Sustainable Tourism | Ecotourism | Destinations & Communities
EplerWood International (EWI) builds value-added sustainable tourism economies which invest in improved local well-being.
Since 2003, EWI has implemented destination development projects at scale in over 30 countries. Our company track record demonstrates that investment in sustainable tourism economies results in conservation of natural resources, improved income and infrastructure for local people, and social and environmental business opportunities.
THE INVISIBLE BURDEN:
Groundbreaking Reports
& Analysis
DESTINATION MANAGEMENT:
Ecotourism & DestInvest
SPEAKING:
Speaking & Strategic
Destination Evaluation
KEY AFFILIATIONS:
Harvard University, Cornell University, The Travel Foundation
FEATURED PROJECTS
Community-Based Tourism in Bangladesh’s Protected Areas
Sri Lankan Model Rainforest Ecolodge
Tunisian Tourism and Environmental Health in a Changing Climate
Developing a Sustainable Tourism Economy in El Salvador
Building a Resilient Puerto Rican Ecotourism Industry Post Hurricane Maria
Social and Environmentally Responsible Tourism in Sierra Leone
Latin American Tour Operators Plan for Sustainable Tourism
The Gems of Brazil’s Nature Tourism along the Estrada Real
What’s New?
An HBS Wilderness Safari Case
National Geographic announced in March 2021 that “both African elephant species are now critically endangered.”
An ecotourism case by HBS, co-authored by Megan Epler Wood alongside James E. Austin and Herman B. Leonard, shows how ecotourism management in Botswana has led to a secure sanctuary for elephants in the Okavango Delta. Wilderness with RISE Impact Investment aims to make even more land secure for elephants.
Results from the Build Back Better: Reconstructing Governmental Systems and Policies Roundtable, organized and moderated by Megan Epler Wood at Harvard Extension on November 19, 2020, are in. Results from the forum include:
- Forum participants agreed that a new system of government for tourism is needed which incorporates sustainability into all levels of strategic decision-making.
- New indicators of success are required which will enable a full range of stakeholders to review how destinations are meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris climate goals.
- Governments will be required to build the management of sustainable goals directly into the tourism economy’s recovery.
Videos with innovative concepts were presented in advance by organizations including the OECD, the Travel Foundation and PATA who were partners in the event, and McKinsey & Company. Students and invited experts attended via webinar. The goal of the effort was to supply a range of optimal government structures which can yield consistent sustainability outcomes.
This is true. We must incorporate these actors in the global climate accounting for tourism. They cannot successfully use internal reporting though as a stand alone tool. It’s challenging, but the model must be public private. See our @EplerWood http://www.eplerwoodinternational.com/destinvest/destination-evaluation-service/
People imagining a world without “mass tourism” are either overestimating the power of their own activism or underestimating the resilience of global capitalism.
Essential Videos
The international tourism economy has experienced historic lows throughout the world caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Travel and Tourism contributed $3.0 trillion USD to Asia and the Pacific (APAC) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019, and one third of all new jobs over the past five years were created by the sector. A firm platform for the travel and tourism recovery process is required, which will ensure that finance reaches millions of individuals and serves to protect the region’s most valued cultural, historical, and environmental assets upon which the industry depends.
A Marshall Plan for Financing Tourism Economic Recovery
© EplerWood International (2020)