Join us on Saturday, February 6, 2021 to continue the conversation on Transformational Impacts of Information Technology. We will hear from our industry partners, announce the Global Competition’s shortlist, and follow up on the next steps regarding recommendations for the larger OurWorldHeritage Initiative.

 

Session 2: 06/02/2021 4:00 pm

 

Session Schedule:

• Introduction
• Policy Presentation and Conversation: emerging trends, themes, and highlights from the Globinar, along with a discussion of session outputs.
• Industry Showcase: hear from our industry partners about the latest technology in World Heritage monitoring and storytelling.
• Shortlist announced for the Global Competition
• Closing

We continue to be excited by the emerging conversation! Register below for your Zoom Meeting link!

Monday, February 1st, 2021, on ZOOM
Language: English

Download the full announcement text here.

DEBATE ON TOURISM AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Tourism is often perceived as a threat to conservation of World Heritage. In fact, tourism is a platform and a vehicle for presenting heritage to the public, conserving it and guaranteeing its economic and social viability. Hence, tourism is in most cases a balancing mechanism that keeps and protects the heritage itself.

The main premise of the TOURISM theme within the OurWorldHeritage initiative is that defining the key principles of Heritage-Tourism reciprocal relations is imperative. Both tourism and heritage sites are exposed nowadays to critical exogenic and endogenic changes. Among these challenges are the ramifications of COVID-19, and the consequent global economic and social crises. Hence, we argue that it is imperative to conceptually and practically pave a way for a major review of these interrelationships. In so doing, we hope to deconstruct old concepts and reconstruct a new collaborative paradigm based on present challenges and on constructive and complementing synergies, which will assure the continuity and resilience and sustainability of heritage and tourism alike.

 

The month of February revolves around the opportunities and challenges of Tourism in World Heritage Sites!

By completing the form below, you will be kept informed about the 19 events of your choice, and we will send you a link 24 hours before the start of the event. Please note that we aim to making events accessible in as many languages as possible.

About 2021 Debate:
In 2021, 12 monthly Thematic Discussions are organized to address the critical issues of World Heritage conservation and management. Through open, online events, 2021 Debate works towards building the foundations of a ‘policy platform’ to be presented in 2022, in light of the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.

Follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on OurWorldHeritage!

 

INTRODUCTIONS:
Maria GRAVARI-BARBAS & Minja YANG
Rationale and methodology of the collection of recommendations.

SESSIONS:
#1.1. Recommendations for a better quantitative and qualitative
knowledge of tourism

Paradoxically enough, even in “over-touristified” heritage sites, there remains many unknown
aspects of tourism. The exact numbers of tourists, the spatial patterns of their visitation, their practices
and behaviour, are often under-studied and under-evaluated. Moreover, the multi-faceted relations
between the local communities and tourism are often poorly studied and understood, with the
plurality of the different (and often opposing) local voices being amalgamated. This tends to mislead
decision-making contributing to local conflicts and tensions. This session will present
recommendations for better knowledge and tourism monitoring.

Presenters:
– Carmelo IGNACCOLO, MIT: Better knowledge and understanding of spatial patterns of tourism visitation in WH
sites
– Yoel MANSFELD, University of Haifa: More accurate knowledge of the diversity of local communities positions
vis a vis tourism
– Céline TASTET, EIREST, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne: Visibilization of women’s contribution to World heritage sites
– Q&A session

#1.2. Recommendations for indicators for tourism performances

Historically, tourism performance is measured mainly with quantitative criteria. In an “over-touristified”
context (pre-Covid) as well as in-Covid context, quantitative criteria are not enough. More
qualitative criteria are required. This implies a paradigm shift from a performance in terms of numbers
of visitors to more qualitative performance criteria.
Presenters:
– Norberto SANTOS, Coimbra University: Innovative tourism management and innovative technologies allowing
measurement of tourism performances on the basis of new indicators
– Zachary JONES, Politecnico di Milano: Integration of climate impacts on measurement of tourism performances
Q&A session

#1.3. Policy recommendations to transform tourism to a factor
contributing to the SDGs

Tourism is often seen as a predatory activity, destabilising local ecosystems and communities as well
as a global perturbator. Tourism however is a means to promote local and global justice, a tool to
fight poverty and to build peace. Tourism can actively and positively contribute to all SDGs.
This session will present recommendations that will focus on the role of tourism on intercultural
understanding, gender equity and peace.

