Global Leaders Conference 2018

Summary Report

Arnhem, The Netherlands, 25-26 September 2018

Final draft, October 2018

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Introduction and Opening Session

The first Global Leaders Conference was held on 25 and 26 September 2018 in the city of Arnhem, capital of the Province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The conference was organised by Gelderland and Green Destinations. Fifty of the world’s leading policy makers, representatives and specialists in the field of sustainable tourism had been invited to the House of the Province, the Seat of Gelderland. Vice-Governor Mrs. Bea Schouten officially opened the conference. Gelderland believes that challenges are best faced together, therefore the province is very pleased to host the Founding Conference of Green Destinations’ Global Leaders. Mrs Schouten expresses the to exchange ideas, learn from each other and face this most important challenge together. Mr. Albert Salman, founder of the Green Destinations Global Leaders, introduced the background of the initiative. Important catalysts had been the Green Deal Sustainable Tourism of the Dutch Government, involving Green Destinations and TUI, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the International Year of Tourism for Sustainable Development 2017. Several SDGs will be given special attention as a basis for thematic cooperation and exchange in the network: Climate Action (SDG13) in combination with Clean Energy (SDG7); and Sustainable cities and communities (SDG11) in combination with Decent work and economic growth (SDG8). Mr. Brian Mullis, director of Guyana Tourism Authority and co-founder of the Global Destination Leaders initiative in 2017 (together with Albert Salman and Costas Christ), presented his views on how to improve destination sustainability and resilience through international cooperation. Mullis stressed that, besides cooperation at the local level, inspirational leadership is paramount for success. Mr. Roel Welsing, director of Apenheul Primate Park (Gelderland) presented his views on sustainable management. Welsing emphasised that Apenheul’s sustainability achievement goes beyond traditional borders, as its approach includes economic viability, as well as educational programmes, touching upon themes such as what people can learn from primates in the field of diet and nutrition. Below: the conference took place in the parliamentary assembly hall of the Provincial Government.

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The Global Experience: strategies and success stories

The morning program was dedicated to plenary presentations by prominent Global Leaders. The Portuguese experience: Mr. Sergio Guerreiro, Senior Director Knowledge Management and Innovation of the Portuguese Tourism Authority (Turismo de Portugal), presented the new Sustainable Tourism Strategy of Portugal which embraces new policy approaches to challenges in Portugal’s tourism ambitions, like combating seasonality, ensuring territorial cohesion and transforming volume into improving value. The policy’s focus is on promoting Portugal by differentiating, qualifying and the country’s assets, such as environment, climate, history and culture, valuing territory, promoting knowledge, managing networks and connectivity in order to lead the future of tourism. The Slovenian experience: Mrs. Maja Pak, Director General of the Slovenian Tourism Board, presented key challenges and the country’s tourism strategy, the story of Green Slovenia and the process of transformation. The nation’s tourism management and the success of its Slovenia Green brand is connected to the country’s intrinsic values, but the brand has greatly benefited from the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism; the scheme has had enormous positive impacts on the application of certification, including a destination scheme based upon the Green Destinations Standard. Since 2014, the number of eco-certifications has increased from only a few to 64. Tourism in 2017 has increased with 18% compared to 2016. The Green Scheme can be considered a very interesting model for other countries. The Australian experience: Mrs. Claire Ellis, Deputy Chair of Ecotourism Australia, presented the background and the programs of Ecotourism Australia, as well as insight into tourism development in the country. The focus of the organisation is in ensuring economic, social and environmental benefits to businesses and destinations, with a focus on regional dispersal (enhancing resilience and flexibility in regional communities) and on decreasing seasonality, which is key to sustainability and permanent employment, illustrated by the Kangaroo Island case. The Dutch Experience: Mr. Max Schreuder (NBTC Holland Marketing) presented the background, aims and themes of the tourism policy of the Netherlands. The City of Amsterdam has become a dominant factor in international tourism, even more than the traditional beach tourism and the tulip season. Especially during 2018 a new strategy is being developed of in a bottom-up approach. Important elements of the new strategic approach are the geographical extension of tourism, building upon the experience of the HollandCity approach) as well as further broadening the tourism season. Below: Keynote presenters in the panel: Mr. Schreuder, Mrs. Ellis, Mrs. Schouten, Mr. Guerreiro, Mrs Pak, Mr. Mullis

