Khalisah Stevens

Tag: sustainable travel

  • Speaking at the MALT Congress in AD

    Speaking at the MALT Congress in AD

    At the beginning of February 2024, I was invited by QnA International to speak at the 12th Annual Meetings Arabia & Luxury Travel (MALT) Congress hosted in Abu Dhabi.

    The talk was titled “Sustainable Wellness: Enriching Luxury Travel Experiences with Environmental Consciousness” and I was one of three panel speakers on this “Sustainability & Wellness Tourism Panel” slated for the 29th of February 2024.

    From left to right: Nadia Swan from ARN, myself, Tiffany McGrath from Sustainability Kiosk, and Samir Mehta from Desert Adventures Tourism.

    These panel discussions often fly by and I feel like we barely got to scratch the surface of what sustainability in luxury tourism really looks like, but it was an interesting conference nonetheless and I got to meet some great people: Souhilla Taarabit spoke about managing travel for a large group company with multiple verticals, and in our side chats I learned of the ways she was also making responsible travel choices to lower the group’s overall travel footprint. I met with Eva Lydia Mpanga from NKURINGO SAFARIS, a Ugandan safari travel company and owner of a luxury safari lodge which looked lush AF. The team from Sands Macao and Macao tourism were really fun to speak with (of course we bonded over our shared Asian foodie culture immediately – a happy group of Portuguese tarts if there ever was one).

    Overall it was a good event, it was good to have a peek at the luxury travel sector in the Middle East and learn about the trends and forecasts for this region.

    On a different but parallel note, it is still strange to work, travel, and behave as though massacres and mass starvation aren’t happening on the other side of the region. As Ramadan looms closer, I hope and pray for an immediate ceasefire soon 🍉🕊🙏

  • GSTC2022 training in Sevilla + Certificate

    GSTC2022 training in Sevilla + Certificate

    🤩 I’m SO stoked to announce that I received the GSTC Professional Certificate in Sustainable Tourism 🌟

    khalisah-gstc-certificateDownload

    🌿 This certificate is the capstone to a wonderfully enriching experience training with other sustainable tourism professionals at the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) conference in Sevilla December 2022. I’m happy that I was able to confirm what I’ve learned in the process, in large part thanks to our kickass trainers Ramkumar and Ignacio 🙌

    Thank you CB Ramkumar and Ignacio de las Cuevas for the engaging training sessions and evening tapas, and congrats to Randy and team for hosting such a great event. This week has deepened my understanding of how to apply sustainable global standards to our industry, and I loved learning about the multitude of initiatives destinations and organisations are carrying out in their corners of the world 🥹🌍

    December 2022 was an uncharacteristically rainy time in Seville 🌧️ But the weather couldn’t put a damper on the warmth and enthusiasm of everyone I met. I’m so grateful to have heard your stories, both professional and personal, and know you have a friend for life.

    With this certificate under my belt, I’m excited to continue carrying on the work of greening our industry with more knowledge and vigour 🍀

    (Pictured: Post-training class photo, lunch with the Arab league, tapas time, the MICE criteria consultation workshop, selfies at the Real Alcazar, the GSTC team on stage, FIBES lookin’ like Al-Aqsa, night walks, Khalisah in Real Alcazar.)

  • Introducing UOWD business students to sustainable tourism

    Introducing UOWD business students to sustainable tourism

    I spoke with Dr. Norhayati’s business class at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) last about destination management and sustainable tourism. Dr. Norhayati designed a series of guest lectures for her capstone business courses where experts in different industries talk about how they’re integrating sustainability in their work. From social entrepreneur, sustainable finance/accounting and fashion, I joined as the sustainable tourism guest lecturer.

    Watch the talk here

    (video password: 4xHW32DB)

    I love how she’s captured the intersecting and all-encompassing nature of sustainability across the different industries for her students, as that’s something I wish I was exposed to more as a bachelors student.

    Because Dr. Norhayati gave me a generous time slot to go over the subject matter (and because her students were already familiar with many of the concepts of sustainability), I had fun organizing the talk to move from the current state of affairs into what I’m trying to do at the GDS-Movement.

    The overview of my talk

    I tried to drive home the message that tourism doesn’t have to be this awful thing that happens to beautiful fragile places that displace and exploits locals and their land, but that tourism could be a source of equity and good stewardship if properly managed and monitored.

    This is a topic that’s been researched and discussed extensively and exhaustively, but I still approach the idea with awe that instead of feeling guilty or forcefully turning a blind eye on your impact during your travels, perhaps your trips could actually leave a place better than you found it. I love the idea of travellers being welcomed and made to feel at home, and mutual respect and dignity are shown between both locals and visitors. This does happen on occasion, of course, but in my experience, the sad reality tends to skew more towards disrespectful and unaware tourists littering and disturbing disenfranchised locals. It’s an awful feeling to see (particularly in Bali or Thailand) waiters or bus drivers swallow their discontent as they see their jobs through in serving a boisterous group of unaware travellers. Seeing the inequity in Asian destinations and the negative impacts of tourism in my home country of Malaysia is what put me on the path of sustainable tourism in the first place (I may write more about this in another post).

    Tourism as a force for good

    You can watch the talk here. Password 4xHW32DB

  • Talking with David Peacock at the Tourism Management Institute (TMI)

    Talking with David Peacock at the Tourism Management Institute (TMI)

    Last September, I was talking to David Peacock about something work-related and ended up shooting the breeze about all the things I was learning at the GDS-Movement, and he said I should share my insights on a webinar he was speaking at. I was hesitant at first because I’d only been with the GDSM for three months, so I didn’t feel like I knew enough about the company to be talking about them publicly so soon. But he said that he wasn’t looking for an expert’s perspective, and I thought that’s great, I enjoy speaking unofficially as a non-expert. My CEO was all for it so I agreed.

    The poster for the talk

    The talk was titled “Sustainability: DMO‘s Must Take an Active Role or Face Irrelevance” hosted by the Tourism Management Institute (TMI) and you can watch part of the discussion here. We talked about how different DMOs approach (mis)managing their destinations by including sustainable practices and their resident’s opinions – or not, to their own detriment, now or later.

    Watch the video here

    Even if you haven’t listened to his podcast on the Future of Tourism, you can tell that David is an excellent interviewer and orator because he was able to draw out information from me and others in the session, and it turns out that I did know a few things after all (it’s always nice when your interviewer is able to extract info from you and make you look good).

    David Peacock doing his thing

    Still, the chance that I may misrepresent something from my new role lingered in the back of my mind, which resulted in a semi-permanent look of anxiety on my face throughout the webinar.

    “Even though I’m 99% sure of the things I’m saying, I hate that I can’t fact-check them while I’m speaking”

    It turned out to be a really fun and engaging experience, and Peacock moderated a Q&A discussion that got audience members from different DMOs sharing news about what they’re doing to transition to a more inclusive and sustainable future. My colleagues Rebecca and Jess were also part of the Q&A and shared their wisdom and insights too.

    Eventually, this cross-collaboration led to a highly-engaging discussion between my CEO Guy Bigwood and David Peacock. You can watch their interview below or listen to the podcast episode on Spotify.