Role of Association of British Travel Agents in the Expansion of Tourism - Essay Example

Identify A Lobbying Group And Critically Evaluate The Impact They Have Had On Either A Specific Tourism Initiative Or General Tourism Policy. Table of Contents Critical Evaluation of the Impact 3 Sustainable Tourism Policy of ABTA 4 “Travelife” Certified 4 Role of ABTA in the Expansion of Tourism 5 Animal Welfare Programs by ABTA 6 Conclusion 6 References 8 Introduction Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) is one of the prominent lobbying group and they are playing a major role in the tourism industry of the United Kingdom. It is considered as the largest association of travel and tourism in the United Kingdom. It acts as a representative of the travel industry to put up their views to the government. The association consists of about 5000 travel agents and 750 tour operators. The objective of ABTA is to promote eco-friendly travel destinations, considering protection of the environment and nature. Moreover, the association also aims at providing best quality travel and accommodation services to the customers at an affordable price through maintaining sustainability. Apart from sustainability policy, ABTA is also aiming at creating awareness among the tourists regarding the welfare of wildlife, as tourism and wildlife are closely interlinked with each other for the betterment of the nation. Thus, ABTA has been playing a major role in promoting travel and tourism of the United Kingdom and thereby helping in the growth of the economy (1ABTA, 2014; International Centre for Responsible Tourism, 2014; Elliott, 1997). Critical Evaluation of the Impact ABTA is an association, which works for the benefit of the tourism industry by maintaining certain ethical considerations. ABTA provides support, expertise as well as protection to their members and tourists. It helps in providing greater experiences to the tourists in a cost effective manner by maintaining ethics and good practices. The impact of the ABTA has been critically evaluated below stating its importance in the tourism industry. Sustainable Tourism Policy of ABTA ABTA follows a sustainable tourism policy along with providing proper services to the consumers. The aim of the association is to create a better place to live and to visit without harming the environment much. In order to adopt this policy, it is vital to reduce the harmful impacts on the environment through tourism. It ensures that the economies of the locality as well as the local communities are being benefited by the tourism to a considerable extent. Contextually, in the present day context tourism industries are adopting policies to promote eco-friendly tourism in order to protect the environment by providing a green environment. ABTA highly focuses on providing a sustainable holiday destinations for the people. Holidays are now a day considered as an important part of life and it is believed by ABTA that in order to make these holidays more enjoyable and pleasurable for the people, it is required to concern for the nature and the environment. Thus, by adopting the policy of sustainability, the negative effects of the environment and the nature can be reduced and enhance the positive impacts of the tourism industry. Different programs are being conducted by ABTA in order to enhance the policy on general level. Based on the sustainable tourism it can be stated that this lobby group is influencing the government by providing eco friendly policies for the long-term sustainability of natural resources (4ABTA, 2014; International Centre for Responsible Tourism, 2014). “Travelife” Certified ABTA the lobbying group is “Travelife” certified as it mainly focuses upon the welfare of the tourists. This is an international sustainability certification of hotels and accommodations, which helps its members to be more cautious in improving the economic, social and environmental impacts. This certification implies that ABTA concentrates upon the welfare of the people as well as the animal. ABTA through their best practices have received Travelife gold award and the Travelife award of excellence. Moreover, this awards and the approach of ABTA have a positive impact on the tourism policy and the national economy. There are about ninety nine robust sustainability criteria that have to be fulfilled in order to achieve the “Travelife” certificate. The main objective of the Travelife scheme is to allow the accommodation providers take measures for providing sustainable tourism. “Travelife Collection” is the directory of the hotels and resorts that comes under the category of Travelife certification. The hotels and resorts certified by Travelife make strong commitment of protecting the environment and improve the lives of the employees as well as the community. Regular audits are also conducted by the government in order to ensure whether the accommodation providers are adopting the necessary criteria for sustainability. Following the footprints of ABTA will help the other tourist agencies to promote green environment and create awareness among the tourists the importance of natural beauty and