«Quality through Creativity» Led the 2019 GSTC Asia-Pacific Sustainable Tourism Conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand

“We are bringing sustainability into the Thai tourism industry.” Stated H.E. Mr. Weerasak Kowsurat, Minister of Tourism and Sports, Kingdom of Thailand, in the opening speech. After referring to the growth in international arrivals to Thailand along with the Thai domestic tourism, H.E. Mr. Weerasak displayed creative examples of how sustainability can be communicated through daily-use items, with the right story-telling.

H.E. Mr. Weerasak Kowsurat, Thailand Minister of Tourism and Sports, displaying traditional food containers and bags made out of recycled materials

GSTC Chair, Mr. Luigi Cabrini raised the question of «is tourism part of the problem or can it contribute to the solution?»

«Over the last four decades, Thailand has made remarkable progress in social and economic development, moving from a low-income country to an upper-income country in less than a generation, thanks also to its tourism industry. Asia and the Pacific as a whole have recorded exceptionally high growth in the last two decades both on international tourist arrivals as well as outbound tourism. But this unprecedented rise of the tourism industry requires careful management to be truly successful. Unchecked tourism growth can gradually destroy the assets on which it depends, leads to the loss of local identities and values and develop negative attitudes in the host communities.»

Speakers came from all over the Asia-Pacific region – Thailand, China, India, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and more. Session topics included: Sustainable Hotel Trends, Elephants in Tourism, Tourism for All: Issues of Accessibility, Harmonization of Standards & Certifications in Asia, the GSTC and Sustainable Tourism in China, among others.

Participants included international and domestic tourism stakeholders involved in the development and promotion of sustainable tourism; including public sector, hotels, tour operators, academia, development agencies, NGOs, consultants, and more. Along with Thai participants, international participants came from Australia, USA, UK, Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, Oman, and more.

As with previous GSTC Conferences, the carbon footprint of the event is being offset to become a ‘carbon neutral event’ by the scheme CO2 NEUTRAL SEAL through sponsorship of GSTC Member Green Evolution SA. Other sustainable-events practices were carried out, such as reducing paper and plastic usage to a minimum: brochures were not printed at all but were being provided through pdf files, badges were made of recyclable paper, and no plastic bottles were used during the conference. Vegetarian meal was the default meal option, with no lamb and beef (that have the highest carbon-footprint).