Sustainable Tourism | Ecotourism | Destinations & Communities
EplerWood International (EWI) builds value-added sustainable tourism economies which invest in improved local well-being.
EWI has a substantial track record working in the field together with the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, and GIZ. We work closely with industry associations; destination management organizations; city, county and state governments; and NGOs in the United States; Canada; Cambodia; Thailand; Vietnam; India; Sri Lanka; Bangladesh; China; Samoa; Fiji; Honduras; El Salvador; Costa Rica, Ecuador; Colombia; Brazil; Mexico; Puerto Rico; the Dominican Republic; Tunisia; Egypt ; Cyprus & Sierra Leone. See details here.
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
Developing a Sustainable Tourism Economy in El Salvador
Building a Resilient Puerto Rican Ecotourism Industry Post Hurricane Maria
Tunisian Tourism and Environmental Health in a Changing Climate
Latin American Tour Operators Plan for Sustainable Tourism
The Gems of Brazil’s Nature Tourism along the Estrada Real
Community-Based Tourism in Bangladesh’s Protected Areas
Social and Environmentally Responsible Tourism in Sierra Leone
Sri Lankan Model Rainforest Ecolodge
What’s New?
EplerWood International is one of the only consulting companies in sustainable tourism using research and development from world renowned universities. Hundreds of graduate students and leading faculty from Harvard and Cornell Universities have reviewed key research questions in the field of sustainable tourism at both universities since 2010.
Speaking engagements are a first step in engaging local stakeholders, evaluating destination needs, and sharing tools and frameworks that reveal key issues of the tourism destination to stakeholders. EplerWood International often deepens their relationship with clients after speaking engagements, facilitating conversations around tourism planning and governance.
Learn more about EWI’s Speaking & Destination Evaluation Service here.
EplerWood International has signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism with a long-term plan to implement Sustainable Destination Management services which incorporate climate accounting, based on benchmarking and sustainability management principles.
Megan Epler Wood made a brief statement at the launch program for the Declaration on November 4.
This effort to apply tourist funding to infrastructure improvement is important. 1) Our Marshall Plan with @PATA_HQ recommended this, http://www.eplerwoodinternational.com/research-reports/marshall-plan-fund-reports/ 2) Tax reallocation will be covered in our new @CornellSTAMP @CornellSGE @travelTF @giz_gmbh upcoming online course. TBA!
New tax added to flights to Thailand from April will fund tourist insurance and infrastructure improvement for sustainable tourism (although reporting that it will raise $23.97 billion in a year is clearly waaay out!) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-plans-impose-tourist-fee-april-2022-01-12/
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)