PLANETA

Planeta.com's Ron Mader to Participate in Responsible Tourism Conference

BELIZE WIKI
PLANETA FORUM

Publication date: September 2009

PHOTO GALLERY: Responsible Tourism

Ron Mader will participate in the 2009 Responsible Tourism Conference which will be held October 19-23 in Belmopan, Belize.

"It will be an honor to attend the event and present ideas on how to best use Web 2.0 as a tool to connect locals and visitors," Ron said. "This could be the first major tourism conference that masters the hashtag, in this case #rtbelize09 as featured on delicious, flickr and visible tweets."

Ron's presentation, Storytelling Now, has proved to be a popular feature, racking up more than 5,000 views on Slideshare.

"Everyone has a story to tell and we now have the tools to engage locals and visitors in ways that we could not have imagined a few years ago," Ron said. "Web 2.0 allows travel operators to share their story with a broader public. Professionals are using great channels or tools including as convenient ways for direct and indirect methods of marketing. It broadens and deepens the conversation. Hopefully, we'll see this conference as a way of bringing the carrotmob to Belize!"

This will be Ron's first trip to Belize and as part of the process, Planeta.com will be updating the Belize Guide and is seeking editors for the Belize Wiki. "My first introduction to Belize was through features we published about ten years ago, including Dominic Hamilton's Belize Leads the Way and Richard Mahler's Community's Control Destiny. I've been waiting a long time to seeing this country with my own eyes!"

BRIEF HISTORY

In 2008, Belize was chosen to host the Third World Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations, the first in the Americas. This conference was slated to be held in May 2009; however, due to the H1N1 Influenza A Virus Pandemic it has been postponed.

The Third International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations (RTD-3) will be held at the University of Belize's Auditorium in the Capital City of Belmopan. The Conference is being co-chaired by Belize's Ministry of Tourism and Professor Harold Goodwin of the ICRT of Leeds Metropolitan University-UK, with sponsorship from the Belize Tourism Board and other local and international organizations.

The International Centre for Responsible Tourism-Belize (ICRT-Belize) is the Central American and Caribbean arm of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism–United Kingdom (ICRT-UK). All ICRT branches share a common objective which is to work with the private sector, government and local communities to “take responsibility for achieving sustainable tourism, and to create better places for people to live in and for people to visit” wherever they are located.

PHOTO CONTEST

As a special presentation, Ron Mader is collaborating with Carol Patterson in awarding two copies of Carol's latest book -- Reinventure: How Travel Adventure Can Change Your Life -- to conference participants who publish their photos on Flickr from Belize during the event. Complete rules will be documented online the Belize Wiki.