One Planet Vision for a Responsible Recovery of the Tourism Sector

The One Planet Vision for a Responsible Recovery of the Tourism Sector builds on the UNWTO Global Guidelines to Restart Tourism released by the Global Tourism Crisis Committee on 28 May 2020 with the objective to support tourism to emerge stronger and more sustainable from the COVID-19 crisis. The vision is shared by the members of the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme
and partner organizations.

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Yindii introduces eco-friendly food app

Yindii, a Thai anti-food waste startup, has launched a mobile application designed to match Bangkok residents with environmentally conscious restaurants, grocery stores and cafes to combat food waste.

The app is designed to be a direct-to-consumer platform for restaurants and cafes that can create exclusive and immediate “Happy Hour Deals” offers regularly, with discounts of up to 50-70% on food that would otherwise go to waste.

Once a Yindii box offer is published, users can purchase it before heading to the restaurant to collect, or get the box delivered. They will not know the contents of the box until after the purchase.

“A full 33% of all food produced globally is wasted or lost every year. That is close to a billion-and-a-half tonnes that is never consumed, accounting for 8% of the greenhouse gas emissions around the globe, four times more pollution than the airline industry. All this is an ecological disaster,” said Yindii founder Louis-Alban Batard-Dupre. “The growing problem of food waste is challenging to solve for endless reasons including logistics, the complexities of short-lived items and the lack of a set market, which is what we are working to help solve. We hope our simple system connects users and restaurants.”

Sensible Sustainable Solutions

Luxury is DEAD. There is no point in designing lavish hotels just to put heads on beds – every hospitality project should have a purpose and a candle to light. We in hospitality – designers, owners or operators – have the superpower of reaching thousands of people. We should shoulder more responsibility concerning issues like education, clean accessible water, alternative energy, energy consumption, food waste, wildlife protection, and conservation. The big hotel companies are part of nature and society too, not just economy. Here are some ideas of how to do something real…

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Case Study Ock Pop Tok

The Longji rice terraces have a long history since the beginning of the construction during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and it was completed in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), with a constructing history of over 800 years. The fascinating rice terraces cover 66 square kilometres of the Longsheng county’s mountain, with the altitude from 300 meters to 1100 metres (Travel China Guide, n.d.). Longji rice terraces have been listed as one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).

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Case Study Longji Rice Terraces

The Longji rice terraces have a long history since the beginning of the construction during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and it was completed in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), with a constructing history of over 800 years. The fascinating rice terraces cover 66 square kilometres of the Longsheng county’s mountain, with the altitude from 300 meters to 1100 metres (Travel China Guide, n.d.). Longji rice terraces have been listed as one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).

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GSTC Destination Criteria

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria were created to provide a common understanding of sustainable tourism. The GSTC Destinations Criteria – known informally also as “GSTC-D” — are the minimum that any tourism destination should aspire to reach. They are organized around four main themes: sustainable management; socio-economic impacts; cultural impacts; and environmental impacts. They have applicability to the entire tourism sector.

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Transforming tourism through sustainable procurement

Globally, the tourism industry already accounts for an average of 9 per cent of nations’ gross domestic product (GDP), and its importance is bound to increase even more. The United Nations World Tourism Organization projects international tourist arrivals to increase from 1.1 billion in 2014 to 1.8 billion in 2030. For many developing countries tourism is a key pillar of national development contributing to growth, employment, investment as well as technology dissemination. In many small island developing states (SIDS), it accounts for up to 25 to 60% of national GDP.

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