Front Page Opinion

I felt a real sense of support and camaraderie this year at the Guild’s AGM in Tenerife.

Although we are watching with dismay the collapse of traditional travel journalism, it seems to me there is still much we can do, and indeed that the Guild is more essential than ever. Not just to its members but the world in general.

Because while (paid for) travel journalism may be in its death throes, tourism most definitely is not. It is a major world industry: many countries are dependent on tourism to support their economy, and it is an important source of employment. And through enlightened ideas about sustainability, tourism can make a real contribution to increasing people’s environmental awareness.

So where does the Guild fit in? The other thing that impressed me enormously at this year’s AGM was the sheer extent of members’ knowledge. Everyone I spoke to had some speciality, not just particular countries, but also disabled travel, train travel, food, wine, sports activities, architecture, art, music, history, wildlife, back-packing, business, aviation, driving, walking, diving, golf, climbing, gay nightlife, eco-travel and industrial conservation. Between us all we cover the globe and many languages. And with so many new younger members we cover the generations too.

This is expertise that we could exploit and showcase, offer perhaps in some kind of consultancy capacity to tourist authorities, both in mature markets and to developing economies which have the opportunity to encourage sustainable tourism from the start.

I believe some members already do this, and perhaps we could learn from them. I see this not as PR but as genuine advice as to how best to exploit their potential for tourism.