Checking In with Professor James Higham

My return to work this year coincided with several tourism announcements from the New Zealand government. Its announcements amount to a slash and burn approach to economic growth, and blind focus on tourism growth without concerns for those who live with tourism. The current government’s plans for the visitor economy are void of any thinking or any evidence of commitment to sustainable tourism.  

Last week on Wednesday our paper on global tourism emissions was finally published online. It was a long road to publication and the results reported in the paper are sobering. But most importantly the paper also provides rich and detailed insights that serve as a strong starting point for governments and industry organisations that are serious about reducing tourism carbon emissions.  

There is a longstanding debate in sustainable tourism, as to the tourist markets that are most worthy of our marketing efforts. Much of the debate centres on affluence which is assumed to link directly to economic impacts. But there is increasing evidence to suggest that in terms of a commitment to sustainable tourism development, the most affluent visitors may be best avoided. 

Can we travel without contributing to climate change? The answer is yes, we can, but to arrive at solutions we have to rethink the relationship between speed, distance and time. In doing so we will rediscover the journey itself.

COP29 is over – so after eleven days of discussions and negotiations involving 65,000 delegates from around the world, all of which concluded on Friday last week, what was in it for tourism? And are we any closer to decarbonising tourism?

Sustainable tourism is at a crossroad. There is a well-established link between tourism growth and environmental impacts. But there are competing interests at stake and proponents of continual growth are playing hard ball.

Last week I attended the TIA Summit. It was a great event – really well organised – and a great opportunity to showcase the leading businesses in innovation and sustainability. It also showcased a few cases of ‘must do better’ and a yawning gap between the dominate industry players and the world leading innovation of small and medium businesses.

About two years ago Christchurch International Airport Ltd revealed a plan to transform the sleepy Central Otago township of Tarras into an international airport. The proposal caused disbelief initially - soon followed by anger. What follows makes for a fascinating story, the latest chapter of which perhaps offers a little bit of vindication.