Green destinations

As more and more people wish to go out into the countryside, we become mindful of cities and towns which can now become “green destinations,” whether certified by third parties or naturally-green and simply appealing to tourists. Studies show that tourists prefer eco-friendly spaces and lodging rather than the usual haunts.

Back in 2012 – yes, that was ten years ago – a dreamy group called SSTDI – Society for Sustainable Tourism and Development Inc. – invited yours truly to Coron, Palawan to be a speaker on Sustainable Living. I introduced eco-friendly products to use in everyday life and locavorism in planning menus of tourist destinations. Ten years later, we see results. We now have more organic vegetable farms in Coron as well as sustainable farm schools and training sites. It does take some time, but we hope it will now speed up to take only a few months if not a year to convert a traditional tourist place into a green model across the country.

Meanwhile, SSTDI carried on to be involved in a certification program called “Green Destinations” and “Good Travel” program. I finally got more involved as I was invited to be a board director of said NGO and we traveled to other places like Mati, Davao Oriental; Davao City and Coron, Palawan again to check on LGUs who wanted to become involved in “greening” their towns or cities.

It does take a village to convert a nameless destination into a magnet for responsible tourists or those who practice green initiatives without needing to be six-star or five-star by DOT standards. Even four- or three-star hotels can be green. But it takes political will to start such initiatives, whether at the LGU level or a private firm’s strategic plans. Going green is a management growth strategy that can be sustainable.

With regards my involvement with Slow Food International, we also have an initiative called Slow Travel. In this program, Slow Food assigns officials who can audit the ecosystem of a particular place (e.g. Negros Island) if it complies with the Slow Food principles of good, clean and fair food while appreciating food cultures and traditions that must be preserved before they disappear.

In Slow Travel, the town or city becomes a gastronomic destination for tourists while they appreciate the traditional ways of food preparation, with emphasis on saving heirloom varieties or species of flora and fauna. Dreamy? It is possible and has become a major initiative of Slow Food (www.slowfood.com). Yes, even travel can be slow and so rewarding if done in a sustainable fashion.

For the tourism industry to be sustainable and profitable as well, we need to be mindful of what the market wants – they want to be involved in maintaining sustainability of a place as a destination. We do not want another Boracay closure which displaced many businesses. I hope we take lessons from that and prevent such man-made disasters from happening in other tourist places. And all it takes is to align our business plans with programs that will ensure our sustainability as a tourist business. Whether it is through Slow Travel or Green Destinations, a checklist may help you preserve your investment as an enterprise and be a popular haunt that is an advocate of responsible tourism.

With our borders opening up despite COVID, tourism will become a necessary business to keep or sustain. But the management of such places must first be convinced not to cut corners but to plan for the future. Plan for the long haul, preserving your assets whilst becoming a DOT-compliant and eco-friendly establishment.

Our new leadership at the DOT may also be a good place to start. Their fresh eyes can start fine-tuning our standards to comply with global “green” standards and the UNSDGs. And Slow Food principles as well. I remember commenting on “rice choices” and a local DOT official replied: “Not everyone likes brown rice, so we serve white for the choice of the market.” This mindset is the reason why we never change. Hey, we just wanted to suggest food choices! But if our minds are closed and all we want is to maintain status quo, then that is what we will be – status quo. No change, no improvement, no progress.

If we must differentiate our country as a tourist destination then we must do something different in the sustainability department. For all these businesses to remain profitable but green, our leadership can start with getting familiar with principles for Green Tourism, Gastronomy Tourism and the like. And as a country we can strategize to get back into the top spot as a destination of choice – all without harming the environment or being another Boracay disaster which led to business losses.

Something’s got to change – new leadership, new rules and new mindsets are in order. And we hope that green, organic and sustainable can all be part of the new tourism agenda.

What is green anyway? It’s making sure we do not harm the environment as we develop our tourist sites. It’s ensuring there is correct waste disposal, proper use of sustainable water sources and use of renewable energy whenever and wherever we can. It’s converting all low-tech appliances to inverter models, avoiding use of single-use plastic or disposable plastic water bottles, buying local ingredients as much as we can and even recycling water for other uses, for example.

Even DOT standards must be reviewed. For example, do you know that five-star hotels are required to have two bottles of water in every room? By replacing these disposable water bottles with glass bottles, how many plastic bottles will you stop using? Do the math. It’s mind boggling how a simple act of replacing plastic bottles across thousands of hotel rooms will make a difference. That’s just one tiny act with a lot of sustainable rewards.

I dream we become a green destination, sooner than later.