ICTP News Releases

Hawaii/ Brussels/ Seychelles: The International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) and Urban Green Energy (UGE) have agreed today to collaborate to promote innovation in general, and distributed renewable energy (DRE) in particular, as key elements of the Green Growth transformation.

Founded in 2008, UGE provides the only comprehensive distributed renewable energy solutions with the necessary versatility, durability and energy security to be implemented across the range of harsh environments its clients face. With projects in over 70 countries, including installations for several Fortune 100 companies, UGE is changing the face of DRE at a global scale.

Since its inception, UGE has endeavoured to provide economical solutions that not only meet the power needs of its clients but also support their sustainability goals. Through its various solutions, especially commercial energy solutions and street lighting, the company helps global destinations grow a smart, efficient and sustainable tourism industry. This is where it evidently comes together with the core mission of ICTP to encourage Green Growth and Quality across the Travel and Tourism value chain.

Nick Blitterswyk, the CEO of UGE, said “we feel so lucky to have partnered with ICTP, whose mission to promote sustainable tourism is very important to us.  So much of tourism involves experiencing the beauty of the world, and yet it is often being powered by the very fossil fuels that are leading to climate change.  Distributed renewable energy is now at the point where it can provide cost competitive power for hotels and resorts, while also enhancing reliability and helping with sustainability efforts.  We look forward to working with ICTP and hotel and resort owners from around the world in making tourism more sustainable.”

Professor Geoffrey Lipman, President of ICTP added “UGE manages to combine professionalism, creativity and excellence to deliver outstanding green energy solutions. With its team of dynamic and experienced people, as well as its worldwide presence, we are convinced that they will bring value to our members. For instance, all our Council Members will have the opportunity to receive a free site assessment and preliminary site design from UGE’s in-house engineering team”. Professor Lipman went on by saying: “This major new initiative is a perfect illustration of the purposeful partnerships that ICTP intends to keep establishing with like-minded companies that offer quality products and services that contribute to Green Growth.”

This announcement was simultaneously made during the World Economic Forum in Lima, by Professor Lipman is and at WTM Latin America, Sao Paulo where ICTP is engaging with current and new members.

To receive more information on the UGE services, on our continually expanding Council Membership Program or to make an appointment at WTM Latin America (stand P07, April 23-25^th) please contact Marie-Julie Chaput, Membership Liaison at mjc@tourismpartners.org

The International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) is a grassroots travel and tourism coalition of global destinations committed to quality service and green growth.

ABOUT UGE:

With projects in over 70 countries, including installations for several Fortune 100 companies, UGE is changing the face of distributed renewable energy at a global scale. UGE puts users in control of their energy source by deploying hybrid wind, solar and storage solutions for use in the enterprise market, from commercial facilities to telecom towers in developing countries. Our technology advantage includes our proprietary wind technology, site planning and deployment, power electronics, and remote monitoring and control systems, which are combined into best in class solutions at the nexus of energy cost, security and sustainability. 

More information on UGE: www.urbangreenenergy.com 

ABOUT ICTP:
The International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) is a grassroots travel and tourism coalition of global destinations committed to quality service and green growth. ICTP engages communities and their stakeholders to share quality and green opportunities including tools and resources, access to funding, education, and marketing support. ICTP advocates sustainable aviation growth, streamlined travel formalities, fair coherent taxation, and investments for jobs. ICTP supports the UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN World Tourism Organization's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and a range of programs that underpin them. 
Current ICTP members see: www.tourismpartners.org/partners

For more information, go to: www.tourismpartners.org   

LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND  - The International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) has expressed its condolences to the USA following the Boston marathon tragedy. The President of the ICTP, Geoffrey Lipman and  the Hon. Minster of Tourism and Culture  for the Republic of the Seychelles, who is also a Founding Executive Board member  of ICTP Alain St.Ange, said as they spoke to the press in Lucerne where they are attending the Think Tank at the World Tourism Forum at Lucerne, that the ICTP joins with the People of Boston and with the Government and People of the United States of America  in this moment of grief.

