Sustainable Tourism Podcast by the Centre for Responsible Tourism Singapore
The Centre for Responsible Tourism Singapore (CRTS) was founded in 2018 by Kevin Phun, one of the first tourism professionals in Singapore to talk about sustainable tourism a decade ago. The mission of CRTS is to spread awareness of responsible and sustainable tourism in Singapore and Southeast Asia, to introduce responsible tourism principles to both the private and public sectors.
Sustainable tourism is a fairly new concept in Singapore, with a growing understanding of the term and its principles over the last few years. There are increasingly more businesses in the tourism industry coming to grips with the concept, and the government, through the Singapore Tourism Board, has been developing strategies and policies to reflect its growing commitment to sustainability in the local industry.
The CRTS, a private sector company, has been involved in many regional responsible tourism initiatives. For instance, the CRTS has recently concluded the Executive Training Programme with the UNWTO and, in 2024, will be involved in an ADB-funded project in Tajikistan.
The CRTS is also gearing up for some new training initiatives with the government, through Workforce Singapore, on sustainable tourism workshops for travel agents and tour operators.
CRTS online courses
To further raise awareness of key challenges in sustainable tourism and help stakeholders effectively address these issues, the CRTS has launched online courses on their website on responsible and sustainable tourism. Topics include developing an ecotourism trail, tourism as a tool to reduce poverty, intangible cultural heritage, corporate social responsibility for SMEs and environmental sustainability.
PATA members have a 20% discount on all courses. Access the discount code here.
CRTS podcast
In 2021, the CRTS has also launched a podcast on sustainable tourism, which now comprises over 40 episodes! The topics range from ethical wildlife tourism to water management, sustainability certifications, decarbonisation, sustainable MICE and many others.
The latest episode, ‘Responsible tourism, climate adaptation and climate justice’, discusses how tourism can better help destinations and communities adapt to climate change and how it can enable equitable strategies in climate change adaptation. Responsible tourism means exploiting the potential of tourism to enable destinations to reduce the negative trade-offs that might emerge from climate adaptation.
Access the podcast on the CRTS website, on Spotify or on the Spreaker platform.
CRTS Podcast
For any questions or comments, please contact the CRTS here.
