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 BC’s tourism and hospitality programs now have a new, made-in-BC industry sustainability model to study. On July 9th, tourism leaders gathered at the Delta Vancouver Suites as Kevin Krueger (Minister of Tourism, Culture, and the Arts) and John Yap (Minister of State for Climate Action) announced BC will pilot a nation-wide sustainable tourism certification program. They also unveiled new tools to support sustainable development in the industry.
Minister Krueger announced that with the support of ETHOS (BC’s sustainable tourism network) the province was chosen by the Canadian Sustainable Tourism Advisory Council (CSTAC) to lead a pilot nation-wide sustainable tourism certification program. Certification programs such as the one proposed have been defined internationally as a best practice, and leading sustainable destinations around the world have built consumer confidence through making these programs available to local operators.
Starting in July, tourism operators across BC’s six tourism regions will go through a full assessment of the Green Tourism Certification Program developed by UK based Green Business Ltd. The feedback provided by these BC-based operators will create performance indicators for the Canadian version of this program.
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| ETHOS Chair, Mr. Paul Vallee, Minister Krueger, Minister Yap, and CEO Pacific Carbon Trust, Mr. Scott MacDonald |
Following the announcement of this groundbreaking certification program, Minister Yap unveiled two new sustainability tools for tourism operators. Available immediately is the ETHOS Travel Offset Calculator tool enabling visitors to offset their travel carbon footprint and encouraging them to use offsetting as a regular part of their booking process. Offsets purchased through the online calculator are provided by Pacific Carbon Trust.
ETHOS expects to have over 100 operators from across British Columbia using this value-added tool by early 2011. “Perhaps more than any other sector in BC, tourism offers a unique opportunity for BC to spread the message of sustainability to the world,” said Pacific Carbon Trust CEO Scott MacDonald.
Minister Yap also presented Passion for Action’s GOBI Carbon Management Business Tool. Supported by ETHOS, and offered at a discount to members, GobiSOFT is a comprehensive, web-based system which enables organizations to easily measure, report and manage their carbon footprint.
GobiSOFT is based on international standards, thorough research and published data sources, making it one of the most credible and complete carbon management systems on the market. This tool was developed by Dr. Joe Kelly, a tourism instructor at LinkBC host institution Capilano University.
With the introduction of both tools and the certification process, ETHOS now offers its members the opportunity to fully participate in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, at both the consumer and operational levels. Created in 2009, ETHOS serves as an independent and accountable organization to facilitate tourism’s transformation to a quadruple bottom line (economic, environment, social and cultural) industry. Board member Geoffrey Bird from Royal Roads University currently acts as liaison to the tourism education community.
To view a live-recorded video (split into 5 parts) of the event, click the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenTourismBC
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