Group Tour Magazine - February 2023 - 15

NEWS & NOTES
Terry Dale, Nadine Pinto, Ana
Esteves, and Kelly P. Sahner
The Excitement
Lights Shining Bright
The United States Tour Operators Association's (USTOA) 2022 Future Lights of the
Tour Industry recipients were awarded for their work as champions of sustainability
and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within their companies. Pictured from
left: Terry Dale, USTOA president and CEO; Nadine Pinto, global sustainability manager,
The Travel Corporation & TreadRight and Future Lights recipient; Ana Esteves,
vice president of hotel operations, Lindblad Expeditions and Future Lights recipient;
and Kelly P. Sahner, chief commercial officer, Trip Mate, a Generali company and
marquee sponsor of the program. Not pictured is Dennis Nyambworo, Abercrombie
& Kent philanthropy coordinator in Uganda and Future Lights recipient, who was
unable to attend the award ceremony, held during USTOA's 50th anniversary gala
last December. ustoa.com
of Discovery
The American Museum of Natural
History in New York City has
announced the Richard Gilder Center
for Science, Education, and Innovation
will open to the public on Feb.
17. Featuring breathtaking architecture
inspired by natural Earth
processes, the Gilder Center will feature
an immersive experience that
reveals the natural world through
spectacular visualizations of scientific
data, an insectarium, a permanent
butterfly vivarium, a redesigned
library, state-of-the-art classrooms,
and more. It is designed by Studio
Gang, the international architecture
and urban design practice led
by Jeanne Gang.
The Gilder Center connects many
of the museum's buildings, creating
a continuous campus across four
city blocks as envisioned more than
150 years ago. Intellectually, it provides
a dramatic embodiment of one
of the museum's essential messages:
All life is connected.
amnh.org
Tracking Travel
and Tourism's
Climate Footprint
New data from the London-based World
Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) details
the climate footprint of the global travel
and tourism sector. WTTC and Saudi
Arabia-based Sustainable Global Tourism
Center issued the inaugural Environmental
& Social Research late last year. Previous
estimates suggested the global travel and
tourism sector was responsible for up to
11% of all greenhouse gas emissions, but
WTTC's research shows that in 2019 the
10 FEBRUARY 2023
sector's emissions totaled 8.1% globally.
Between 2010 and 2019, the sector's gross
domestic product grew on average 4.3%
annually, while its environmental footprint
increased by 2.4%.
The council says the divergence of
the sector's economic growth from its climate
footprint from 2010 to 2019 is evidence
that travel and tourism's economic
growth is decoupling from its greenhouse
gas emissions.
" Until now, we did not have a sector-wide
way to accurately measure our climate footprint, "
says Julia Simpson, WTTC president
and CEO. " This data will give governments
the detailed information they need to make
progress against the Paris Agreement and
the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
Travel and tourism is making huge strides
to decarbonize, but governments must set
the framework. We need a steely focus on
increasing the production of sustainable aviation
fuels with government incentives. The
technology exists. We also need greater use
of renewable energy in our national grids-
so when we turn on a light in a hotel room, it
is using a sustainable energy source. "
This research covers 185 countries across
all regions and will be updated each year.
wttc.org
PHOTO USTOA
http://www.amnh.org http://www.ustoa.com http://www.wttc.org
Group Tour Magazine - February 2023

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