wildlife (ABTA, 2014; Global Sustainable Tourism Council, 2014). Role of ABTA in the Expansion of Tourism ABTA is aiming at expanding the tourism industry of the United Kingdom in achieving a better position in terms of holiday destinations and other tourism related business. This is possible by taking initiatives with the members of ABTA, by establishing partnerships with the destination governments and creating solutions for global tourism. ABTA due to its policies and code of conduct as well as sustainability program have a strong impact in the tourism industry. In this context, it can be critically stated that ABTA is given first preference by the destination governments with regard to tourism for their sustainable policy. ABTA has been establishing strong relations with both the governments of the United Kingdom as well as overseas to ensure that the tourism protects the local environments and creates opportunities for the local communities. This will also help in the development of national economies. This implies that this tourist group has a strong impact on the environment and the other policies at large for the betterment of the tourism industry. ABTA through its services enhances the experience of the tourists by providing better holiday destination. The impact of ABTA in terms of providing solutions for global tourism is significant (3ABTA, 2014; Travel Weekly Group Ltd, 2009; Ljubljana Tourism, 2013). Animal Welfare Programs by ABTA ABTA has been focusing on creating awareness for the welfare of the wildlife among the tourists, as wildlife and tourism are closely interlinked. Most of the tourist destinations of the world provide opportunity to interact with the wildlife. However, it is observed that few tourist agencies negatively promote wildlife, which may endanger the animal kingdom. Thus, in order to create awareness among the tourists regarding animal welfare, ABTA has been conducting animal welfare programs. In the year 2010, ABTA has established an animal welfare-working group and animal welfare strategy in order to support animal. The vision of the animal welfare program is to ensure that all the animals that are been encountered during tourism are treated humanely and show positive behavior towards them by following the animal welfare standards (2ABTA, 2014; ABTA, 2013). This policy of ABTA has also created a strong impact on the tourism policy for the betterment of animals and environment. Conclusion Thus, it can be concluded that, ABTA plays a significant role in the growth and expansion of tourism industry in the United Kingdom. It adopts the policy of sustainable tourism by providing eco-friendly holiday destinations, which attracts all the tourists. Moreover, “Travelife” certification has also created positive impacts on the society, economy and environment. The policy of creating awareness of wild animals, as wildlife and tourism is also a positive attribute of the lobbying group. Thus from the overall analysis it can be stated that ABTA is taking measures to promote healthy environment with the help of tourism initiatives and policies. References ABTA, 2013. Global Welfare Guidance for Animals in Tourism. ABTA Animal Welfare Guidelines, pp. 2-44. ABTA, 2014. ABTA 60 Years of Travel Advice. Travelife. [Online] Available at: http://abta.com/about-abta/travelife [Accessed November 30, 2014]. 1ABTA, 2014. ABTA – 60 Years of Travel Advice. About ABTA. [Online] Available at: http://abta.com/about-abta [Accessed November 30, 2014]. 2ABTA, 2014. ABTA – 60 Years of Travel Advice. Animal welfare. [Online] Available at: http://abta.com/about-abta/raising-standards/animal-welfare [Accessed November 30, 2014]. 3ABTA, 2014. ABTA – Leading Sustainable Tourism. Better Holidays. [Online] Available at: http://abta.com/sustainability/better-holidays [Accessed November 30, 2014]. 4ABTA, 2014. ABTA – Leading Sustainable Tourism. Sustainability. [Online] Available at: http://abta.com/sustainability [Accessed November 30, 2014]. Global Sustainable Tourism Council, 2014. Travelife Achieves ‘Recognized’ Global Sustainable Tourism Council Status for its Tour Operator and Travel Agents Standard. News. [Online] Available at: http://www.gstcouncil.org/about/news/713-travelife-achieves-recognized-global-sustainable-tourism-council-status-for-its-tour-operator-and-travel-agents-standard.html [Accessed November 30, 2014]. International Centre for Responsible Tourism, 2014. The International Centre for Responsible Tourism. All about ABTA – A Lecturer’s Guide. [Online] Available at: http://www.icrtourism.org/all-about-abta-a-lecturers-guide/ Ljubljana Tourism, 2013. UK’s Leading Travel Association ABTA Will Hold its 2014 Travel Convention in Ljubljana. Press Releases. [Online] Available at: http://www.visitljubljana.com/en/journalists/press-releases/47717/detail.html?year_month=2013 Travel Weekly Group Ltd, 2009. ABTA Could Lobby Over Domestic Tourism. By Edward Robertson. [Online] Available at: http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/2009/04/09/30707/abta-could-lobby-over-domestic-tourism.html Elliott, J., 1997. Tourism: Politics and Public Sector Management. Routledge. Read More