Last week, more than 40 travel industry professionals — including members of the media, tour operators, destination management companies (DMCs), tourism boards, travel associations and others — attended Tourism Cares’ (TC) Global Meaningful Travel Summit in Bangkok and Krabi province, Thailand. The event was co-produced with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, with Globe Holiday serving as the on-the-ground DMC.
The Thailand iteration of TC’s signature event, now in its fifth year, centered around the theme of Community Tourism, and included hands-on exposure to community-based tours and green initiatives across Bangkok and Krabi. It also marked the first time a Global Meaningful Travel Summit was hosted in a destination east of Jordan, where a 2018 summit helped spark the creation of TC’s Meaningful Travel Map.
The Thailand summit followed a similar format to TC’s smaller-scale Meaningful Travel Fam, which took place in 2024 and also incorporated TC Impact Partners in Krabi and Bangkok.
“One of the things we decided to do a couple years ago, coming out of the pandemic, was to put our Meaningful Travel Map at the center of our work — and that opened the door for us to work with destinations like Thailand,” said Greg Takehara, CEO of Tourism Cares. “We’re focusing on creating a greater value proposition to the industry by ensuring that we’re helping the people and places of travel to drive positive impacts from an economic, environmental and social perspective.”
We’re focusing on creating a greater value proposition to the industry by ensuring that we’re helping the people and places of travel to drive positive impacts from an economic, environmental and social perspective.
A Focus on Community Tourism
Prior to touching down in Thailand, participants completed a community tourism course (created by TC in partnership with Planeterra), which prepared them for engaging with several Impact Partners (suppliers featured on its Meaningful Travel Map of Thailand) throughout the week. Thailand’s Meaningful Travel Map, which launched in 2023, currently has more than 45 Impact Partners.
“This [itinerary] is an example of sustainable and responsible tourism, as well as community tourism, where it’s foundational to this particular destination,” Takehara said during a media briefing in Thailand. “And we believe that creates the greatest examples for us to provide to the industry at large.”
RELATED: Find Sustainable Island Experiences With the Meaningful Travel Map of Hawaii
The program began in Krabi at the sustainability-minded Varana Hotel — a first-of-its-kind wellness- and sports-focused accommodation option in Krabi that features only upcycled materials in its guestrooms.
From there, participants explored the area with visits to the Laem Sak Community (for kayaking, temple visits and village exploration) and Ban Nai Nang (for a zero-waste cooking class, a soap-making workshop and a beekeeping activity).
In Bangkok, attendees visited Patom Organic Living, a sustainable farm, for a farm tour and aroma oil-blending workshop. They also toured the capital during a “Green Day” tour produced by Global Holiday, which included a visit to Wat Pho temple for a monk’s blessing; a lotus-folding workshop at a local flower market; and time at Poomjai Garden, a family-run, 100-year-old lychee orchard that now offers a cafe, hands-on workshops and cultural activities. Throughout the day, attendees bypassed automobile transportation in favor of the local subway system, electric tuk tuks and solar-powered longboats.
The Bangkok portion of the summit concluded in a visit to the community of Bangkobua for a natural tie-dye workshop and e-bike ride.
When it’s time to go home, how we are going to create this type of positive impact in our own communities and in our own homes?
Education Sessions and Workshops
Two education sessions on Sept. 9 and 12 gave attendees the chance to hear presentations from local hotels and tour operators on how they integrate community tourism into their offerings. Attendees also participated in Pecha Kucha-style presentations and shared case studies on making their businesses more sustainable. Both sessions also featured a closed-door workshop that encouraged discussion around the question, “How do we make community tourism the default, not the exception, by 2028?”
RELATED: What We Learned at Tourism Cares’ Meaningful Travel Summit in Norway
“We love to talk about educating, inspiring and activating,” Takehara said. “We clearly want to educate [attendees] about some of the best examples [of community tourism] that we have in Thailand … but one of the strongest goals is around activation, and that is for everyone to walk away after they’ve been educated and inspired. When it’s time to go home, how we are going to create this type of positive impact in our own communities and in our own homes?”
The summit closed with a “commitment session,” where attendees pledged actionable steps their businesses could take to drive positive change.
Become a Member of Tourism Cares and Make Your Own Commitment
Twenty-two years ago, Tourism Cares was born out of coordination between the United States Tour Operators Association, the National Tour Association and the American Society of Travel Advisors (then known as Travel Agents).
The nonprofit now offers a variety of membership offerings for travel industry professionals, including a membership for travel advisors.
