Travel Mart: A Window to the Sustainable Tourism Industry
Oct 30
posted by Yessenia Soto in cultural tourism, Ecuador, community-based tourism, sustainable tourism | 0 Comments 
Vea esta publicación en español.
International travel has grown astronomically in recent years. Last year, the number of international arrivals reached 1,035 million! While this is great news for the tourism industry, it also represents a challenge for businesses – how to attract all these new tourists to my country, to my destination, to my hotel, to buy my services?
Every year, dozens of travel shows, exhibits, and conferences are organized around the world. These events give hotels, domestic tour operators, airlines, tourism boards, and car rental companies the opportunity to display their goods and services to a large crowd of key business decision-makers, including tourism leaders, international tour operators, the media, and companies that arrange incentive trips, conferences, and events.
During travel shows, tourism trends are exposed, destinations are promoted, business deals are closed, and like-minded businesses share ideas with each other and learn new ones from industry experts. The expertly designed tours that you book for your dream vacations are quite often born at travel shows.
The Travel Mart Latin America (TMLA) conference is the biggest and most important travel show in the region. It was established over 30 years ago, and since then has become a great opportunity for the region to display the attractions of its various tourist destinations. The event brings together more than 600 tourism services suppliers and 200 buyers from 25 different consumer countries like the United States, England, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and the Czech Republic.
Recognizing Travel Mart's key role in the tourism industry, the Rainforest Alliance decided to collaborate with the fair organizer to use Travel Mart as an opportunity to promote sustainable tourism. The organization helps differentiate Latin American sustainable tourism providers at the fair, link sustainable suppliers and buyers interested in green tourism, and educate participants through seminars on topics relevant to responsible tourism.
The Rainforest Alliance has participated in TMLA events in Colombia, Chile, Peru, Brazil, and, most recently, Ecuador.
At the 2013 TMLA held in Quito, with the help from the Rainforest Alliance more than 50 sustainable business entrepreneurs participated as did 12 members of the Tour Operators Promoting Sustainability program. These business people have been trained in the Rainforest Alliance's sustainable tourism program and are committed to mitigating tourism's impact on threatened landscapes and cultural treasures and providing sustainable livelihoods in the local communities where they work. At the event, hotel owners and TOPS members promoted their sustainable accommodations and services, and shared their innovative conservation efforts.
In addition, with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Rainforest Alliance organized a seminar on the potential of sustainable tourism to have a positive impact in protected areas. There were more than 50 participants, including officials from the Ecuadorian ministries of tourism and the environment and representatives from the private sector worldwide, who shared and discussed their different perspectives on the potential of sustainable tourism and its impacts on the ecosystems and communities near protected areas.
Participants also highlighted the increasing demand for sustainable tourism services. "We are receiving more and more customers who demand authentic experiences and more sophisticated sites and green consumers who are looking for sustainable products," said Antonio del Rosal of Adventure Travel.
According to the TMLA organizer, the event gathered 70 tourism and travel journalists from around the world and 7,000 pre-scheduled appointments were carried out during the two days of business sessions. The fair visitors also participated in different activities and events related to tourism in Quito.
Katy Puga of the Rainforest Alliance was encouraged by the event's massive reach and emphasis on sustainability. "It's truly inspiring to see so many key business and government leaders taking sustainability seriously and recognizing the key role of tourism in protecting our planet."
