Earlier this month the International Centre for Responsible Tourism held the first in a series of four conferences which will be held over the year in London and Leeds. The first conference concentrated on tourism’s role in combating poverty and helping develop economic benefits for those that most need it. Future conferences will feature aviation, wildlife tourism and dealing with the media.

Speakers at the event included representatives from the travel industry, international agencies and leading academics from countries as far flung as Spain, Holland, the Gambia and India. The Conference concentrated on the economic responsibility of tourism, the extent to which it contributes to local people and economies as well as ways that it can improve this contribution.

The conference was sponsored by ABTA and K&L Gates. ABTA Director John De Vial who closed the conference said, “Improving the livelihoods of the people who live in the destinations we visit is an increasingly essential function of our industry. We can and do, make a very real difference to the lives of countless people in some of the poorest countries on the planet. This conference provided an ideal opportunity to share expertise and working practices and take this forward”.