Finally after months of plotting, sending emails and organizing Skype chats - the core Responsible Tourism Awards team meets to plan the way forward for the awards and the upcoming site visits.
We share some of the highlights of our day here:
Our team spent the day discussing the problems of defining Responsible Tourism, how our checklist was developed and what we have learnt are "traits" that give us confidence in a "Responsible Tourism" operator. Listen to this podcast here:
You can also download the recording here.
First of all , thank you very much for instituting the RTA awards. As someone who believes passionately in environmental education I think it is a fantastic initiative. I can imagine that it is a big and complex project.
ReplyDeleteMay I please give some feedback to the team as someone who submitted an application for the RTA? I think more could be done to give feedback and encouragement to those who did apply but who were not shortlisted. Obviously we are operators who have put in time, money and effort to become more environmentally responsible and so we are very good advocates for your cause.
In this whole process I have not received any message or information from Wild Asia at all. In my case I did not even receive a basic acknowledgement that my paperwork was received and I had to make several phone calls to verify that it had. When the finalists were announced, it would have been nice to receive a message to simply let us know who the finalists were. It would be absolutely fantastic if we could be given individual feedback on our businesses to let us know what we are doing well and what we can improve.
It takes considerable time and effort just to fill in the RTA checklist. Your award only becomes credible if you manage to pull in a large number of applicants. Therefore for the sustainability of your award scheme, it is important for you not just to look after the finalist but everyone who submits an application. We are your grassroot. Everyday we face staff problems, financial worry or the threat of environmental degredation that directly threatens our livelihood. Yet we care enough to participate and support your award scheme. So please do acknowledge us and support us in return.
Sincerely, Yuen-Li
Hey Yuen Li,
ReplyDeleteI do apologise for this I've not been be able to supervise this very much being out of the office and the team at the office have been trying to pull this and another of other initiatives together. Funnily, an email to all checklist people was just discussed and one should be out as soon as she is in the office (currently, we are out and about on the site visits).
Its challenging times for business people and for us, as we attempt to take on more challenging projects with very limited resources. Its amazing we have kept this going for these years though ...
For more feedback on the checklists for this year, look out for our first "RT summary" which is being worked on OR come by for the workshop. It would be good to have more "grassroots" people on board.
Cheers!