Sustainable Travel Workshop Series

A Peer-to-Peer Coaching Program Designed for Tour Operator Executives

Sustainability is often defined as balancing economic growth, environmental care, and social well-being.

While it’s easy to recognize the importance of implementing sustainable practices into your business, starting your sustainability journey may feel daunting. In fact, the most common question we receive from our members is, “How (and where) do we start with sustainability?”

Join us as we dive into those questions and more through our Tourism Cares’ Sustainability Workshop Series, a unique program designed particularly for tour operator executives. Led by seasoned travel executives from Tourism Cares, MaCher, B Tourism, and USTOA, this program will coach participants through structured learning sessions that expand their knowledge and empower them to develop a comprehensive sustainability plan tailored to their unique needs and goals.

Workshop Format

Sessions take place every other week for 9 sessions (18 weeks total). Meetings are held on Zoom and are tailored to the following topics based on the needs of the participating organizations:

“The Why” - Understanding the business case for sustainability.
“The How” - which includes:

Engaging stakeholders, including employees, communities, and the environment
Aligning company purpose, culture, and values
Measuring your impact on social and environmental performance
Setting goals and taking action
Communicating progress
Protecting the company’s mission, including the role of certifications.

What to Expect

The workshops are a safe, trusted environment to navigate the basics and learn the practical steps to building a robust sustainability plan. All learning is hands-on and tailored to tour operators and travel sector suppliers.

Throughout the series, participants will gain a trusted peer group that will provide support in the years ahead. Experience has shown that these workshops are effective because everyone shows up equally and is willing to learn together.

After the first two sessions, participants should expect to invest 1-2 hours per week outside the workshops for minimal homework and to get started on the measurement project. There will be one-on-one coaching calls available in between the workshops scheduled.

Post-workshops, additional trainings, and resources for deeper learning will be offered depending on the company’s needs and strategic direction.

Requirements for Participation

Tour Operators, including two people per company, must participate, including a founder or senior executive.

Maximum participation, including 100% attendance from at least one company representative.

A willingness to trust each other, learn, take action, and report back on progress.

Cost is free, providing you are (or become) a member of Tourism Cares.

Workshop coaches donate their time because they believe that, in order for scalable change to happen, we must all play our part and “pay it forward.” Most people find the workshops to be transformational and helpful in accelerating their knowledge and commitment to building a meaningful sustainability plan. Participants are also encouraged to become a workshop coach in the future, allowing for these workshops to scale and grow our collective learning.

Join Us

The next workshop series begins in Spring 2025. Please fill out the following form if you are interested in applying for a future session or have additional questions.

"Participating in the Tourism Cares Sustainability Workshop was invaluable for me. The sense of community, open discussion format, and willingness to provide support and guidance was instrumental in helping us launch our new sustainability strategy so quickly. In addition, the relationships we developed in the series have already proven a helpful resource, as we continually refine our action items."

Rebecca Tribelli, Global Impact Manager, Tauck
“Stepping into the Tourism Cares workshop, I expected the usual lesson on sustainable tourism. What I found was a lively community of travel professionals, sharing stories and strategies that sparked incredible energy! Our discussions covered everything from hiring practices to measuring our carbon footprint, and in just 12 hours, we not only generated fantastic ideas but also set personal, long-term goals. It felt like discovering a haven where we openly discussed making our businesses purpose-driven, uplifting our communities, and becoming champions for the destinations we adore. This learning journey has opened up a world of possibilities for our industry and beyond – it's a game-changer!”

Gina Bang, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Avanti Destinations
"This course gave great awareness to where we currently stand as a company on a sustainability level, great insight to some of the things we are doing well, a thorough understanding of the areas we can and need to improve upon, an emphasis on engaging our entire team in the sustainability process to foster a collective effort towards positive change, and how we can measure our environmental impact and improve on it. We have a tremendous responsibility to reduce the negative impacts of tourism and increase the benefits for communities, culture, environments, and nature to thrive. This course provided a solid framework on how we can continue to be successful and profitable while also contributing to the greater good."

Kerrie Niemeier, Director of Sales & Marketing, Wells Gray Tours
"Joining the Sustainability Workshop Series with Tourism Cares was so rewarding! The team of trainers are leaders in their fields, with tremendous knowledge and are great coaches! The structure and layout of the workshop series is well done. The time commitment was easy – something that seemed daunting was easy in the end and so worth the time investment. The tone is upbeat and hopeful, learning ways to embrace a sustainable approach to business - with invaluable tools to help. There is a tried and true structure to the program with resources to help along the way, as well as a coaching segment. Highly recommend this to everyone!"

Valerie Dulin, Product Manager, Tauck