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The Asian experience: Mr. Masaru Takayama, Chairman of the Asian Ecotourism Network, discussed the impacts of globalisation in tourism from the Asian perspective, focusing on urbanisation and air traffic, especially in the northern hemisphere, leading to increasing pressures on the global climate as well as on local over-crowding and misbehaviour by individual tourists. This presents risks to the traditional and authentic celebration of traditions and wisdoms. In Japan, where tourism has increased from 5 million up to almost 30 million international arrivals since 2003, impacts can be seen in Mount Fuji, Kyoto and many other places. However, positive trends can also be observed, like in Kamaishi, recently recognised as a Sustainable Top 100 destination. The African Experience: Mr. Gregory Bakunzi (Red Rocks Rwanda and Linking Tourism & Conservation) discussed the benefits of the linking tourism & conservation approach, illustrated by the success of the Mountain Gorilla tourism in the various national parks in Rwanda (Volcanoes, a Sustainable Top 100 destination), Uganda and D.R. Congo. Mr. Bakunzi also highlighted the opportunities in the Kahuzi Biega Park (D.R. Congo), where tourism has the potential to safeguard the future of the Park and to support the livelihoods of its local communities, its ecosystems and wildlife populations. The Zuid-Limburg Experience: Mrs. Anya Niewierra, Director of the tourism promotion organisation VVV Zuid-Limburg summarised the incredible revival of the town of Valkenburg, in South Limburg (The Netherlands). Developed as a health resort (spa) from 1853, Valkenburg had been the oldest tourist destination in the country, but started to decline in the 1980s due to the sea, sun and sand tourism around the Mediterranean. From 1993, the town started to reinvent itself, entirely based upon its own roots and its DNA; the Christmas Town Valkenburg initiative led to a spectacular development of responsible and sustainable tourism in close cooperation with the business sector and leading to a lower level of seasonality and increased employment.

Signing the Global Leaders Founding Declaration At the end of the morning session delegates signed the Global Leaders Founding Declaration which marks the creation of the network. Below: Delegates in the central hall in the House of Province after signing the Founding Declaration.

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The Amsterdam Experience: Supported by the I Amsterdam campaign, the spectacular tourism development in previous decades was triggered by an unlimited availability of drinks, drugs and girls, and by entrepreneurs attracting shoppers as well as stag and hen parties through non-typical, non-authentic shops, attractions and facilities (disneyfication). In the new tourism policy special attention is given to the impact of Airbnb and similar platforms, street nuisance, real-estate speculation, sky-rocketing apartment prices and the gradual replacement of residents by tourists in the city centre. So far Airbnb has not shown to be a reliable partner, with little interest in tourism sustainability and residents’ social conditions. The Ljubljana Experience: Mrs. Alenka Soršak (Ljubljana Tourism, Slovenia) gave an update of the green story of the city that became world famous as European Green Capital 2016 and one of the host organisers of the first Global Green Destinations Day (GGDD). The pillars of the success of last 10 years have been: strategic planning based upon green principles, high quality of life, renovation of the city and a pedestrian zone in the heart of the city, soft mobility, green supply chains (for water, drinks and food) and spreading tourism in time and space. All this led to strong economic growth and to a 120% increase in tourism since 2007. Ljubljana is among the world's most awarded cities for sustainable tourism, including a Tourism for Tomorrow Award (2015) and a Sustainable Top 100 listing since 2014.

Working groups for Activity planning The afternoon program of 25 September was dedicated to working groups enabling the delegates to benefit from Global Leader programs for their activity planning in 2019 and 2020.

Panel discussions - Spreading and extending tourism in space and time Gelderland: Mrs. Schouten introduced the background and ambitions of tourism in Gelderland. The province recently decided to renew its tourism policy. It wants to benefit from the growth in tourism, with aa a central goal to encourage visitors to experience Gelderland’s unique qualities. The ambition is to develop the unique qualities sustainably, not growth in tourist numbers. Gelderland’s strategy is to use broader storylines to encourage visitors to see more of the province than just the main highlights, whilst enhancing the strengths and the socio-economic fabric of regional diversity, regional hospitality and qualitative growth. Typical storylines (themes) are, Liberation, Art, Romans, Royal, Dutch Design, and Water. It is also tried to combine regional expertise in food, nature, arts (culture) and sports, to emphasize modern identity and see the power of these three areas combined. Important questions in Gelderland are: how can we strengthen our qualities and protect our vulnerable nature reserves? How do we let the local community benefit most? Portugal: Mr. Guerreiro stressed the need to learn from each other’s experiences; that it is a strength that Portugal has many small companies, we need to support and involve them; that sharing experiences, learning from mistakes and specific case studies can only make us stronger and better; that becoming sustainable is long term work; and that it is essential to consider sustainability as a hygiene factor. The discussion was led by a panel consisting of Mrs. Schouten (Gelderland), Mr. Guerreiro (Portugal), Mrs. Pak (Slovenia), Mrs. Ellis (Australia) and Mr. Mullis (Guyana). From their own experience, Panel members discussed the opportunities of spreading and extending tourism in space and time for Gelderland and for Portugal and gave their view on what can be learned from the global experience. It was concluded that it is very important to continue the exchange of experience on this subject within the Global Leaders Network.

