Views and Interviews
March 2023
Industry Awareness Feature:
On Responsible Tourism
Jonathan Stoker, Chief Executive Officer
at Vacation Ownership Advisor,
Nevada, United States
As full-time Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Stoker works around an exciting vision for his customers: Providing a service that customers expect and deserve. It's a vision that gives the members of Vacation Ownership Advisor a lot to look forward to from his company.
Vacation Ownership Advisor is a one-of-a-kind enterprise in the timeshare industry. The company was founded on the principle of assisting timeshare customers, vacation club owners, and travel reward members of all companies and brands (worldwide) to better understand, use, and maximize the value of their ownership or rewards program.
We're also talking about educating our sales associates - on the travel industry and how it can make all the difference to the overall experience for each member.
We asked Jonathan Stoker to focus on a few best practices for travel awareness and creating a sustainable tourism industry for this feature. Here's our first Question to Jonathan Stoker.
Could you share some examples of best practices in sustainable tourism?
- Promote Responsible Travel: Encourage travelers to research their destinations, understand the local culture and customs before visiting, and respect the environment, wildlife, and local communities.
- Conserve Water and Energy: Promote eco-friendly accommodations that conserve water and energy, and provide energy-efficient appliances and lighting.
- Respect Wildlife: Educate travelers about respecting wildlife and their habitats. Encourage travelers to avoid activities that involve contact with animals or disrupting their habitats.
- Minimize Waste: Encourage travelers to reduce plastic use, and bring reusable containers and bags for food and souvenirs.
- Support Local Communities and Businesses: Choose locally-owned accommodations and restaurants and purchase products from local artisans.
- Reduce Carbon Footprint: Promote public transportation and alternative forms like bicycles, electric scooters, and cars. Encourage accommodations to use renewable energy sources and reduce their carbon footprint.
Towards creating a plan for sustainable tourism platforms
- Define sustainability: It is essential to start by defining what is meant by sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism is an approach to tourism that strives to minimize environmental impact and benefit local communities.
- Develop a sustainable tourism policy: A sustainable tourism policy should be developed to ensure that all tourism activities adhere to principles of sustainable development. This policy should include goals for minimizing environmental impacts and a plan for supporting and promoting local communities.
- Promote responsible tourism: Responsible tourism involves minimizing the environmental impacts of tourism activities and maximizing the benefits to local communities. This can be achieved by minimizing energy use, reducing waste, and promoting local businesses.
- Monitor and evaluate: It is crucial to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of sustainable tourism initiatives. This can be done through surveys and other data collection methods.
- Educate: It is essential to educate tourists and local communities about the importance of sustainable tourism. This can be done through workshops, seminars, and other educational programs.
- Celebrate success: It is important to celebrate successes and share best practices. This can be done through group activities, conferences, and other events.
Useful Links on Vacation Ownership Advisor
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Image credits: All images used with purchased credits from www.123rf.com
Content Disclaimer: The views expressed in our interviews and stories do not necessarily reflect the official policies, practices and guidelines of the All India Resort Development Association, or its members. These views are based on personal experiences, private opinion, or open source information. (Images used here are either "paid-for" stock photos, images shared by the people we interview, or images under one of the open source licenses such as Creative Commons and others.)
Here’s a link to some recent interviews done by us on the AIRDA website 
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