Jana Apih
Managing Director of GoodPlace Factory of Sustainable Tourism
Jascivan Carvalho
Entrepreneur social dans le domaine du tourisme culturel et d'aventure et pionnier du tourisme communautaire autochtone
Vision for the Next 50
In the Next 50… Tourism is supported by a system such as a national certification programme that encourages local actors to take part in sustainable practices and is inspired by knowledge of indigenous and local communities.
In the Next 50… Local communities are empowered and acknowledged to play a pivotal role in sustainable tourism. We recognize their cultural values that attract tourists, their sustainable practices that protect natural resources, and their knowledge that enhances the touristic experience.
Summary
The dialogue between Jana Apih and Jascivan Carvalho highlighted the value of local communities for sustainable tourism. They agreed that knowledge of local communities can be used to promote sustainable practices and enhance the tourist experience. Local communities must in turn benefit from such sustainable tourism.
Apih described the Slovenian certification program, a system that provides local destinations with national support and guidance for sustainable tourism. She also elaborated on Ljubljana’s green tourism initiative, designed to develop a city where locals are put in first place. Carvalho talked about the double-sided relationship between indigenous people and nature regarding tourism: indigenous people depend on nature as a touristic destination to attract visitors, and the local communities simultaneously protect these natural resources from tourism.
Dialogue
Let me jump into the first question: you spearheaded the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism, which encourages businesses to adopt sustainable practices. How do you motivate local actors in the tourism ecosystem to make these changes?
Slovenia is a very small country in the middle of Europe that has only 2 million people, and they are very closely connected to nature. Tourism was always meant to be developed in a way that doesn't harm nature and bring it closer to local communities.
We needed a system: just saying that Slovenia is a green country is not enough. If we want to position ourselves as a sustainable destination, we need to have a system and be sure that it works. So the system we created is actually a national certification programme on sustainable tourism. In fact, we didn't develop our own standard, we just adopted existing certification programmes.
Once touristic destinations go through this process, they get the Slovenia green label. Also businesses – if you are a hotel, you will get the Slovenia green accommodation label. Our main goal is development, and we have at the moment almost 95% certified destinations. And that gives us very good insight on where the problems are regarding the destinations; we see where they struggle. We have a really powerful tool in our hands because every destination needs to give us their action plan and needs to report back to get recertified. And in this process, we work really closely with them and we identify where the problems are, and actually help find solutions for them using government help.
For local actors, it’s really an advantage, and since this is a national programme, you get the support and acknowledgement you need. You also get marketing support from the green tourist board, and that's a really important thing.
Jascivan, how do you facilitate this exchange in your work and country?
We have been pursuing certifications over the years. But for me nowadays the most important thing is acknowledging tourism. As you know, it generates many opportunities, but also comes with a lot of responsibilities.
When it comes to our natural and cultural heritage, the first thing to do is to recognize that both nature and local communities, as well as their amazing cultures, are not really the resources you can use as a business. They are the core, and without them we don't really have anything tourism-related. It’s a double-sided relationship we need to acknowledge: we depend on them to attract visitors to our destinations, and we depend on the local communities to protect these natural resources.
Another important point: we need the communities to feel empowered, included and benefited. And once we understand this, we begin having proper partners, and with these stakeholders, we can definitely do wonderful things. We have examples and success stories of how we have incorporated communities in natural areas, private and public land. We’ve also supported development of accommodations with the local communities, cooking classes with local families, excursions in remote areas. And of course all of this was only possible with the support from locals and the result is a very important economic impact and considerable contributions to environmental conservation and cultural appreciation and celebration.
And going back to our first keyword, ‘facilitating’ comes from local communities and they are our ambassadors on the ground. They are the ones making the magic happen, connecting travellers from all over the world with the locals.
Ljubljana in 2016 was named the European green capital. What advice would you give to other cities? Especially the ones that aspire to follow Ljubljana’s lead in green tourism.
We are a small country, and Ljubljana has 250,000 inhabitants. So when you develop, it is for the local community, not for tourism. Everything, all the investments which were done in Slovenia, benefit primarily the locals, and then the tourists can benefit as well.
For example, the whole city centre is closed for traffic, and this initiative was taken with the main idea that inhabitants would have a space to live in. What actually made it sustainable is all the development done for the locals. If you don't focus on that, and you just build things for the sake of tourism, even if you make the most amazing project for a city, if the locals don't benefit from it and don't include it in their lives, it'll never work. It will only be a place to visit, where no one would like to live.
I think we can also learn from all indigenous communities and use their knowledge for more sustainable tourism and tourism practices.
Could you tell me more about how we can actually learn from the local community? How can we bring their practices into the tourist experience?
When you live the modern, fast-paced lifestyle that we have in big cities and capitals, and then you visit rural areas in Ecuador, you go into the Amazon rainforest, or the Galapagos Islands, you really see how life is much more in tune, the lifestyle of the local community is in complete coordination with the surrounding ecosystem.
And one of the things I learned is that the first thing you have to do is listen to the locals, to understand what to do and to know where to take clients. At the end of the day, it’s the people who really understand how to have a better experience.
And engaging in their day-to-day lifestyle creates these casual encounters that end up becoming magical.
Watch the dialogue
Explore other sessions
Five dialogue sessions covering five themes take place in 2022, each joined by thinkers in paired dialogue from diverse regions. The interdisciplinary dialogues inspire new visions for the next 50 years of World Heritage.