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How to benefit from your sustainability achievements? Mr. Valere Tjolle (TravelMole Vision on Sustainable Tourism) addressed the challenge of destinations how to better communicate and market aspects of sustainable and responsible tourism. He outlined the progress of the tourism industry and in particular the challenges and opportunities now posed by the global booking systems. He outlined and advocated alternative opportunities for destinations to get the true value of their sustainable offers to the right potential clients person to person undiluted by algorithms.

Country framework programs: how to make a country green? Mrs. Jana Apih (GoodPlace) and Mrs. Maja Pak moderated a working group considering and reviewing the benefits of the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism (GSST). The lessons learned from GSST, or Slovenia Green were presented and options how to use the Slovenia Green model in other countries and regions were discussed. The Slovenian case proved to be very effective in developing a national scheme pushing implementation of sustainable management of destinations and of the tourism industry and boosting a strong green branding of the country and throughout the country. The Slovenian Tourist Board and GoodPlace are willing to help other countries and regions how to apply the underlying principles of the Slovenian case and how to develop their own green schemes. The conclusion of the panel was that there is a wide interest to adopt the Slovenian approach and that further steps to upgrade the Slovenia Green case into an international model how to develop national green schemes for sustainable tourism should be undertaken and shared among members of the Global Leaders Network. Below: the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism extends to certified destinations, businesses and parks, creating a common green brand for the country as a whole, and making the plethora of labels into a strength for all involved instead of a weakness.

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Recognition of sustainability efforts Hugo de Jong (Green Destinations) presented the types of sustainability recognition offered through the Global Leaders Network. Broadly there are 4 types: ‘Green Destinations Certified’ is the highest attainable recognition; requiring 100% compliance to the GD standard and following a strict GSTC-accredited verification process. ‘QualityCoast Awards’ and ‘Green Destinations Awards’ are pre-certification types of recognition, indicating progress towards Certification based on an independent audit. The yearly Top 100 competition is a non-audited type of recognition, based on submissions to an open Call for Nominations. Best of Top100 Awards are jury-based recognition of Top 100 sustainability success stories, presented at a main stage event at ITB Berlin. Finally, the Global Leaders Network will focus on how a destination’s sustainability efforts contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): GL partners can commit to address certain goals and use SDG logo to illustrate their commitment. It was agreed that a Global Leaders working group would be established to investigate the best solutions towards reaching SDGs at destination levels.

How to tackle the Carbon & Climate challenge? Dr. Paul Peeters (Breda University of Applied Sciences) summarised the challenges in the field of carbon and climate: carbon emissions from global tourism (especially air transportation) are expected to equal the Global 1.5 degrees carbon emissions targets of the Paris Agreement by 2050. The presentation and the working group addressed various Green Destinations criteria: Responding to climate risks: can we do better in fighting heat and water stress? Reducing fossil fuel dependency: is electric air transport the solution? (not likely) Carbon footprint of travel: should we include the footprint when targeting source markets? Energy consumption monitoring: how does it work for companies as well as for destinations? How to involve residents, entrepreneurs and visitors? Telling or taxing? Carbon compensation: what is the best way to do it?

The program of 25 September continued with an excursion through the House of the Provincial government (by Mr. Joost de Wals) and a dinner offered by the Province of Gelderland.

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26 September: Working Visits The second day of the Global Leaders Conference consisted of three working visits. De Hoge Veluwe National Park, the only privately-owned national park, located in Gelderland: its Director, Mr. Seger Baron Voorst tot Voorst presented the park’s management strategy, which was followed by a lively discussion and a bike ride through the park on the famous white bikes which are provided to all visitors for free use.

Excursion on bicycles in De Hoge Veluwe National Park. Wageningen University & Research (WUR), the Netherlands’ agricultural university in the town of Wageningen, Gelderland. The WUR offered three interesting presentations illustrating the university’s research on the field of tourism and how the theme connects to the WUR’s background in research on agricultural and environmental science: Dr. ir. Frans Kampers: Food transitions towards 2030. Dr. Ir. Martijn Duineveld: Tourism @ WUR and the innovative potential of shoarma sustainability. Dr. Bas Amelung: Climate Change and Tourism. The presentations provided interesting perspectives and encouraged a debate of the way current tourism concepts are being dealt with at an academic level.

