Show Notes

S1E1 Welcome to the Tourism for Good podcast - with Meghann Ormond and Alejandra Guijo Bermejo from Wageningen University & Research

Episode link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tWLngBVnisBDL9kWMlQr8 


Description:

In this very first (and very brief!) episode of 'Tourism for Good: Where Philosophy Meets Practice,' we - co-hosts Meghann Ormond and Alejandra Guijo Bermejo - introduce the podcast and what drove us to put it together. Read more about the podcast here: https://sites.google.com/view/tourismforgood/home 


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S1E2 Guiding transitions towards sustainable and regenerative tourism - with Ally Dragozet from Sea Going Green

Episode link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3CVj0jz68UeVWoWEPOoTan 


Description:

Consultancy can be a powerful tool to translate research into practice, leading to solutions that drive significant change. But how to effectively guide and support diverse tourism stakeholders throughout the world as they work towards more sustainable and regenerative tourism practices? 


In this episode, Ally Dragozet of Sea Going Green emphasises the importance of stakeholder engagement, data analysis, and local involvement not only in creating but also in implementing tourism master plans. She highlights the unique characteristics of tourism destinations and the problem with the temptation to apply a one-size-fits-all approach.


Guest bio:

Ally Dragozet is a marine biologist, social entrepreneur, sustainable tourism expert, grassroots leader with 10+ years experience working within the tourism industry as both a professional and an operator. Ally holds a master's degree in Aquatic Biology/Limnology from the University of Amsterdam as well as an undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Toronto and the National University of Singapore. She founded Sea Going Green in 2017 as a sustainable tourism consultancy, and has been a leading voice within the tourism industry ever since representing the title of Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur. She has been a keynote speaker and has stimulated discussions in panels at a range of tourism industry focused events and sessions around Europe, the Caribbean and China. Behind the scenes, Ally is active in engaging with tourism professionals, especially in light of the pandemic to provide solutions for the upcoming build back better phase.


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S1E3 Seeing things differently, one step at a time - with PS from the Everyday Tour Company

Episode link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7sRp57CJxxNAZP65FYhHne?si=0ba107de01d940e0 


Description:

When you hear the term 'cultural tourism', what's the first thing that comes to mind? Culture is often thought of as something that exists outside of us - something that belongs to others that we can access when travelling by consuming local food and witnessing or even taking part in local traditions and events. Yet, while culture is something into which all of us are born and through which all of us make sense of the world, it’s hard for us to realise how each of us is shaped by culture. Indeed, as anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn wrote back in 1949: ‘The fish will be the last creature to discover water’.


In this episode, we interview Pei Shuyuan Yeo (PS) of the Singapore-based Everyday Tour Company. We discuss how food connects people and reflects the cultural traditions and stories of a place, as well as how we sometimes only really appreciate where we come from when we have a bit of distance from it. PS highlights how immersing visitors in real-life settings contributes to having a better understanding of the diversity and complexity of the people and places they encounter.   


Guest bio:

PS is a native Singaporean and a world citizen at heart. She's also Everyday Tour Company's Chief Everything Officer (CEO). After calling 6 cities around the world "home", she was drawn back to her origins to soak up the incredible culture and energy of Singapore. PS’s love of meeting people led her to start Everyday Tour Company in 2018 in order to share the hidden stories, connect with people, and to showcase local street art and architecture and artisanal, handpicked food gems. Offering boutique culinary and design tours that have been featured in the New York Times, Lonely Planet and Time Out, the Everyday Tour Company takes travelers through the streets to taste, explore and connect with Singapore's food scene, markets and restaurants.  


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S1E4 Redistributing tourism's benefits through community collaboration - with Evan Tzeng from StayAltered

Episode link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LRPzMoXqMO663REK1EJOA?si=97cd6816397f4e65 


Description:

Where does the money you spent on your stay go? A UN study claims that, on average, of each US$100 spent on a vacation tour by a tourist from a high-income country, only around US$5 actually stays in a lower- or middle-income country destination's economy. Airlines, hotels and international booking companies often have their headquarters in high-income countries. This means that very little tourism income goes to local businesses, workers and the people living in the area you’ve visited. Are there ways to ensure that more tourism income reaches and stays in the hands of local people?


In this episode, we interview Evan Tzeng of StayAltered. We discuss the potential of community-powered platforms to transform the hospitality industry. Evan emphasises the importance of inclusive business models that prioritise the diverse local communities in which hospitality providers are based and operate. 


