11th January 2008
Cinnamon Grand Colombo- Sri Lanka

There has been such a lot of noise with contradictory messages giving conflicting views on global warming and climate change. However confusing the messages are, now it has become a reality that climate change is a conclusive fact, and that something has to be done to reduce its impact.

Sri Lanka’s contribution to global warming- emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) is negligible. However, no matter how green we are already, the adverse impacts of the anticipated changes arising out of global warming will certainly affect Sri Lanka and our tourism industry.

This year on the 11th of January we hope to engage a wider group of stakeholders in the tourism industry and other related agencies to deal with green guilt. Dealing with the guilt from a tourism point of view of course is about more than a response to climate change alone. However our Forum will be specifically aiming to address climate change and what the industry can do about it.  There is an opportunity for the tourism sector to respond to climate change challenge and participate in a GHG  reduction programme collectively. It will be a missed opportunity for us not to publicize the efforts that are already being taken and to build an alliance banding ourselves to strengthen these ongoing activities on a collective level. 

Content  very broadly  will be global scenario climate change /tourism especially from  UK perspective  (TO and customer), Sri Lanka Tourism leadership  in response to climate change what could be done as an industry/ in supporting/ consolidating ongoing efforts and  obtaining industry active participation. One of the key messages will also be that all this is good business sense and will have a huge positive impact on the bottom line.

This highly relevant topic will be presented to you by bringing together a very interesting  panel of  speakers not only from Sri Lanka but also from the Maldives and the United Kingdom, which includes Climate Change experts, key government agencies and strong environmental voices.

We look forward to having you with us, do keep the date and time free to attend this important event. Please make arrangements to confirm you availability with the RTP on 0112 613 565 / 0777787268 or to e mail  rtp@sltnet.lk, before  Wednesday 9th January 2008.

Page top

Best Destination highly commended award for
ArugamBay at the World Travel Market Responsible Tourism Awards.

At a packed hall of enthusiastic tourism crowds, The World Travel Market  Responsible Tourism  Awards Ceremony took place at Excel in Docklands London on the 14th November 2007 and Arugam Bay was awarded the Highly Commended Best Destination award. This recognition would no doubt would be a tremendous boost,  an instrument for revival and development of tourism in Arugam Bay and also add high profile for entire Sri Lanka tourism. There will be immeasurable publicity generated reaching the tourism industry and consumer media worldwide and this will certainly contribute towards image building of Sri Lanka as a responsible and sustainable tourism destination

World Travel Market (WTM) is the premier trade fair in the travel and tourism industry and it draws a huge number of top executives, service providers, buyers and government tourism officials every year in November to London. Approximately 5,500 buyers and suppliers representing 202 countries and territories attend the WTM. World Travel Market's World Responsible Tourism Day is sponsored by the Virgin Holidays and held in association with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Fiona Jeffrey, Chairperson of the World Travel Market  at the opening ceremony said “WTM World Responsible Tourism Day  on 14th November is the day that the aimless talking had to stop and the action began. For the first time ever we will bring the entire planet and the travel and tourism industry together in a way that has never been previously done”.

Charmarie Maalge, Director/CEO of the RTP said “The Responsible Tourism Awards are launched in  The Times and the Geographical Magazine and on responsible tourism.com in the UK  inviting members of the public to nominate tourism organizations and individuals  they believe are deserving of a Responsible Tourism Award. The Responsible Tourism Partnership submitted the nomination for Arugam Bay Sri Lanka.  A long list of about 20 nominees are created per category  on the basis of the nomination, the nominee’s responsible tourism policies  and further background research. To be eligible  to win an award, long listed organizations must then complete a detailed questionnaire and provide references.  Independent of these references, opinions are solicited from a range of informed individuals. The panel of judges meet at the Royal Geographical Society for full day to debate and decide the winners of each category”.   Maalge further said that “  At the award ceremony our own Arugam bay and Costa Rica were awarded the highly commended best destination awards while the New Forest was announced the winning destination. The New Forest also became the overall winner of the all 13 categories”

The aim of the awards is to recognise individuals, companies and organisations in the travel industry that are making a significant commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and are providing a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation. All together there are 13 award categories. The Best Destination Award is given for a resort, village or an entire country that manages tourism well for the long-term benefit of tourists, conservation and local people.For 2007 awards, over 1700 nominations from members of the public  and from over 400 tourism organisations and individuals were received. 

