Sustainable Tourism
Sustainable tourism along with Eco (Ego?) tourism and responsible tourism are phrases that have been both over used and abused in recent years. All of these terms have now moved into mainstream vocabulary but are widely used by the travel industry as a greenwash where the walk is talked but not walked.
Discover Ltd. defines sustainable/responsible tourism as one where what they do today always has an eye on the future, as the African aphorism states “we do not own the world we only borrow it from our children’s grand children.”
With this in mind Discover has effectively given a veto to its local management committee on all its activities and sourcing options at the same time working with them to enhance their understanding of the international tourism market and services. In addition to working with the local community in Imlil the company’s management has developed deep relationship with the Moroccan authorities both in the Marrakech Region and in Rabat. These relationships have resulted in Discover presenting its project and management approach both to Moroccan meetings at the Tourism Assise but also to international conferences in Kenya, Thailand and Zambia.
The need to create a shared view on the future of rural tourism at a time when the Moroccan national tourism strategy is to aggressively embrace an increase in tourist numbers is one of the most critical challenges at this time.