Sustainable Tourism | Ecotourism | Destinations & Communities
Providing market-based solutions to sustainable tourism, preserving invaluable social and environmental capital for the well being of local people worldwide. LEARN MORE
THE INVISIBLE BURDEN:
Groundbreaking Reports
& Analysis
ECOTOURISM:
Business Development
& Field Engagements
SPEAKING:
Speaking & Strategic
Destination Evaluation
KEY AFFILIATIONS:
Harvard University, Cornell University, The Travel Foundation
FEATURED PROJECTS
Developing a Sustainable Tourism Economy in El Salvador
The Gems of Brazil’s Nature Tourism along the Estrada Real
Tunisian Tourism and Environmental Health in a Changing Climate
Sri Lankan Model Rainforest Ecolodge
Social and Environmentally Responsible Tourism in Sierra Leone
Community-Based Tourism in Bangladesh’s Protected Areas
Latin American Tour Operators Plan for Sustainable Tourism
Building a Resilient Puerto Rican Ecotourism Industry Post Hurricane Maria
What’s New?
EWI Responds to Global Challenge of Lowering Tourism Carbon Emissions
December 2, 2019
During COP 25 and the Climate Summit Week, EplerWood International released a statement on the systematic measures needed to limit CO2 emissions of tourism which are 4 times greater than previous estimates and growing faster than most international trade.
In 2019, EplerWood International produced a report together with the Cornell Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise with support from the Travel Foundation, Destinations at Risk, the Invisible Burden, which identifies the unmeasured costs of tourism growth at the destination level. The firm also worked with the International Sustainable Tourism Initiative (ISTI) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to provide local authorities with a systematic data analysis framework developed to measure resource uses and GhG emissions per tourist at the destination level.
EWI seeks to help tourism authorities to better manage tourism growth and align their visitor targets with national and international efforts to lower GhG emissions under the Paris Agreement.
EplerWood International has launched these research efforts to measure the holistic, invisible impacts of tourism, and lower GhG emissions in collaboration with our research partners, and by working with destinations and businesses worldwide.
Read EWI’s full Climate Summit Week Statement here: Systematic Measures Needed to Limit CO2 Emissions of Tourism.
Megan Epler Wood to give Keynote Address in British Columbia
The British Columbia Tourism Industry Conference will take place from March 4-6, 2020 in Victoria, BC.
Megan Epler Wood will give the Keynote Address titled “Meeting the Challenge of Achieving Sustainable Destinations”.
Epler Wood’s speech is based on a career of over 30 years providing innovative systems for business, NGOs and governments to build competitive resource efficient tourism economies that benefit all members of society.
For over 20 years, the BC Tourism Industry Conference has been providing a forum for tourism businesses and stakeholders from around British Columbia to come together to learn from experts and each other about the key issues, challenges and best practices in the industry.
Find out more about the BC Tourism Industry Conference here.
Good discussion of where the chips may fall as business and leisure travelers think through total impacts of travel in the air and on the ground, together with their life priorities.
The destinations that will retain or grow share will "be those that fully embrace sustainability – and take rigorous steps to educate and support their suppliers and local tourism industry partners in doing likewise" @PATA_HQ @KBCPR https://t.co/1nO9SoncTV
Essential Videos
“The earth’s greatest treasures are cracking under the weight of the soaring tourism economy. New data-driven systems to identify the cost of managing tourism’s most valued assets are required to stem a growing crisis in global tourism management. With the right leadership, finance and analysis in place, a whole new generation of tourism professionals can move forward and erase the invisible burden while benefiting millions around the globe.”
Megan Epler Wood, Principal