Guest bio:

Evan Tzeng integrates community, hospitality, and sustainability together to build businesses, design places, and produce experiences that challenge the status quo and celebrate humanity. He is currently the founder of StayAltered, a worldwide community maximising the positive impact of travel locally in the places we live in and visit. Evan is proud to be a second-generation American, born and raised in California by parents who immigrated from Taiwan and Myanmar (Burma).

StayAltered seeks to maximise the positive impact of travel locally in the places people visit and live in. Their community-powered hospitality platform helps independent hosts, global guests, and local neighbors support each other with the stays, savings, and services that enable a more equal distribution of the rewards of travel for all involved. They want to change how the world works, plays, travels, and stays together – for good.


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S1E5 Using travel as medicine - with Bianca Bodero from Once, Journeys for Women

Episode link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kjAQEJIQZWVKVXGI8ZyFI?si=c33dbeb8c04f491e 


Description:

Have you ever felt unsafe while travelling? In Mexico, gender-based violence is a serious issue. In this environment, even undertaking the most everyday of activities can be risky. Many Mexican women do not feel safe traveling alone and, as a result, are far less likely to do so than their male counterparts. On the other side of the coin, many women employed in the tourism sector in Mexico and elsewhere throughout the world are working in jobs with poor pay and labour conditions, and few opportunities to really be recognised as full human beings by travellers. How can tourism be reworked in order to support women of diverse backgrounds to feel safe and respected?


In this episode, we interview Bianca Bodero of Once, Journeys for Women. We discuss the transformative potential of travel experiences to connect women with nature and with one another. Bianca underscores the need for fostering greater solidarity among women. 


Guest bio:

Bianca Bodero is a traveler and a social entrepreneur. Growing up on the Spanish Mediterranean, where a specific tourism model had a significant impact on both people and the environment, Bianca wanted to explore alternative approaches. This prompted her to focus on developing an approach to tourism that respects both people and the Earth. While she has formal training in team management, communication, and interpretation, her main school has been travel itself. After leaving her job as a team coordinator and a brief stint in development cooperation, she spent 10 years traveling and learning from people dedicated to serving the Earth. During that time, she discovered that many keys to our future lie within communities that nurture their connection with the Earth. For that reason, she decided to embark on my journey as an entrepreneur in the travel industry, to build bridges between people, foster community, and create spaces where we can reconnect with nature.


Once, Journeys for Women, is the first travel agency for women in Mexico. They design 'authentic, responsible, and transformative experiences' for women who want to travel solo and safely. They collaborate with community and sustainable projects, aiming to showcase and recognise the work of Mexican female entrepreneurs and hosting projects that care for the environment and preserve their traditions.  Once believes that tourism should contribute to the development and well-being both of people and ecosystems. It envisions a dignified present for women, characterised by freedom of movement, fair employment, and respect for diversity. They continue on the path of regenerative tourism, learning how to go beyond sustainability. They perceive travel holistically, viewing it as a transformational process that they integrate through encounters, dynamics, workshops, and harmonizing our rhythm with that of nature. 


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S1E6 Revisiting the tour: Learning through virtual encounters - with Fabian Frenzel from Oxford Brookes University

Episode link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3JgfRfL26wwvkTGY3uSdos?si=4b32eb546f91489b 


Description:

Virtual tours are increasingly being used to help people see and experience things as if they were there in person, even if they can't travel. In the realm of education, the use of digital technologies lets students explore places like museums, historical sites, or even different parts of the world without leaving their classroom or home. This can make learning more interactive and engaging, providing experiences that wouldn't be possible otherwise, especially for schools with limited budgets or those located far from the sites they’d like to visit. Virtual tours are likely to become even more significant in the future, given the climate crisis and moves towards reducing long-distance travel. Yet, how should virtual tours be designed to not only benefit those taking them but also those designing and running them? 


In this episode, we talk with Fabian Frenzel about the potential of community-led virtual tourism linking favelas in Brazil to classrooms across the Atlantic.  He closely collaborates with community-based tourism organisations based in these areas that are seeking to raise awareness about life in favelas. In his most recent project, discussed in this episode, he - together with a diverse team spanning the UK and Brazil - explores the potentials and challenges related to co-creating and integrating virtual tours into Rio’s favela communities and into schools in the UK.


