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Summer 2006 Speaker Series:
The Role of Communication in Sustainable Tourism Development

Tourism is one of the world’s largest economic sectors, and one that is expanding rapidly. Tourism development, planned and managed well, can be a powerful means to support economic growth and poverty reduction, natural and cultural resources conservation and other important issues. Development Communication can be a key tool to support effective and sustainable tourism activities. It is aimed primarily at strengthening relationships and facilitating stakeholder participation in the design and implementation of development policies, programs and projects in order to ensure that interventions respond to local needs, foster local ownership, and are sustainable over the long term.

In June 2006, USAID, The World Bank and the UN-World Tourism Organization hosted a successful two-week on-line dialogue amongst tourism practitioners around the world about how to most effectively use communication skills, tools and techniques to advance sustainable tourism development. Session moderators have developed summations of the ideas and experiences shared during the e-Forum, and these summations are being used as a springboard to stimulate further - now live - discussion. Several key issues and ideas rose to the surface during discussions in five thematic areas, and they will be revisited throughout the speaker series (dates and topics as below).

Schedule:

July 12

Corporate Social Responsibility
Christina Cavaliere, Ayako Ezaki (PDF 99KB)
Martha Honey (PDF 1.371MB)
The International Ecotourism Society

July 19

Developing Tourism Policies and Strategies (PDF 332KB)
Dr. Don Hawkins, George Washington University

July 26

Involving Local Communities (PDF 948KB)
Matthew Humke, RARE

August 2

Interpretation and Orientation
Jim Dion & Jonathan Tourtellot,
National Geographic Society

August 9

Linking Sustainable Tourism Products to Markets (PDF 325KB)
Chris Seek, Solimar International

• Links to Additional Readings
  Ballantyne, R. & J. Packer. 2005. Promoting Environmentally Sustainable Attitudes and Behaviour through Free-Choice Learning Experiences: What it the state of the game? Environmental Education Research 11(3): 281-295.
• Beckmann, E. 1999. Evaluating Visitors’ Reactions to Interpretation in Australian National Parks. Journal of Interpretation Research 4(1): 5-19
• Beeton, S., B. Weiler and S. Ham. 2005. Contextual Analysis for Applying Persuasive Communication Theory to Managing Visitor Behaviour: A scoping study at Port Campbell National Park. Brisbane, Australia. 36 p.
• Lackey, B. and S. Ham. 2004. Assessment of Communication Focused on Human-Black Bear Conflict at Yosemite National Park. Journal of Interpretation Research 8(1): 25-40.
• Tourism Tasmania. 2003. Tasmanian Experience Strategy: Creating unforgettable natural experiences (PDF 605KB). Hobart, Tasmania. 16 p.

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For more information:
Roberta Hilbruner, USAID, rhilbruner@usaid.gov
Carol Hansen, Natural Resources Information Clearinghouse (NRIC), chansen@nric.net