Anvesh and I recently attended the Outlook Responsible Tourism Summit and Awards 2019 in Delhi. As working parents, we tag-teamed: one of us chased our toddler while the other attended workshops. My impressions are partial, as I was only able to dive in intermittently. The theme of the day was “Travel. Tech. Transform,” which emerged in unexpected ways. As this was my first experience of such an event, I want to share three of my takeaways:
1) “Building a responsible travel company is a marathon, not a sprint,”
...said The Blue Yonder founder, Gopinath Parayil. This echoed throughout the day as I listened to folks who have been building relationships or restoring ecosystems for years and years. In this hyper-connected, ridiculously fast-paced world (accelerated by technology, of course), the rate of our work came into clear view, and suddenly I really valued it.
2) The Shangri-La, a luxury hotel, was a paradoxical place to have such a gathering.
Glittering chandeliers, concierges with plastic smiles, stern-looking business folk – it was all a little curious, especially because we were attending a summit celebrating sustainable travel. Did this venue share the same values as the folks at the summit?For what it’s worth, Shangri-La had a functioning wastewater treatment system, which is part of the reason it was selected. This small detail is tucked away on their website, but got mention in the speeches of the day.
To Outlook Responsible Tourism’s credit, there were efforts in the right direction. Thank goodness water was served in glasses instead of plastic bottles. Lunch was served on proper plates rather than disposables. The “Chekutty lanyards” had an inspiring story behind them, reminiscent of Upasana’s Tsunamika project. But I still spoke to more than one participant over lunch who would rather have been sitting on the floor and eating with his or her hands.
3) It’s all about the people.
Workshops and lectures are okay for learning, and social media certainly plays a role in connecting us, but the real learning and connections - the real magic - happens over smiles, jokes, and conversations. What I yearned for in this summit was structured opportunities (beyond chai breaks) that would have allowed us to meet each other. Why didn’t we bring all of the nominated adventure operators into one room? We could have introduced ourselves, highlighted our strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. Learning about and honouring each other’s work makes us stronger.
Overall, we are grateful to the organizers for bringing us together and hope to attend future award events.
Cover pic: Chendamelam- Sreekumar Kalamandalam & Troupe performing at IRTA 2019. Credit: Outlook Responsible Tourism.