NEW YORK -- Business Enterprises For Sustainable Travel (BEST), a joint initiative of The Conference Board and the World Travel & Tourism Council, will host a Think Tank focused on "Promoting Best Practices in Sustainable Travel and Tourism" to be held April 9 through 13 in Honolulu, Hawaii, in conjunction with the School of Travel Industry Management (TIM), University of Hawaii. Mayor Jeremy Harris of Honolulu is scheduled to speak at the event on Wednesday, April 10 and Paul Casey, CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, will speak on Friday, April 11.

Travel industry and education leaders as well as scholars and government officials are expected to convene to discuss what has been accomplished in sustainable travel and tourism and to examine the challenges that lie ahead. The event will also involve the development of a modular, model academic program on sustainable tourism that will be distributed to hospitality and tourism education programs throughout the world.

Slated Speakers

In addition to Mayor Harris and Paul Casey, other guest speakers include:

Mike White, General Manager of the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel; David Vidal, Director of Research Global Corporate Citizenship, The Conference Board; Peter Apo of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association; Andrew Fairley, Director of Turtle Island Resort, Fiji; Pauline Sheldon, Interim Dean, School of Tourism Industry Management, University of Hawaii; Professor Terry DeLacy, Director, Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism, Australia; Ginger Smith, Accelerated Master of Tourism Industry Management, George Washington University; Karen Smith, Professor of Sustainable Tourism, City University of New York; and Fred Collison, Professor of Transportation, University of Hawaii.

The event will officially commence with the Second Annual Ambassador L.W. "Bill" Lane Jr. Lecture on Sustainable Tourism. Pamela Wight, CEO Pam Wight & Associates, Canada, will deliver the keynote address.

Specific topics of discussion will include:

  • Barriers to sustainability and strategies to overcome them;
  • Lessons in sustainability from Hawaii and the Pacific Rim; and
  • Making the case for sustainability in today's uncertain economic climate.

Michael Seltzer, the Director of BEST, noted, "This is the perfect time to evaluate what our industry has accomplished in enhancing the world's destinations as we prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg this summer."

Seltzer added, "It is also fitting that we are holding this event in Hawaii, the most tourist-dependent state in the U.S., which has the potential to serve as a model of sustainable travel through practices that preserve its beautiful natural resources and celebrate local cultures. Much can be learned from enterprises in the Pacific such as the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel, which has implemented an extensive staff-training program aimed at preserving native Hawaiian culture. In addition to offering guests a culturally enriching experience, the hotel's benefits include higher morale among staff, which contributes to better retention, and an increase in customer loyalty, positively affecting profitability."

Co-sponsors of the event include the World Travel & Tourism Council; Pacific Asia Travel Association; United Nations Environment Programme; Green Globe Asia Pacific; Department of Economics, Business, and Tourism of the State of Hawaii; Hawaii Tourism Authority; and the Cooperative Research Center for Sustainable Tourism of Australia. The Think Tank in Honolulu is the second in a series of three BEST summits on sustainable travel and tourism. The first BEST Think Tank was held in February 2001 in South Africa and a third is planned for Costa Rica.

Think Tank Registration

The Think Tank will be held on the UH campus at the East-West Center's Hawaii Imin International Conference Center. For more information on registering or attending any of the sessions, please call 212-339-0374 or e-mail [email protected].

About BEST

Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel (BEST) is the first industry-specific initiative undertaken by The Conference Board (www.conference-board.org) in its 84-year history. The Conference Board is the world's leading business and research organization, including more than 3,000 companies in 67 nations in its global network. BEST is co-sponsored by the World Travel & Tourism Council (www.wttc.org), which provides macroeconomic research data and forecasts. BEST serves as a leading source of knowledge on innovative travel industry practices that advance the interests of communities, businesses, and travelers. Its support comes from the American Express Company, the Ford, Charles Stewart Mott and Pettus-Crowe foundations, Marriott International, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and The New York Community Trust. Information on BEST may be obtained by contacting The Conference Board; phone 212-339-0335, or visit the following web site: www.sustainabletravel.org.

About the TIM School

The TIM School () has long been a leader in the Asia-Pacific region for travel industry management education, where the tourism industry is growing rapidly. The School has new initiatives in the areas of sustainable tourism, information technology and the travel industry, and has launched a distance education program to benefit the neighbor islands and other locations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Debbie Scicchitano
Account Executive
973-376-9300
BEST