This years headline sponsor of the awards was Virgin Holidays and  Managing  Director of Virgin Holidays Amanda Wills at the awards ceremony said that all profits and dividends that Virgin Group receives from Virgin Holidays, Atlantic and Trains estimated to be $3 billion over the next 10 years will be ploughed into research and investment to develop sustainable sources of energy. In a message the Virgin group founder Sir Richard Branson said that, “Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents, it is in our hands whether our children and their children inherit the same world."

Responsible Tourism Partnership, also a WTM World Responsible Tourism Day  accredited logo user for the work its doing in the Responsible Tourism sector,  says that it is delighted to have been able to assist Arugam Bay to receive this very important international tourism accolade and also recognize the work of several NGOs and organizations such as Sewalanka Foundation , Arugam Bay Tourism Association and ICEI in Arugam Bay who have been actively working rebuilding livelihoods promoting community tourism efforts.   There is tremendous international interest currently in green and responsible tourism, this is strongly seen not only from the consumer side but also from the travel and tourism industry side  and this international award  for Arugam Bay will open the eyes of the tourism policy makers and the tourism industry to advance in sustainable tourism development.

According to Charmarie Maalge   “Arugam Bay is such an unique tourism development example and has a very different fascinating story to tell. It is one of the most neglected and disadvantaged regions of Sri Lanka but a world-renowned surfing destination. This is an area that is quite distanced from the formal tourism infrastructure and also geographically from the developed areas of the Sri Lanka. The region and its people have been living on the edge of the long drawn civil conflict and most recently faced total devastation by the tsunami. Tourism has been used as a vehicle by the local communities to promote income generating activities, improving the wellbeing of local people and restoring the destination”.

Arugam Bay is classed among the top ten surf destinations in the world and there is so much more. The village itself is a delightful experience, there are no big hotel chains there and the community has developed tourism with their own hard work and imagination. Three star establishments rub shoulders with low-key stilt cabins and coconut palm leaf cabanas, and tourists share the beach with local fishermen. The wild and rugged scenery, elephants browsing at the edge of the village, abundant birdlife, and mysterious archaeological sites have made this a long time favourite destination for travellers. 

The three ethnic groups (Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims) work and live in harmony. The population is 3,000 families and tourism establishments consist mostly of small family managed hotels/guesthouses and restaurants.

Earlier, the direct economic benefits were mostly limited to hotels, restaurants and transport providers, and the poor sector of the community was not able to benefit directly from tourism. Now, different communities outside the main tourism sector such as fishermen, rural women and farmers directly benefit from tourism. The revenue is equally shared amongst community participants.  Income is also put back to protect mangrove ecosystems, archaeological sites and handicrafts production as they now know that protecting these resources will safeguard their future income.

The community wants community-based tourism and feel that what makes Arugam Bay attractive is the community involvement and it should not be made a mass tourism destination. In Arugam Bay, tourism not only brings money, but it also creates a vehicle for peace for three ethnic groups to work and live in harmony. Community wants to link with government and protect the lifeline to the community and create a different model for Sri Lanka Tourism.  The community is not against development but demands that it should benefit the community and not keep them away and only involve outsiders. The success will be when the experiences achieved by the community are used for future development.

November 2007

More Information
Charmarie Maalge
Director/CEO RTP +94 773251088
E mail: rtpcmaelge@sltnet.lk

Learning, Involving & Nurturing Community
LINC Project Beruwela
Minimising Hassle and opportunities for communities

LINC projects work towards minimising hassle to tourists and creating opportunities for local community to make a living from tourism by providing quality goods and services to tourists. The pilot project is well underway at the Riverina Beach in Beruwela.

This challenging and most rewarding project, which is a long term initiative, aims to change mindsets, remove physical and mental barriers and create long term solutions for sustainable tourism experience for our visitors, our own communities and tourism industry.



Benefits:
Less hassle and more privacy to tourists
More tourists going to the beach leaving the hotel compounds
More income opportunities for the community

A long process of deep trust building, training and skill development both targeting the beach communities and the hotel staff and management has been implemented.

March 2007

Profiting from tourism in the future : the way forward

The Travel Foundation  has carried out a  large number of  regional workshops and seminars, with hundreds of participants  to educate and create awareness on sustainable tourism