Momentum² | Qantas | Sustainable Tourism Serminar 2008

QANTAS

Investing for the Long Haul

Qantas Sustainable Tourism Seminars 2008 - 2009

PROJECT OVERVIEW (2008)

In October 2008, Investing for the Long Haul - Qantas Sustainable Tourism Seminars were held in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Launceston, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. These free seminars were designed to complement the Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism which was launched by Qantas in February 2008.

Qantas engaged Momentum² to create and manage the seminar series. Momentum² worked closely with Qantas and other industry stakeholders in developing and organising the seminar series for the tourism fraternity which included operators, local, federal and state government representatives, industry associations, consultants, tourism lecturers and students. We consulted extensively with all the state tourism offices, the state tourism industry councils, Tourism Australia and other relevant bodies such as ATEC.

Over thirty panellists were sourced for the initial event in addition to senior ministers in each state and keynote speakers who included:

Former Australian of the Year, Ian Kiernan AO, OAM, Chairman of Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World
Professor Larry Dwyer, Qantas Professor of Tourism and Travel Economics at the University of New South Wales
Arron Wood, 2007 Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year
Molly Harris Olson, Director of Eco Futures Pty Ltd and former adviser to President Bill Clinton
Tim Macartney-Snape, OAM, veteran of mountaineering in the Himalayas and founder of Leave No Trace
Robyn Williams, AM, renowned science journalist and ABC broadcaster, former Chairman of the Commission for the Future

In 2009, the second series of Investing for the Long Haul - Qantas Sustainable Tourism Seminars took place in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Cairns, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The free half-day seminars were designed as a follow-up to the inaugural seminars held in 2008.

Presentations from international and Australian speakers set the global and Australian scene prior to the business workshop which included a session on the ten steps needed to set up a sustainable workplace. The seminars also incorporated case studies from the state and national winners of the Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism.

A top line up of international and Australian keynote speakers was negotiated by Momentum² including:

Keith Bellows, Editor-in-Chief, National Geographic Traveler and Vice President National Geographic, based in the USA
Justin Francis, Managing Director, Responsibletravel.com, based in the UK
Arron Wood, 2007 Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year
Professor Larry Dwyer, Qantas Professor of Tourism and Travel Economics, University of New South Wales
Julie Taylor Mills, Regnan and leading business sustainability advisor
Phillip Toyne, environmentalist and Director of Eco-Futures Pty Ltd
Sam Mostyn, sustainability consultant and board director
Robyn Williams, AM, science broadcaster
Karl Schutte, Associate Director Capital C

CLIENT OBJECTIVES

To position Qantas as a leader in the field of sustainable tourism
To train the industry to become more environmentally sustainable by focussing on financial modelling for implementing sustainability initiatives
To provide practical information and hands-on training in sustainable business practices
To cover other areas covered including greenwashing, sustainable tourism case studies, organising green events, green consumer marketing trends as well as keynote addresses on sustainability related issues
To provide a networking forum

OUTCOMES

Analysis of feedback forms from participants indicated that Investing for the Long Haul achieved its primary objective of assisting the industry to become more environmentally sustainable with some of the key findings being:

95% rated the seminars as valuable to very valuable
76% were unaware of the ACCC’s green marketing guidelines prior to attending
69% indicated that after attending the Green Events’ workshop, they were interested in applying what they had learnt to their own business
97% rated the explanation of why the tourism industry needs to become more sustainable as valuable to very valuable