Guest bio:

Fabian Frenzel is Professor of Mobility and Organisations at Oxford Brookes University UK. He has published widely on tourism, social activism and media. His work explores the intersections of politics, mobility and organisation, drawing on participant action research methodologies.


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S1E7 When not to fly? Doing action research to adjust corporate travel policy - with Savitha Narayanamurthy from cBalance

Episode link: Coming soon - check back on 3 October!


Description:

According to a 2023 article in Fortune magazine, business travelers account for 12% of airlines' passengers, but because they fly frequently and at short notice and are willing to pay higher prices, business travelers are typically twice as lucrative—accounting for as much as 75% of profits. Without business travel, airlines would struggle to maintain profitability. This gives companies unique leverage to transform the airline business. cBalance’s Savitha Narayanamurthy is part of an action-research project called Fair Travel that aims to change business travel mindsets and behaviour in IT companies in India. In this episode, Savitha describes the impact of business travel not only on the environment but also social justice issues related to land distribution and infrastructure use. She highlights how there are more efficient ways of doing business nowadays that do not require frequent travel. 


Guest bio:

Savitha Narayanamurthy comes from a software programming background. A year-long fellowship program on Holistic Education & Sustainability paved her path to pursue a sustainability-conscious work domain. Design, development and implementation of child-centric and sustainability-focused curriculums, creating participatory workplaces with alternative learning centers have been her focus during the last few years. At cBalance, she co-leads the Fair Travel program in addition to contributing to a diversity of other projects which span working on addressing heat stress with marginalized urban communities, responsible tourism and socio-ecological and climate justice-based curriculum change with architecture colleges. 


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S1E8 But how do we do this? Co-creating a compass for sustainable tourism - with Vinita Rodrigues from cBalance

Episode link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/49ZPhk61YrGuSNXrIMbTpM?si=0cf65a0ebed6401b 


Description:

Domestic tourism in India is big business. In 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, over 2.3 billion domestic visits were recorded. Poor, rural communities might welcome the opportunities tourism brings in terms of jobs and diversified income, but it also puts a strain on local resources like water and can lead to destruction of the natural environments visited. What needs to happen in order to ensure greater socio-ecological awareness and behaviour change?

  

In this episode, Vinita Rodrigues from cBalance tells us about a guidebook currently being developed for Indian tour operators, destinations and policymakers to share guidelines and knowledge about responsible tourism. She highlights the importance of involving local communities and challenging top-down approaches. She also emphasises the importance of looking to other sectors for inspiration regarding the kinds of sufficiency practices that can be implemented in the tourism and hospitality industry. 


Guest bio:

Vinita Rodrigues holds a Masters in Natural Resources and Governance. Following her studies, she worked with an organisation working on the conservation and restoration of land, forest and water resources through participatory approaches with communities in rural India. She also briefly engaged in research on wildlife corridor degradation and wetland reclamation in urban landscapes. At cBalance, she engages in workshop design and facilitation in addition to contributing to research and communications efforts related to diverse topics a few of which span: addressing the issue of heat stress in marginalized urban settlements, sufficiency-based lifestyles, the socio-ecological impact of air travel, and responsible tourism.



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S1E9 Really tuning in: Learning to listen in tourism consulting - with Xavier Font from the University of Surrey

Episode link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0w3Up3zRl5ujGbJHU08B4Y?si=f6deba9f18f34ca3


Description:

Tourism consultants assist clients in the development and implementation of effective tourism strategies that help improve their services, attract more visitors, make more money, and make tourism more sustainable. They might suggest marketing strategies, help with business planning, or provide insights into traveler preferences and industry trends. What sort of techniques do consultancies use and what sort of evidence do they draw upon in order to make an impact?


In this episode we talk with someone who has decades of sustainable tourism consultancy experience: Professor Xavier Font of the University of Surrey. Xavier identifies and reflects on the skills and knowledge that he considers important in consultancy such as networking, time and feasibility, being a good listener and understanding what the client wants to achieve.  


Guest bio:

Xavier Font is Professor of Sustainability Marketing at the University of Surrey in the UK, and the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Sustainable Tourism. He was the University of Surrey’s Principal Investigator for a European Regional Development Fund’s Interreg project that ran from 2019-2023 to develop sustainable tourism experiences to reduce seasonality. Xavier has consulted for the European Commission, UN Environment, UN Tourism, International Finance Corporation, government agencies and international firms in several countries. 


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Podcast disclaimer: The views expressed by podcast participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Wageningen University & Research. Their appearance on the programme does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.