Expert heritage practitioners explain how visitor centres may need to adapt to transformational changes to the way we live in future

About this Event

If the way we all live, work, learn and relax is changing as a result of the social and economic impacts of viral pandemics and climate change, how are visitor centres planning to adapt? Reflecting on current circumstances, what changes can we expect and how to plan for them?

This webinar will provide a platform for some expert presentations and a forum for discussion. It will be chaired by Jane Gibson, from the Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site, where the UK’s oldest world heritage site visitor centre can be found.

Speakers to include:

Guest international speaker Patricia Alberth, Head of the World Heritage Office of the City of Bamberg and Chair of the International Association of World Heritage Professionals who will present: “Transformation in the midst of challenges – World Heritage planning in times of uncertainty“.

Justin Scully, General Manager for the National Trust at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal World Heritage Site, who will speak on “Visitor centres: gateway to the heritage attraction or barriers to discovery?”

More speakers and further details to follow.

Recovery And Resilience: How to prepare for a sustainable and successful re-start of Chinese outbound tourism for island destinations

About this Event

How to prepare for a sustainable and successful re-start of Chinese outbound tourism for island destinations – free webinar: https://islandinnovation.co/chinese-tourism/

Why you should participate in this webinar:

Chinese outbound tourism will start again in 2021, recovering faster than other source markets and becoming ever more dominant as an international tourism market in the coming decade. However, based on the mixed experiences with Chinese mass-market tourism in the past in addition to the development of new needs and expectations of Chinese travellers in 2020, a more sustainable and satisfaction-based approach to the Chinese market is needed. This is true especially for destinations with limited carrying capacities and fragile ecosystems like most islands.

The webinar will offer new approaches and strategies for a successful long-term engagement with Chinese visitors. The webinar is lead by Island Innovation in coordination with Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Arlt, the CEO of COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. Speakers from China and several tourism markets will share their insights and answer live questions from the audience.

Register for free at https://islandinnovation.co/chinese-tourism/

This session will be led by Jomaree Pinkard, Co-Founder and CEO of a minority-owned craft cocktail company, Hella Cocktail Co.

About this Event

From consumer insights to brand identity, Jomaree Pinkard will discuss launching new food & beverage products with a slice of marketing. This session will also cover best practices for leveraging communities to lead commerce.

About the speaker:

Jomaree Pinkard, a native New Yorker, is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and earned his MBA from The Wharton School of Business. His career journey has taken him from helping to develop and implement The Salvation Army’s September 11 World Trade Center Recovery Program to consulting for the NFL. In 2011, he became the Co-Founder and CEO of a minority-owned craft cocktail company, Hella Cocktail Co. In almost a decade, Jomaree has helped transform the company into a nationwide tale of success, with products now sold all over the country in retailers including Whole Foods, Fairway, Stop&Shop and Walmart, as well as bars, restaurants, hotels and airlines.

 

All registered attendees will receive Zoom details 30 minutes prior to the event.

The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute provides reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Requests for accommodations for events and services should be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the accommodation need. Please email carol.ourivio@nyu.edu for assistance.

UNWTO & Google Insight Talk: The impact of COVID-19 on tourism: what was and what will be?

