The first Responsible Skiing Conference was held on the 19th October at Earls Court in London alongside the London Ski and Snowboard Show.  Over 90 attendees from 10 countries around the world packed the room to hear some answers to the question “What would Responsible Skiing look like?”

Veronica Tonge from Responsible Skiing kicked off the day with an Introduction to and Business Case for Responsible Skiing.  This really set the scene for the day and the presentations that followed illustrated many of the points raised in her introduction.

ABTA followed with their approach to sustainable tourism demonstrating responsibility in a finite world and how to have thriving destinations.  They highlighted the industry-wide Travelife scheme.

The Ski Club of Great Britain was up next with some fascinating statistics and trends in the UK ski market and an introduction to their Respect the Mountain campaign.

Neilson Active gave an overview why sustainable tourism is a priority for them and the various ways that they go about implementing it throughout their programme.

Eurostar and Snowcarbon combined to discuss the benefits of travelling by train to the mountains but also some of the difficulties for tour operators wanting to integrate train travel into their packages.

Alpe D’Huez presented a case study of implementing ISO 14001 in their lift operations and the benefit that it has brought.

Crystal Ski (TUI) presented clearly why sustainability is core to their business and how they manage their carbon and work with their supply chains to implement change.

The Austrian National Tourist Office explained the Austrian approach to Responsible Skiing and why sustainability is at the heart of Austrian people and destinations.

The conference heard from Whistler how they are putting environmental management into practice on the mountains at Whistler Blackcomb.

The Green Tourism Business Scheme explained their programme and how it has been implemented in ski resorts in Scotland and Sweden.

Exodus – the adventure travel operator – demonstrated how the market for winter holidays can be widened to incorporate a much broader range of people and activities.

The day was concluded by Harold Goodwin of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism – who had ably chaired the conference all day.

Feedback was unanimously positive for the day “very thought provoking”, “really interesting content”, “excellent speakers” and calls for it to be run again next year.

If you missed the conference or want to listen to or view the presentations again – click here.

We’ll be highlighting some of the key points from the speakers over the next few weeks and opening up the debate – join in!

The speaker programme for the Responsible Skiing Conference has now been finalised.   There is a high profile and varied set of speakers including ABTA, Neilson, Alpe D’Huez, Eurostar, Crystal Ski, The Ski Club of Great Britain, the Austrian National Tourist Board, Exodus, the Green Tourism Business Scheme, Whistler Blackcomb and Veronica from Responsible Skiing will also be presenting.

Each speaker will address a different aspect of the topic such as implementing ISO14001, managing supply chains, maximising local economic benefits, ski resort innovation, engaging skiers in sustainability, developing food and farming partnerships and lowering the impact of resort operations.

The conference is being chaired by Professor Harold Goodwin of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism.

The conference is being held on 19th October 2011 in the Thames Room at Earls Court in London.

To attend the conference – click here to register.

This year for the first time an inaugural conference is being held in London addressing the question "What would Responsible Skiing look like?".

The event is being held on 19th October alongside the London Ski and Snowboard Show at Earls Court in London and will have an exciting line up of speakers sharing why they see sustainbility as a priority and how they are making snowsports more sustainable. 

As organiser and sponsor of the event, Veronica Tonge will be presenting her views on how snowsports can work in harmony with the environment and local communities.

“Responsible Skiing should be about engaging with the mountain destination, enjoying a range of winter activities in beautiful surroundings, and having a fun and memorable stay, but not at the cost of the environment or the local population. 

This one-day conference will equip the trade and media with practical ideas to take away and ways to communicate effectively with snowsports enthusiasts.”

The event is also being sponsored by ABTA, The Ski Club of Great Britain, The International Centre for Responsible Tourism and the Ski and Snowboard Show.

To find out more - click here for more information.

Click here to register to attend