Driving sustainability in tourism is a collaborative process in which all stakeholders endeavour to support each other to find the best solution, while also sharing best practices. As a Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) member, Destination Asia collaborates with other DMCs in Asia as part of key working groups, including the Elephant Standard Working Group to uplift animal welfare standards in elephant camps across Asia and ensure the support of elephant conservation; and the Community-based Tourism Working Group, a collaboration between PATA, the Thai government, and regional DMCs to share information about community-based tourism development in order to link local communities with the global market. Both initiatives will be key drivers in future responsible product development.
Apart from the working groups, Destination Asia participated in a sustainability needs analysis workshop at the PATA headquarters in Bangkok to prioritize our sustainability goals of employee engagement, product selection, and waste management. These three priorities now form part of Destination Asia’s sustainability goals for the next two years, during which we hope to share and learn from the network as we progress towards achieving our sustainability goals.