Date: Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Language: English

– Speakers –

· Sandra Carvão, Chief of Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

· Iva Kutle Skrlec, Global Destination Marketing Partner, Google

· Songül Cengiz, Global Tourism Analytical Lead, Google

We keep working with Google to support the #tourism sector answering these question with relevant insights:

👉Trends in 2020 – What has changed?
👉What are consumers looking for online?
👉Market intelligence tools: UNWTO Tourism Recovery Tracker and the Google Destinations Insights

 

 

The importance of promoting and rewarding loyalty during a downturn cannot be emphasized enough. Once the recovery gains steam, guests that already love your property will be far more receptive and usually among the first to return.

Join us for a webinar discussion led by experts from Cendyn, Roomzzz Aparthotels and Avvio where you’ll learn: 

• How to engage your most loyal guests
• The importance of a personalized guest experience
• Loyalty strategy, pricing strategy and brand differentiation
• The power behind integrating your technology solutions
• How to drive revenue and direct bookings through loyalty

 

 

Join Nicki Graham, Senior Director of Global Marketing at Cendyn, Robert Alley, COO of Roomzzz Aparthotels and Michael De Jongh, CCO at Avvio, as they discuss how to engage your most loyal guests and the successful integration between Cendyn and Avvio, which now powers the Roomzzz loyalty programme.

When you put the guest at the heart of what you do and focus on ways to truly make loyalty status more rewarding, you can earn their business now and far into the future. Register now to learn more about how Roomzzz Aparthotels is leveraging technology to prepare for a post-COVID world.

Why you should participate in this webinar 

The trend of remote workers and digital nomads was on rise over the last 5 years, but has accelerated dramatically due to the pandemic. This virtual session features presentations from speakers representing destinations across the world that have the potential to adapt their economies through the substantial global growth in remote work, including ways in which these destinations are actively engaged in attracting remote workers.

This discussion will cover not only the opportunity for tapping into this new market but also how to create lasting economic opportunities beyond tourism for local people. Panelists include destination marketers, community organisers and digital nomads to give a variety of perspectives on this sometimes misunderstood sector.

We highly recommend signing up for this webinar if you are either: from a destination that is looking for advice on how to cater for this new and growing market and want to find out how remote workers can benefit your destination, or if you want to learn more about becoming a remote worker yourself and the steps you should take to make this change. We look forward to seeing you there and hearing your questions!

January 21, 2021: Providing tourism stakeholders an overview on the EU Ecolabel – the official European Union label of environmental excellence contributing to climate neutrality and to the circular e(…)

4 January 2021

       

Webinar date: January 21, 2021

Registration: Click here

Introduction and Webinar Agenda

The aim of the webinar is to provide tourism stakeholders an overview on the EU Ecolabel – the official European Union label of environmental excellence contributing to climate neutrality and to the circular economy. Moreover, the EU Ecolabel criteria for tourism accommodation and related application process will be presented in detail to potential applicants.

Agenda

10:00 – 10:20 – The EU Ecolabel as a recovery tool for tourist accommodations – Silvia Ferratini, European Commission, DG ENV

10:20 – 11:00 – Presentation of success stories – EU Ecolabel license holders

11:00 – 11:50 – The EU Ecolabel criteria for tourist accommodations, Candela Vidal Abarca Garrido, European Commission, JRC

11:50 – 12:10  – How to apply for the EU Ecolabel? Candela Vidal Abarca Garrido, European Commission, JRC

12:10 – 12:30  – Questions and answers

Background on the EU Ecolabel

Awarded to sustainable goods and services encouraging eco-innovation, the EU Ecolabel contributes to the
EU goal of climate neutrality by 2050 and to the circular economy. Tourists are increasingly looking for accommodations that care for the environment.
The EU Ecolabel is a tool for tourist accommodation and campsite services to engage in a sustainable recovery, together with their staff and their customers. With the EU Ecolabel, it is possible to offer an eco-friendly and high quality alternative to conventional hotels and campsites.

The time has come to promote tourism differently! Because quality and environment matter.
Stringent criteria, focusing on the main environmental impacts of the services, ensure that EU Ecolabel tourist
accommodations are among the best on the market in terms of environmental performance.

