Latest news with #RandyDurband
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Korea Herald
Agoda and GSTC Launch Free Digital Training Platform to Empower Hoteliers with Sustainability Skills
SINGAPORE, May 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital travel platform Agoda, in collaboration with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), has launched the Sustainable Tourism Academy, a free digital training platform designed to equip current and aspiring hoteliers with practical sustainability tools and knowledge. The initiative aims to address the growing demand for sustainable accommodation options from increasingly sustainability-conscious travelers while driving transformation within Asia's hotel industry. The Sustainable Tourism Academy offers localized and tailored content to tackle the unique sustainability challenges faced by the region. The platform features interactive learning exercises, case studies, assessments, and discussion boards to create an engaging and comprehensive learning experience. Learning modules focus on how to attract sustainability-minded guests and develop sustainability strategies with insights and case studies from hotels across Asia. Available in English, Vietnamese, Malay, Thai, and Indonesian, the platform ensures accessibility for a broad audience of hospitality professionals across Southeast Asia. The self-paced platform allows participants to complete training modules at their convenience, making it ideal for busy hospitality professionals. Upon successful completion, participants receive a completion certificate jointly issued by GSTC and Agoda, formally recognizing their enhanced sustainability knowledge and skills. Damien Pfirsch, Chief Commercial Officer at Agoda, shared, "Through the Sustainable Tourism Academy, Agoda and GSTC are equipping hoteliers to drive meaningful change within the industry. Agoda is committed to scaling up this initiative, and by offering this platform free of charge, we're making sustainability education accessible, practical, and impactful for everyone in the Asian hospitality sector, from kitchen staff to general managers." Randy Durband, Chief Executive Officer at Global Sustainable Tourism Council, added, "By providing free access to practical, localized sustainability training, GSTC and Agoda are empowering hoteliers to take meaningful steps toward a more sustainable future. This initiative reflects our shared commitment to making sustainability not just an aspiration, but a standard practice across the region." The training content is built around the GSTC Standard, the global standard for sustainability in travel and tourism. It covers key areas such as sustainable management, socioeconomic impacts, cultural impacts, and environmental impacts. Developed by Agoda's Sustainability Team and GSTC and its trainers, including CB Ramkumar (Vice Chair, GSTC), Mochamad Nalendra (CEO, Wise Steps Consulting), and Catherine Germier-Hamel (CEO, Destination Mekong), the content combines diverse expertise and real-world insights from leaders in the field. The platform was officially launched on Friday, 30 May, at an event in Bangkok, Thailand, which brought together over a hundred Southeast Asian hospitality professionals for in-depth conversations on emerging trends and challenges in sustainable tourism. The Sustainable Tourism Academy is free of charge and accessible to everyone, underscoring Agoda and GSTC's commitment to fostering a more sustainable future for all in travel. To explore the platform, visit
Boston Globe
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Tourists have a message for Trump: We're boycotting the US
There is easy irony in this tourist backlash. Trump, who is a titan of the resort and tourism industry, has stoked resistance by breaking the first rule of tourism: create an alluring and welcoming destination. Instead, Trump has made it clear to Canadians and Europeans that they are no longer America's close friends and allies. He threatened their economies with tariffs because he claimed the United States was being ripped off by current trade agreements. His immigration order 'Protecting the American People Against Invasion' painted Mexico and Canada as virtual enemies allowing drugs and immigrants to pass freely through their borders. He claimed an imperial right to Greenland, the Panama Canal, and Canada, which he said should be the 51st state. He belittled European nations as unnecessary freeloaders as he abandoned long-held commitments and switched the US stance to support Russia against Ukraine. Advertisement Not surprisingly, Advertisement This will hurt the US economy. Tourism is a major American industry. It is the seventh-largest employer and contributed $2.36 trillion to the economy in 2023, more than agriculture or the automobile industry. But tourism is also sensitive to cultural and political shifts. Travel choices are influenced by countless advertisements for the latest 'best places to go' and photographs that flood Instagram and TikTok. The reason the United States earned more money from tourism last year than any other country was its openness, culture, and diversity of landscape and experience. That America is disappearing. And so are tourists. 'Why would you come to the United States today?' said Randy Durband, the CEO of Global Sustainable Tourism Council, a nonprofit that sets tourism standards around the world, in an interview. 'Travel is a feeling. You want to go someplace where you feel good and comfortable and safe. That's not America now and people get that. They have plenty of other choices.' They are going elsewhere. Advertisement What was supposed to be another outstanding year for tourism is becoming a disappointment. . With the intense policing on the American southern border, decline in Mexican tourism is difficult to sort but air bookings dropped 6 percent in February. The drop in European travel accelerated when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, acting with impunity, detained or deported Europeans and Canadians. Each deportation and detention was headline news for its trampling on rights and the law. The Incensed, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France issued warnings about travel to the United States. Mexico issued a travel warning about Texas due to the measles outbreak. This swift slide of the United States from favorite to feared destination is hard to exaggerate. And that fear works both ways. Shannon Stowell, the CEO of Adventure Travel and Tourism Association, Advertisement Trump will add to the boycott himself when he releases his list of countries whose citizens will be banned from receiving visas to the United States. The preliminary list of Domestic travel won't make up for the loss in foreign tourism because Americans are postponing or canceling trips in their own country. They are worried about the economy in general and the effect of Trump's drastic cuts and firings on their travel plans, especially With reduced American traveling and the growing foreign tourist boycott, the US travel industry will lose $64 billion in 2025, according to That's the financial cost. The social damage is impossible to calculate. Travel to new lands for new experiences and new understanding of other people and cultures will be lost, leading to insularity and fear of the stranger in Fortress America. Or as Mark Twain famously said: 'Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.'
