Manic Monday | The only constant is change....
As we watch temperatures dropping rapidly from our unseasonably warm summer there is a sense that more than just a change in the weather is afoot. A feeling, real or imagined, that larger and more dramatic shifts are in the offing and things as we have known them are beginning to alter for the long term. Many of us have heard the phrase "the only constant is change" but never before have I felt such an unsettled feeling that what we are experiencing is unprecedented in magnitude, complexity and at an unusually fast pace. It has caused me to lose more than my fair share of sleep in the past few weeks as I have mused about where this is leading in the coming decade.
Certainly it would be naive to think that what we have been witnessing in the weather throughout the world is not only a dramatic departure from anything reasonable and normal but that how we begin to prepare for, react to and adapt is going to be equally important and require collective thought, imagination, creativity and difficult choices.
As many of you know TOTA has embarked program whereby we are being audited for a Tourism Sustainability Accreditation with Biosphere and the Responsible Tourism Institute. This program, which is aligned with the UNWTO, is a first step in protecting our region for the long term to ensure the health of our tourism products and experiences for our visitors and our residence. As we watch the effects of over tourism in locations around the world we have the unique opportunity to work together now to put in place a structure that will prevent the devastating overuse and overcrowding that is being experienced in so many popular tourism destinations.
In the coming weeks we hope you will be inspired to become engaged in meetings, conversations and planning sessions that TOTA will be hosting as we work with industry to create a road map to ensure Sustainable Tourism practices in our region.
We are also very pleased to have Patricio Azcarate Diaz de Losada, Director of the Responsible Tourism Institute joining us as a speaker at this years AGM and Summit taking place November 1st and 2nd in Kamloops. We hope many of you will take the time to join us for those two days and to make time to meet Patricio and have dialogue on the importance of this initiative.
It may be true that the only constant is change, but it is also true that we have the power to effect change...positive change and we have that opportunity now.
Glenn Mandziuk, TOTA President & CEO
