Women4Green Impact Series #2: Sustainable Tourism

The second W4G Impact Series, titled Sustainable Tourism, was held on 29 November 2017, and was attended by over 80 female and male professionals. A key issue in the globally growing industry, sustainable tourism was explored by a variety of speakers that shared their expertise on sustainability issues and our role as tourists in tackling them.

The three educational speakers were:

  • Dr Sin Harng Luh from NUS, who introduced the topic of sustainable and responsible tourism through examining tourism statistics and discussed commonly seen aspects sustainable tourism, such as environmental management, protection of wildlife, pro-poor tourism, and accessible tourism. She then challenged the crowd with the question “Is it really that easy to be responsible in tourism?” Ultimately, her presentation renewed guests’ perspectives on their impact on areas driven by tourism.
  • Amala Menon, founder of SaveAGram, took the audience on a journey to Kerala, India to explore what life is like in a rural village. Her session focused on experiential travel that has minimum impact on the environment. She provided an avenue to travellers who want a more immersive travel experience as they get the opportunity to live with the villagers in their original homes and experience a slower pace of life compared to urban environments.
  • Dr Marc Van Loo from LooLa Adventure Resort on Bintan Island introduced the crowd to his resort and explained how ecotourism has improved the lives of the locals on the island through the resort’s presence and engaging activities.

Guests were treated to a delectable menu from sustainable sources throughout the evening. Saladstop, a salad bar chain in Singapore served food representing different regions such as Japan and Singapore. Drinks of the night were supplied by Native Bar, a local, sustainable outfit that forages for natural ingredients across the Southeast Asian region and beyond to create bespoke cocktails.

For more information on the vendors and their sustainable practices, please refer to their respective sites below.

SaladStop!

Native Bar

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