“On behalf of our Chairman, Juergen Thomas Steinmetz and on our own behalf we wish to express our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the people of Boston, to all the marathon runners and to the spectators, to the President and Government of the USA, to the people of the United States of America  and to the victims and families of this terrible act of destruction during the Boston Marathon. We pray that America has the continued strength and courage to cope with this difficult and trying moment” Geoffrey Lipman and Alain St.Ange said in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The Boston Marathon is a known annually run Marathon, and one that brings visitors to Boston and to the USA. The Marathon which this year had more than 24,000 runners is held each year on “Patriot’s Day” – a state of Massachusetts holiday commemorating the start of the American Revolutionary War (War of Independence) against the British Empire, that began with a battle at Lexington and Concord (near Boston) in 1775 with the “shot heard round the world.”

The ICTP President and Minister St.Ange from the Seychelles told the press that on behalf of the ICTP, they wanted to place on record their support for the great city of Boston and to the USA as a whole.

Hawaii / Brussels / Istanbul - At the 50^th Annual Congress of the International Hotel and Restaurant Association held in Istanbul, Turkey outgoing President Ghassan Aidi inducted Professor Geoffrey Lipman as a Chevalier d’Honneur of the Association. 

Citing Lipman’s commitment over 40 years as Executive Director at IATA, President of WTTC and Assistant Secretary General of UNWTO, Aidi said that “He has always been a leading advocate of Travel and Tourism as a force for positive change – economic, social and above all environmental.” He recalled his driving the landmark Davos Conference on Climate Change which sought to establish a positive sectoral response and thoughtful pursuit of sustainable development”  He noted that only 30 such awards had been made in the 160 year history of the Association.

In his response, expressing appreciation for the award, Lipman said “ He was delighted that this came at a time when IH&RA had weathered the storms of recent years and was re-energising itself as a global hospitality leader.  He paid special tribute to Dr Aidi’s vision and advocacy for private industry and committed that ICTP would collaborate closely with IH&RA in the common quest for Green Growth in the sector.”

During the meeting Lipman re-iterated the inevitable intensifying impacts of climate change – evidenced by extreme weather – and underscored the vulnerability of the sector with inadequate response – particularly the poorest tourism dependent communities. But he also emphasised the potential travel and tourism has as a transformation agent if it implements green growth strategies now. He said “We must drive the green agenda in complete lockstep with the growth agenda.- they are mutually reinforcing”

HAWAII, USA; BRUSSELS, Belgium; VICTORIA, Seychelles; – The International Coalition of Tourism Partners announced today that Futureshift, a New York-based marketing consulting firm, has joined the coalition as a new member.

Futureshift specializes in market intelligence, strategic planning, and building digital communities. Its focus is on product and destination branding with emphasis on sustainability and green initiatives. Futureshift’s experience includes development and management of the strategic marketing plan for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, the Chilean Image Campaign, and many food, wine, and tourism campaigns for countries around the world. Many of its clients include wine, food, and tourism together, and its current client roster includes the wine region of Rioja, Spain, Wines of Greece, and the Maine Lobster industry.

"We see ICTP as an organization that can both bring focus to sustainability issues for destinations and be an advocate of best practices for the travel and tourism industries. We look forward to being a part of the organization's growth and a participant in its programs. As an indication of our interest, we would like to offer ICTP member firms a 20% discount off of all our consulting and database services for all projects initiated before June 31, 2013."

Futureshift has developed its own proprietary software, DirectLink™, which enables it to ask open-ended questions of large databases, provide real-time analysis tools, instant segmentation and direct email access to people who fall in specific segments. This enables its clients to target market their customers based on their expressed needs and perceptions. It's a tool that doesn't exist elsewhere due to the complexities of contextual search and analysis. Clients who use DirectLink™ become smarter, faster, and build better relationships with their customers.

“That Futureshift comes on board as a new member and immediately offers all ICTP members a discount off their services is a great value. Futureshift is a leader in product and destination branding, and the fact that they work with an emphasis on sustainability and green initiatives, fits right in with the efforts of ICTP,” said Juergen T. Steinmetz, Chairman of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners.

The firm's founder, Jon Stamell, has 25+ years of experience in market research, strategic planning and marketing, including international consulting, expansion and acquisitions, brand management, image enhancement, ecommerce and multi-media. He formerly was CEO of the largest marketing communications firm in Northern New England and Chairman of Communitas Online, a market research company. He has spoken on destination branding at conferences around the world and has been profiled by CNN-TV and CNBC-TV. Jon is author of "Celebrate Your Mistakes (Irwin Publ., 1998) and FutureShift 2010, a study of U.S. consumer behavior for the Chilean Foreign Ministry. He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan, did graduate work at Harvard University, and received an M.B.A. from the University of Maine. On the side, Mr. Stamell is a published cartoonist and his cartoons, taking a satirical look at business and technology, can be found on the Internet and in various publications.

