The free, one-hour introductory course, lectured by Tourism Cares’ Director of Community Impact John Sutherland, is segmented into 10 modules on different subjects within sustainable tourism -from managing and offsetting carbon emissions to sourcing sustainable, diverse suppliers to providing equal opportunities for all women and girls - with actionable takeaways and materials relevant to the industry.
“Tourism’s function in the world is delicate, it has immense power to better the world - those who inhabit it and the life that grows from it - but it also can disrupt and harm the world if operated unsustainably,” said Zaky Prabowo, WeTravel’s co-founder and CMO. “While the conversations on sustainable tourism only intensified during the pandemic, with companies joining together to rethink how they operated for a better world, we know from speaking to thousands of travel businesses that use our platform, many companies feel stuck on how to begin as sustainable tourism can seem daunting, especially when you have few tools or resources to start.”
WeTravel launched its WeTravel Academy in December 2021, to provide a free educational hub for the travel industry to be empowered, educated, and equipped on all facets of business operations, including sustainability and inclusive travel. Since its launch, more than 500 resources have been created in 12 subjects; to date, nearly 3,000 travel businesses have downloaded its resources and hundreds have enrolled in its courses.
Aligning with its mission to provide free resources to better the travel industry, WeTravel partnered with industry leader Tourism Cares on its most-recent Academy course because Tourism Cares is on a mission to unite the travel industry and to be a catalyst for positive social, environmental, and economic impact for the people and places of travel. Tourism Cares runs multiple programs to support such efforts, like their Meaningful Travel Summits, Meaningful Travel Platform and Meaningful Travel Map, which WeTravel sponsors.
“It is our goal to unite, inspire and activate the industry toward positive change. We’ve found that it isn’t always about what your organization is going to do but what we as individuals are going to do within our organizations – we all have a responsibility” said Greg Takehara, CEO of Tourism Cares. “Having an introductory course on sustainable tourism so widely available on the WeTravel Academy platform will allow people from businesses throughout our industry to get informed, engaged, and push for change. We are excited for the partnership and for WeTravel’s dedication to supporting industry professionals with education.”
Tags: WeTravel