Specifcally, the EU Ecolabel guarantees:

• An optimised environmental management of the tourist accommodation
• Reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions through energy savings, use of efficient devices and of renewable energy sources
• Reduced water consumption
• Reduced use of chemicals as well as of pesticides
• Reduced waste generation and optimised waste management
• Reduced emissions from transport
• Limitation of food waste

How to receive the ecolobal

To receive the EU Ecolabel, tourist accommodations have to comply with 22 mandatory criteria, and receive at least 20 points from compliance with additional optional criteria. Moreover, as a pre-requisite, the services shall meet all respective legal requirements of the country(ies) in which the tourist accommodation is located, including the obligation for staff to be legally employed and insured. For the full list of requirements, please refer to the official EU Ecolabel criteria for Tourist Accommodation.

Hotel Digital Academy Webinar – Website Traffic & Data Harvest  Understand Your Audience

The content will be delivered by Daragh Murphy our Digital Strategy Manager, and a guest speaker Jamie McBride, Head of Marketing for For-Sight. Hosted by Avvio Director of Digital Ian Sloan.

In this webinar, you will learn how to drive traffic to your site, harvest the data, and engage with the audience in future marketing campaigns.

Join us on January 28th at 12:00 GMT.

REGISTER NOW

 

EVENT PARTICIPANTS

Daragh

DIGITAL STRATEGY MANAGER

Join us for an online panel discussion with Mitel and Vtech

Tuesday January 26, 2021 2:00-3:00 pm EDT

Registration Required

 

There is no question that the hospitality industry still faces a long road to recovery post-2020. The guest experience has fundamentally changed. Hotels have no choice but to reimagine their business strategies.

Register now for Hospitality Trends That Matter in a Post-Pandemic World, an interactive webinar hosted by Allstream. Our hospitality industry experts at Mitel and VTech will join us to discuss the changing future of this industry, and the trends that must be considered to minimize the financial impacts and keep guest and employee experience top of mind.

 

You will learn:

• Pre-COVID trends that matter even more in 2021
• How to “do more with less”
• What technology enablers act as enhancements to secure cost savings, efficiency and safety for your guests and employees
• What to consider when preparing for the next disruption

We hope you can join us for this informative session!

 

Analysis and actionable insights for hotels to navigate the ‘new normal’ in the new year.

🗓️ Thursday, 21 January 2021 🕘

Fornova’s CEO Dori Stein will moderate a panel discussion with 3 of the most experienced executives in the industry:

• Marcos Cadena, VP Digital Marketing, Distribution and CRM at Minor International 
• Tejinder Sidhu, SVP Operations & Business Development at Compass Hospitality
• Andrew Smith, Senior Regional Director for Partner Development at Agoda
  
  

  

Overview:

As the world gets vaccinated and travel becomes safe again, 2021 will be a year of recovery and regrowth for the accommodation industry.

In our next webinar, we’ll explore three long-developing trends that gained added urgency during the pandemic and are now being leveraged to fast-track recovery:

• How digital guest service is enabling hotels to be more proactive, responsive and contact-free at all stages of the guest journey.
• How data science is driving recovery, helping hotels analyze guest feedback and adapt to the changing needs and expectations of travelers.
• How hotels are increasingly turning to automation to increase efficiency and productivity while delivering a better guest experience.

