Tourism and travel associations, academia, societies and organisations involved in ecotourism, nature based and outdoor tourism.

Big Volcano Ecotourism Resource Centre

Industry Associations and Societies

CERRA World Heritage
Information Network

Hint: The majority of links below go to external sites. Use your right mouse button to open a new window to these sites, or use your back button to return here. NB Amazon titles will open a new window.

Hospitality Net "... the portal serves a worldwide audience of hospitality professionals, providing them with both daily updated content and interactive services. The site offers industry news, multimedia streamed features, discussion platforms, a recruitment center, a supplier marketplace and several focus areas in areas such as technology and sales & marketing." North American focus, with good international depth. Extensive industry resources, especially market reports, events and industry links.

The Tourism Offices Worldwide Directory "is your guide to official tourist information sources: government tourism offices, convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, and similar organizations that provide free, accurate, and unbiased travel information to the public. Businesses such as travel agents, tour operators, and hotels are not included." Simple, fast loading web site, with drop down pick lists to quickly locate a specific country's official tourism contact and/or web site.

International

Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel (BEST) A revamp of the site into more a corporate style, immediately imparts it's "down to business" focus, with a series of case studies, profiles and action papers now freely available for downloading, in PDF, powerpoint and video formats. Showcasing a variety of tourism and hospitality operations, ranging from Snow resorts to Pacific Island hideaways and multinational businesses, reports describe how they have incorporated environmentally sustainable management processes or ecotourism principles into their tourism or travel operations. Although some reports and studies have orginally come from the WTTC and other sources, this site now provides a worthwhile collection of studies and papers, which are sure to provide useful "food for thought" and inspiration to a wide range of tourism related businesses.
Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development ... "mission is to design, monitor, evaluate, and improve ecotourism and sustainable tourism practices and principles. Its policy-oriented research focuses on ecotourism as a tool for poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation, as well as socially and environmentally responsible tourism practices." Some PDFs which might be useful.
International Institute for Peace through Tourism The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment, the preservation of heritage, and through these initiatives, help to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world.
The Mountain Forum "promotes global action toward equitable and ecologically sustainable mountain development. This is achieved through information sharing, mutual support and advocacy. In order to achieve these objectives the Mountain Forum uses modern and traditional communications, supports networking and capacity building and encourages members to be proactive in advocating sustainable development of mountain areas."
UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) In English, Français, Español, Russian. A well designed site with lot's of useful info., which clearly reflects the political direction of this organisation. "The leading international organization in the field of travel and tourism. It serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and a practical source of tourism know-how. WTO's membership includes 139 countries and territories and more than 350 Affiliate Members representing local government, tourism associations and private sector companies, including airlines, hotel groups and tour operators." See also Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
World Tourism & Travel Council Operational guidelines including AGENDA 21 and Sustainable Development for the Travel & Tourism Industry, plus the usual economic, strategic, human resources and mainstream industry agenda items, in a cleanly designed and useful site. "The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the Global Business Leaders Forum for Travel & Tourism. Its Members are Chief Executives from all sectors of the travel industry. Its central goal is to work with governments to realise the full economic impact of the world’s largest generator of wealth and jobs - Travel & Tourism."

