This year’s Inspiring Sustainable Tourism Conference will take place in the Armada Hotel, in County Clare, on Thursday, January 23.
With the theme of ‘Climate Action, Community and Collaboration’, the event is supported by Visit Clare, Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark and KPMG Future Analytics & KPMG Sustainable Futures.
“Our Inspiring Sustainable Tourism conference aims to educate and empower businesses and the communities that they are a part of about the often simple actions they can take to put sustainability at the heart of their operations and locations," said Rob Rankin, director of Sustainable Travel Ireland.
"We’ll show them how it can help not just the planet, but also boost the reputation, self-image and bottom line of both the location and the business they work in.”
The Sustainable Tourism Network’s mission is to transform the Irish tourism industry into a regenerative business sector that respects and protects the environment, but also supports local communities and makes better places for people to live and work in.
Speakers at the conference will include Darina Allen (Ballymaloe Cookery School & Organic Farm School), Adam Harris (founder & CEO, AsIAm), Fiona McKenna (Sustainable Destination Development Officer, Co Clare), Ray Ó Foghlú (development lead, Hometree), Barry Rogers (head of the Dublin City Tourism Unit), Bronagh O’Rourke (managing director, Burren Farm Experience), Brendan Dunford (founder Burren Beo Trust & Farming for Nature), John Burke (CEO of Armada), James Chilton (associate director, KPMG Future Analytics Consulting) and Eoin Cluskey (co-founder, Bread 41).
"Tourists are demanding more environmentally friendly and sustainable products and they are not happy when they can’t get them," said Rankin. "So the tourism industry must step up - both to do the right thing by future generations and to meet their customers’ demand."