Speakers:

• Jon Davis, CTO, Village Hotels
• Andrea Pinna, Senior Director Brand Quality Management, Radisson Hotel Group
• Neil James, COO, ReviewPro
• Daniel Craig, Founder, Reknown

Mark your calendar:

One-hour webinar on Tuesday 26th January 2021

• 11:00am EST
• 4:00pm GMT
• 5:00pm CET

How are PMS vendors approaching integrations? And why should hotels care? Sign up for this webinar to learn what protel’s Ingo Dignas has to say:

 

An expert panel discussion with the 5 Leading Hotel PMS Companies, moderated by ROOMDEX’s own Paul Peddrick as part of our Webinar Series. Join: Laura Calin, VP Strategy and Solutions and Oracle Hospitality, Nicole Dehler, VP Product at StayNTouch, Ingo Dignas, Founder and CEO at Protel, Richard Valtr, Founder at Mews, Uli Pillau, Founder at Apaleo PMS, and Jos Schaap CEO and Co-Founder at ROOMDEX for a lively discussion on the evolution of 3rd party integration strategies that are making it easier for hotels to compete in the marketplace.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

Now – more than ever before – hotels are looking for ways to do more with less. Choosing the right technology can be the difference between thriving and barely surviving.

Join ALICE and Zaplox in this exciting webinar, to get insight into how other hotels are using contact-free technology to meet their guests’ safety expectations while reducing operational costs.

Learn about solutions that you can implement now and how to:

• Reduce physical touch points with contactless check-in and mobile keys
• Connect directly with guests through their phone
• Be socially distant and maintain easy access to guest services
• Create new revenue opportunities with mobile promotions
• Streamline operations and reduce the front desk traffic

 

The ALICE & Zaplox partnership has already generated several successful customer deployments, leveraging Zaplox’s Mobile Guest App with contact-free check-in and mobile keys paired with ALICE Guest Messaging and Guest Services — available directly in the same app.

A webinar for tourism, hospitality & marketeers. Get an insight into the post-Covid visitor economy & adapting your messaging.

About this Event

New year, new customers. From predictions from a leading tourism expert to telling the right stories to the right people and how to get the best use from data, we’ll guide you through pivoting your marketing and communication messaging for a new visitor landscape. 2020 was a challenge for everyone. The pandemic changed the rules as we know them. But when businesses started opening their doors again they were welcoming new customers, from different regions, at different times of the year. In this webinar we’ll begin to understand who those customers are and how you can create the right messaging and use the right images to attract them. We have a lineup of tourism and marketing experts to help guide you to a year full of sunshine.

Robin Barker, Services for Tourism – For the first time in 2021 Robin will dust down his crystal ball and give us his predictions for what UK tourism may look like.

Pete Stevens, Clockwork Marketing: Identifying your customers. What data can tell you about your customers and how you can target them to boost your bookings.

Gareth Allen, Sound View Media– Communicating with honesty, integrity and diversity. Do the stories you tell about your business still hold true and relate to your customers? How do these stories appeal to new markets and how do we adapt to the changed and changing landscape.

Louise Midgley, Louise Midgley Comms: When social media is full of noise can the traditional Press and PR route come to your rescue to make you stand out from the rest? The insiders guide to getting your story told.

A zoom link will be sent to you after registration and before the event.

2020 changed tourism marketing forever.

In this live presentation, we’ll share research, experience, and industry trends that all point to one thing: The most successful destination marketing organizations in 2021 will build their digital marketing from the inside out.

We’ll show you what that means using real examples, and lay out the path to embracing digital from the inside out for your own organization.

 

What you’ll get:
– Never before shared research and predictions about the North American tourism market in 2021
– Clear, specific recommendations for building a digital from the inside out marketing plan
– Downloadable templates and tools that you can use to build or adapt your 2021 plans today

In the current COVID-19 environment, the message you need to communicate to your customers can shift quickly. It is important to be nimble and adapt to changing circumstances. How do you shift your social media message to promote your business during a temporary closure or when travel restrictions are in place? How do you keep your audience engaged if you’re closed during the winter? If you are open for business, how do you build loyalty and sales at this time of year? How do you make the most of paid social media if you want to spend advertising dollars?

Join Tourism Nova Scotia and Digital Nova Scotia for a webinar with special guest presenter, Jonathan Duke, Vice President, Marketing and Innovation, m5 Marketing Communications.