Australia/Asia/Pacific

Local (Northern NSW and SE QLD, Australia) Tourist Information Centres/Associations Locality and telephone contact details for Tourist and Visitor Information Centres based in Northern New South Wales and South East Queensland, Australia.
Northern Rivers Tourism Peak industry body for the Northern Rivers of NSW.
APEC Tourism Working Group "In recognition of its increasing importance of tourism in promoting economic growth and social development in the Asia-Pacific region, APEC's Tourism Working Group (TWG) was established in 1991. Sustainable tourism is a key economic driver for the Asia-Pacific region, creating jobs and promoting investment and development."
International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators In the world's most unforgiving yet beautiful and fragile environment, it's nice to know that the tour operators to this region appear to be setting themselves very high self regulating standards. "A member organization founded in 1991 to advocate, promote and practice safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic."
Meetings Industry Association of Australia
The Pacific Asia Travel Association Recently extensively updated and revamped, the site now presents codes of practice for operators and visitors, members directory, publications catalog, the usual PR and some material which maybe useful to those with limited time. A big improvement design and content wise on it's previous incarnation!
Papua New Guinea Tourism Industry Association "The tourism industry of Papua New Guinea is motivated by the fundamental principle that tourism is and will continue to be based on Papua New Guinea’s rich environment and cultural resources. The tourism industry recognizes that it is the sensitive management of these resources that will foster growth of the industry into the future”. Fast loading, colourful web site, with extensive operaotr and attractions information primarily targetted at intending visitors.
The South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO)" is the mandated inter-governmental body for the tourism sector in the South Pacific. SPTO members include the Pacific Island nations of the Cook Islands (Cooks), Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Solomons, Tahiti (French Polynesia), Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea (PNG). China is also a country member of SPTO. " The SPTO policy, planning and marketing section "provides extensive tourism industry information for the South Pacific Region. SPTO Members benefit from access to extra information and resources, plus substantial discounts on many of the Marketing Activities that SPTO coordinates."
Tourism Australia "is the Federal Government statutory authority responsible for international and domestic tourism marketing as well as the delivery of research and forecasts for the sector."
Tourism Talk - Australia A clean design, lot's of Aussie tourism news, calendar and discussion forum, plus weekly state based e-zine. A valuable independant service to the Australian industry. "We are not associated with or affiliated to any industry body or government department. Our aim is to provide a much-needed and comprehensive service to operators and practitioners within Australia's tourism industry."
"The Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) is the largest representative body of tourism operators in New Zealand. It is a membership-based and private sector trade organisation with more than 2000 members – from small operators through to large companies – who collectively make up 85% of the country’s tourism turnover."
Wildlife Tourism Australia"Wildlife Tourism Australia Inc. is the only organisation in Australia that focuses solely on wildlife tourism, bringing together people involved in presenting wildlife to tourists in both captive and wild environments."
World Hospitality and Tourism Trends Web Portal "Connecting Hospitality and Tourism Professionals Worldwide" although the focus seems to be Asia at the moment. Registration is required to take advantage of the full range of industry info., but the freebies including links to industry related news stories, Amazon books and discussion communities. The site is now brimming with activity ... go visit!

Africa/Europe

Mt. Cameroon Biodiversity Conservation Centre"Provide facilities, information & services to support biodiversity conservation and improve livelihoods in the Mount Cameroon region and beyond". Great looking site, with lot's of info for visitors to the region, and research papers, reports, pamphlets and services for locals.
Tourism Concern Fair trade and travellers codes, plus opportunity to purchase books, videos and other educational resources. "Set up in 1989 to bring together people concerned about tourism’s impact on communities and the environment, both in the UK and worldwide."
THE TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENT FORUM "Sustaining Scotland's Natural Advantage. The Forum is a partnership of public and private organisations which was set up to promote sustainable tourism in Scotland" Pleasing web site design with excellent coverage including News and Events, Green Tourism Business, Wildlife Tourism, Information for Visitors, Success Stories, Projects, Publications and links to other online resources.

The Americas

The Fox's Home Page For Canadian and north west North American resources. Links to interesting information including a Code of Ethics for Tourists (developed by the Tourism Industry of Canada amongst others), a Charter for Sustainable Tourism, plus other sustainable tourism information.
The Green Tourism Association "is a unique non-profit organization that is committed to establishing an urban green tourism industry in Toronto. We work collaboratively with a network of businesses, community and environmental groups, government agencies, heritage and cultural organizations and individuals that share our common interest." Lovely looking site, with lot's of ideas and suggestions about "green" tourism and how to enjoy it in the urban jungle, with particular reference to Toronto, Canada.
Guiding Alaska Tourism "The Guiding Alaska Tourism (GAT) initiative promotes sustainable tourism that is environmentally, economically, and socially sound. GAT achieves this by providing tools, technical assistance and information to assist Alaskans in guiding tourism growth." Useful information and news for operators and communities in this region, plus links to local and international sites.
OneCaribbean "is the virtual home of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and its members. ... is comprised of government and private sector operatives in the tourism industry across the Caribbean. CTO collects and disseminates research and data on the development of the regional industry and the distribution of this data is one of the main objectives of this site."
Tourism Research Exchange "An Annotated Directory of Canadian Tourism Research Professionals." Looks like a useful resource for finding an appropriately qualified and/or experienced researcher for your project! A deceptively simple search feature quickly returns appropriate listings.