More information can be found at futureshiftnow.com and their blog, corporatemyopia.com

Professor Geoffrey Lipman discusses how we are becoming more environmentally responsible tourists and why we must make a step change in our reality, to “put green on the same page as growth” See the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 and the related chapter on Green Growth, Travelism & Glocalization

Someone famously said that “an elephant is a very hard thing to define, but if you see one running down the street, you know what it is very quickly”. It’s rather the same about sustainable travel and tourism – we’ve stopped describing it and started to recognize it. Now we have to move further and faster if we want to harness its immense positive reality.

Twenty years ago at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit – when the modern approach to sustainable development was set out in Agenda 21 – the focus was on preserving the planet’s resources. For our sector, it was very much about ecotourism that often translated into: “take pictures, leave footprints”. Back then, our industry was not seen as a major polluter so it was under limited pressure to embrace the new sustainability mind-set. The big thing then was notices in hotel bathrooms telling guests to save the planet by not changing their towels every day.

Ten years later at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development the mood had shifted from planet to people and poverty. Against the background of the Millennium Development Goals, we moved on to a broader idea of responsible tourism with an emphasis on ensuring that local populations don’t suffer from  tourism’s influx and with a growing focus on creating economic benefits and jobs.

Now after Rio+20 we have seen another “sustainability” shift to green growth – a geopolitical paradigm to respond to the big social, economic, environment and climate challenges of today and the population-driven resource challenges on the horizon. This is not so much a defined set of initiatives, guidelines or even policies, but a multi-decade journey with periodic targets and checkpoints to create sustainable consumption, production and investment patterns for every activity on the planet.

Our industry has also begun to come of age as a mainstream socio-economic sector, with recognition of its job-creating importance. At the same time, the climate and economic-driven rethink of the last decade has broadened our environmental engagement, highlighting carbon impacts – particularly from transport and old inefficient buildings. It has begun to place increasing attention on local jobs as well as lifestyle impacts. It’s also focusing on renewable energy, biodiversity conservation, resource efficiency and social inclusion.  And there is talk of visitor impacts alongside the visitor economy.

Eventually, somewhere on this multi-decade transformation journey, sustainable “travelism” – transport, hospitality, travel services, hard and soft infrastructure and local impacts – will meld with the evolving mainstream societal sustainability. Because the sheer numbers of travellers, boosted by massive emerging markets like China, India, Brazil and South Africa have such a physical and psychological impact on the communities they visit.  Green Growth will mean that we must pay as much attention to the green as we do to the growth. We must measure it just as seriously and we must act on it with just as much priority.

Hopefully if we move far enough fast enough, there won’t be any need for notices in hotel bathrooms about changing towels. Our industry will have sustainability – environmental, social, economic and climate - at the core of its operational strategy. The next generation will have learned that in school. Our leaders will put green on the same page as growth - because it’s instinctive as well as right: And the communities at the base of the pyramid will have a powerful role in shaping their own destiny. It’s at local level that the real visitor impact is felt – good and bad.  For that to happen we have to both recognize the elephant for what it is and change our actions towards it now.

Geoffrey Lipman is President of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners – a grass roots organization for destinations and their stakeholders promoting green growth and quality and a Member of the WEF Global Agenda Council on new Models of Tourism. He I also lead author of “Green Growth & Travelism; Letters from Leaders.

By: Geoffrey Lipman adapted from World Economic Forum Blog – March 2013

HAWAII, USA; BRUSSELS, Belgium; VICTORIA, Seychelles; BALI, Indonesia – The International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) announced today that TravelWizard.com has joined as a member.

Hawaii, USA; Brussels, BELGIUM; Victoria, SEYCHELLES, Bali, INDONESIA:  ICTP Chairman Juergen Steinmetz and President Geoffrey Lipman met with the Director of Marketing UK & Europe of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Carol Hay to discuss how to join forces to position the Caribbean as a Quality destination “Leading Sustainable Tourism.”