Zawya
19-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Rosewood Hotel Group achieves GSTC Certification, reinforcing commitment to sustainable hospitality across the GCC
Abu Dhabi, UAE - Rosewood Hotel Group has been awarded the prestigious Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) certification, including key properties in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The certification, granted by Bureau Veritas, an accredited GSTC certification body, applies to 47 properties across Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, New World Hotels & Resorts, and Carlyle & Co. With GSTC certification, Rosewood Hotel Group solidifies its role as a leader in sustainable hospitality, ensuring its properties, including Rosewood Abu Dhabi and Rosewood Jeddah, meet the highest environmental and social standards. The certification verified that the Group's operational standards and guest experiences align with four key GSTC Criteria: effective sustainable management, social and economic benefits for local communities, preservation of cultural heritage, and environmental responsibility. A key differentiator of the Group's ethos is its commitment that sustainability and social impact initiatives are not mandates but core pillars, in which each property embraces every detail — from eco-conscious culinary creations and educational guest programming to sustainable design elements alongside those that celebrate local heritage and artistry, to partnerships that uplift local livelihoods. Mehvesh Mumtaz Ahmed, Vice President of Impact and Sustainability at Rosewood Hotel Group said 'At Rosewood, we endeavor to create experiences that are exciting and meaningful, and elevated yet responsible. The GSTC certification is a welcome endorsement that we are affixing this enrichment lens on every part of our business, from hiring, supply chain, and partnerships to procurement, design and more.' 'We extend our congratulations to Rosewood Hotel Group on achieving GSTC certification at a group-wide level, and particularly, twelve certified properties of their portfolio are among the first in their respective countries to receive GSTC-Accredited Certification, the highest level of assurance of credible validation of hotel sustainability claims,' said Randy Durband, CEO of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. 'We hope Rosewood Hotel Group's achievement will serve as an inspiration for others to embrace and prioritize sustainability with rigorous and credible external verification.' The GSTC certification is a result of efforts steered by Rosewood Impacts, the group's roadmap for delivering positive impact on all its communities and our shared planet, which reflects the Group's ambition to become a purpose-led organization. This year, Rosewood Impacts will continue to empower Rosewood's community and ecosystems towards a more sustainable future by launching a group-wide carbon-neutrality journey, welcoming five additional properties as Impact Trailblazers, and rolling out more business-with-purpose restaurants at select properties. The term 'GSTC-Certified' is shorthand for 'certified by a Certification Body that is GSTC-Accredited'. A full list of GSTC-certified properties of the Group is as below: **Properties of the Group are among the first in their respective countries to receive GSTC certification. Carlyle & Co. Hong Kong Hotel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel Las Ventanas al Paraiso, A Rosewood Resort** New World Beijing Hotel New World Dalian Hotel New World Guangzhou New World Langfang Hotel New World Makati Hotel New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel New World Phu Quoc Resort New World Qingyuan Hotel New World Saigon Hotel New World Shenyang Hotel New World Wuhan Hotel Rosewood Abu Dhabi Rosewood Baha Mar** Rosewood Bangkok Rosewood Beijing Rosewood Bermuda** Rosewood Cape Kidnappers** Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco Rosewood Guangzhou Rosewood Hong Kong Rosewood Hotel Georgia** Rosewood Inn of Anasazi Rosewood Jeddah Rosewood Kauri Cliffs** Rosewood Kona Village Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth** Rosewood Little Dix Bay** Rosewood London Rosewood Luang Prabang** Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek Rosewood Matakauri** Rosewood Mayakoba** Rosewood Miramar Beach Rosewood Munich Rosewood Phnom Penh Rosewood Phuket Rosewood San Miguel de Allende** Rosewood Sand Hill Rosewood Sanya Rosewood Sao Paulo Rosewood Vienna Rosewood Villa Magna Rosewood Washington, D.C. The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel About Rosewood Hotel Group Rosewood Hotel Group, privately owned by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, is one of the world's leading global lifestyle and hospitality management groups. It encompasses four brands: ultra-luxury Rosewood Hotels & Resorts®; upper-upscale New World Hotels & Resorts; Asaya, an integrated well-being concept; and Carlyle & Co., a modern and progressive private members club. Its combined hotel portfolio consists of 54 properties in 24 countries with more than 30 new properties currently under development. About Rosewood Impacts: Rosewood Impacts is a groupwide roadmap that propels Rosewood Hotel Group towards creating a future where people and place enrich one another. Built on two key pillars—Rosewood Empowers and Rosewood Sustains—it defines our commitment to empowering people across the Group's entire ecosystem through equal access to opportunity and to a sustainability approach that puts circular hospitality at the core of the business. About GSTC Certification The Global Sustainable Tourism Council® (GSTC®) establishes and manages global sustainable standards, known as the GSTC Criteria. There are four sets: Destination Criteria for public policy-makers and destination managers, Industry Criteria for Hotels and Tour Operators, MICE Criteria for Venues, Event Organizers, and Events & Exhibitions, and Attraction Criteria for tourist attractions such as theme parks, museums, and national parks. These are the guiding principles and minimum requirements that any tourism business or destination should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world's natural and cultural resources while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for conservation and poverty alleviation. The GSTC Criteria form the foundation for GSTC's assurance role for Certification Bodies that certify hotels/accommodations, tour operators, and destinations as having sustainable policies and practices in place. GSTC does not directly certify any products or services, but provides accreditation to those that do.
