This week at the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Global Summit 2015 in Madrid, Sustainable Travel International announced 10 Million Better, an industry-wide campaign to monitor and scale up social, economic and environmental benefits from travel and tourism, with the goal of demonstrating tangible improvements in the lives of at least 10 million people by 2025.
Just how do we propose to affect the lives of 10 million people and spark change across the entire industry? The travel and tourism sector is the world’s leading economic driver, representing 9.5 percent of the global economy and generating 1.1 billion arrivals last year and one out of every 11 jobs worldwide. No organization can turn a ship that size by itself, and that’s the point. The industry as a whole needs to come together in common cause and use its enormous economic clout to produce concrete benefits for people, places and the planet.
Sustainable Travel International has 15 years of experience working with leading destinations, governments and tourism businesses, enabling us to convene major industry players. in the industry. So far we’ve attracted leading travel companies to provide ambassadors for the campaign including the Carlson, Delaware North, Intrepid Travel, and the Soneva Group. The Sustainable Travel Leadership Network and Sustainable Destination Leadership Network have also endorsed the campaign, and in those networks are leading brands committed to advancing industry sustainability, including Globus, Finnair, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and United Airlines and others.
The reach of each one of these organizations is enormous in terms of the people they employ, the families those workers support and the entire communities that depend on their business. As more companies and organizations join 10 Million Better and set their own goals to make improvements that have direct and tangible benefits for people and places, the potential for better through travel and tourism is nearly infinite.