanding cultural and linguistic differences of various source markets and to researching and deploying the different channels of distribution at work in each source country.
In other words, tourism suppliers, tend to orient their thinking and focus outside their own community. This is a shame because the people who could most help the tourism supplier fill their beds and seats live just next store or even work in their business, I speak of their employees, their employees’ families and all the residents of the destination community.
Ironically, having arrived at their chosen destination, virtually all consumption is now local.
As described eloquently by the author of The Mindful Tourist, it is the conscious travellers’ quest for a meaningful, authentic experience that has created the Local Travel Movement designed to help visitors see their destination through the eyes of a local resident and, wherever possible, encourage meetings with locals not necessarily employed by the travel and tourism industry.
Acting locally, as far as suppliers of tourism services are concerned, means taking the time to find, meet and engage residents who have stories to tell and experiences to share with visitors. It’s all about developing rich, time, place and people-specific content and storytelling in order to engage a guest and enrich their experience. It means recognizing that residents have as much at stake in welcoming guests as do persons employed in the commercial activity called tourism.
Continue reading this article on the Conscious.Travel website
I love Anna’s work. It’s time for a global wake-up call. Conscientious tourism is the philosophy favored by Planeta.com.
Simply put, it’s traveling with one’s conscience and connecting with others in a particular place. To use a Maori phrase (and the title of a photo exhibition at the 2007 New Ecotourism New Zealand Conference: Manaki Whenua, Manaki Tangata, Haere Whakamua (Care for the land, care for people, go forward).
Conscientious tourism occurs when we are fully aware of our individual and collective actions as travelers. We allow ourselves to be inspired by others and in our gratitude we acknowledge the good work of those around us.
Businesses are connecting in new ways with visitors. There is a difference beween bums on seats and minds in gear. There’s great inspiration from long-time ecotourism pioneers such as Black Sheep Inn (Ecuador) which is converting from single or two-night stays to week-long retreats. Slow travel and slow adventures are key to making this conscious revolution throughout the economy.
Posted by Ron Mader | September 19, 2011, 2:42 pmGreat post Anna. I too like the way The Mindful Tourist describes the the conscious travellers’ quest for meaningful/authentic experiences. What then becomes confusing and challenging, for both travellers and industry folk are ‘the meetings with locals not necessarily employed by the travel and tourism industry’.
A few of us, Cup of Local Sugar included, exist with the good intention to help curious travellers connect with more than the concierge at their hotel. We find, vet, and then offer local residents the opportunity to share parts of their everyday life with travellers. But this is not without its challenges, namely, ensuring we only engage the residents who wish to share ‘the real’. Unfortunately there is a fine line between real and fabricated experiences with locals.
Posted by Rebecca Stasko | February 7, 2012, 10:25 am