TEDxSUMAS is an event part of the Ted Countdown, an initiative to champion solutions to the climate crisis. WE CAN CHANGE CLIMATE CHANGE

About this Event

TEDxSUMAS is an independently organised virtual TED event happening on the 23rd of January 2021 from 13:00 CET to 19:00 CET.

TEDxSUMAS is being curated by SUMAS students and it is part of the TED Countdown global initiative, aimed at championing and accelerating solutions to the climate crisis, turning ideas into action. It is a movement open to everyone – and everyone has a vital role to play.

Our goal is to bring together bright minds to give talks that are climate-focused, on a wide range of subjects, to foster learning, inspiration, and provoke conversations that matter.

WE CAN CHANGE CLIMATE CHANGE!

The event will be accessible online for free.

Some of the names already confirmed as speakers are:

Alessandro Armillotta – CEO and Co-founder “AWorld”

Amanda Ho – Co-Founder at Regenerative Travel

Ana Maria Montero – International TV, radio and print journalist with 20 years of experience within the CNN family

Andre Harms -Founder, director and lead engineer of Ecolution Consulting, Professor

Chris Jones – Expert in sustainable urbanism, landscape architect founder of Feeding Cities

Diana Körner – Sustainable Tourism Consultant at Itandc

Javier Goyeneche – Founder and President of ECOALF

Juliet Kinsman – Sustainable luxury travel expert BOUTECO, sustainability editor, Condé Nast Traveller, founding editor Mr & Mrs Smith

Laurent Maeder – Co-leading the Circular Economy transition in Switzerland

Matteo Wrad – Design, Communication & Sustainability, Co-founder Wrad Living, Fashion Revolution Italia, School of WRÅD

Merijn Everaarts – Founder and CEO of Dopper

Monica Chao – President WAS , Director of Sustainability and Communication at Intu

Oscar Di Montigny – Spherical Economy concept, Author, Chief Innovation, Sustainability & Value Strategy Officer at Banca Mediolanum, Founder and President at BYE (BeYourEssence)

Svetlana Baurens – Founder and Managing Director of Impact Investing School, Co-Founder and President of Galielo International Impact Centre and Board Member of SIIA ( Swiss Impact Investment Association)

Tom Bosschaert – Founder and Director of Except

Willy LeGrand – Professor of Hospitality Management, Author, Senior Partner at Audit Diagnostic Solutions Tourism (ADST),Verifier for the Pledge on Food Waste

The focus will be on the following Areas:

•Hospitality • Fashion • Cities, Communities and Tech • Agrifood • Lifestyle, Society, Nature

In each session there will be:

•Five speakers

•One artist

At the end of each session you will be entertained by artists like Jemilah Music and Laura Maria Schobert who will spread some positive psychology during a meditation break!

The event will be completely in English.

Once registered, you will receive a link to access the event online few days before TEDxSUMAS!

A virtual workshop hosted by LGV and the Culinary Tourism Alliance on growing food tourism in the Genesee Valley through storytelling.

About this Event

Storytelling is a vital part of growing food tourism across the Genesee Valley Region and within your business. When travelers visit a new place, they are looking for authentic experiences, especially when it comes to food and drinks. What are the local dishes? Ingredients? History of the food? Being able to communicate the story behind the meals and beverages you serve will improve the visitor experience and increase customer awareness of your business’ offerings.

Join Letchworth Gateway Villages and the Culinary Tourism Alliance for an interactive, online storytelling workshop on Tuesday, January 26th. Learn to leverage work happening in your region, make smart use of the tools available to you, and build your audience while staying true to your brand identity.

Culinary Tourism Alliance Facilitators

• Agatha Podgorski, Director, Communications
• James Arteaga, Research and Engagement Coordinator

Featured Guest Speaker

• Danielle French, founder of South Pond Farms, and the host of the former Netflix series, Taste of the Country.

Deadline to register: Monday, January 25th.