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Municipality of Renswoude, the smallest Global Goals Municipality of the Netherlands, where the delegates were welcomed by Vice-mayor and Alderman spatial planning and sustainability Mr. Sander van 't Foort at the Town Hall of Renswoude. Delegates were offered a guided walk through the town, its picturesque heritage museum and castle, and witnessed Van ‘t Foort signing the Global Goals as well as the Global Leaders Founding Declaration in front of the castle.

At the end of the reception at the Castle of Renswoude the municipality signed the Global Leaders Founding Declaration. Below: Final group picture in front of the Castle of Renswoude.

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Delegates of the 2018 Global Leaders Conference

First Name Last Name Affiliation

Australia Mrs Claire Ellis Ecotourism Australia

Mr. Rod Hillman Ecotourism Australia

Chile Mr. Felipe Vera Soto INACAP

Mr. Carlos Sato Veras Robinson Crusoe Island

Mrs Lorena Perez Roa Tilburg University

Finland Mr. Pekka Alhojärvi Oy Silvacultura Ab / Green Destinations Representative in Finland

Greece Mr. Ioannis Pappas AXSIOS / Green Destinations Representative in Greece

Guyana Mr. Brian Mullis Guyana Tourism Authority

Israel Mr. Gili Bezalel SPNI

Italy Mr. Valere Tjolle TravelMole Vision on Sustainable Tourism

Japan Mr. Ryuta Kubo Kamaishi (Iwate)

Mr. Masaru Takayama

Asian Ecotourism Network / Green Destinations Chapter Japan

Jordan Mr. Othman Tawalbeh RSCN

Morocco Mr. Christof Burgbacher Consulting Elementerre / Green Destinations Representative in Morocco

Mr. Mohammed Ahlafi Vice-President, FEE International

The Netherlands Mr. Max Schreuder NBCT Holland Marketing

Mr. Eric Caspers Schouwen-Duiveland

Mrs Paula Hanse Schouwen-Duiveland

Mrs Anya Niewierra Director, VVV Zuid-Limburg

Mr. Naut Kusters ECEAT, Travelife for Tour Operators

Mr. Paul Peeters NHTV, Breda University of Applied Sciences

Mrs Marjolein Veenstra Control Union

Green Destinations Mr. Albert Salman President, Green Destinations Foundation

Ms. Marloes Van de Goor Vice-President, Green Destinations BV

Mr. Hugo de Jong Green Destinations Foundation

Mr. Freddy van der Brugge Green Destinations Solutions Platform

Gelderland (NL) Mrs. Bea Schouten Vice Governor, Provincie Gelderland

Mr. Henk Niessen Provincie Gelderland

Mrs Natasha Groot Provincie Gelderland

Mr. Roel Welsing Director Apenheul, Gelderland

Mrs Sylvia Fleuren Vice Mayor Berg en Dal, Gelderland

NL - Caribbean Ms. Shalini Autar RvO - Ministry of Economic Affairs

Philippines Mrs. Mariglo Laririt Lio Estate (El Nido, Palawan)

Ms. Jamie Anne Dichaves Lio Estate (El Nido, Palawan)

Portugal Mr. Sergio Guerreiro Turismo de Portugal

Mr. Jorge MC Alves Azores DMO

Mr. Manuel Salvador Oeste CIM / Region West Portugal

Mrs Sandra Fernandes CIM Alto Minho

Rwanda Mr. Gregory Bakunzi Amahoro / Red Rocks, Volcanoes National Park

Slovenia Mrs Maja Pak Director General, Slovenian Tourist Board

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Mr. Miha Markelj Slovenian Tourist Board

Mrs Nataša Hočevar Slovenian Tourist Board

Mrs Alenka Soršak Turizem Ljubljana

Mrs Jana Apih GoodPlace

Mrs Tina Hedi Zakonjšek GoodPlace

Sweden Mrs Susanne H. Fredriksson Östergötland Region

Taiwan Mrs TingHsuan Lin Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Administration

Mrs Monique Chen

Sustainable Travel Taiwan / Green Destinations Representative in Taiwan

Tanzania Mr. Khamis Rashid Colors of Zanzibar / Green Destinations Representative in Tanzania

United Kingdom Mr. Jon Proctor Green Tourism