Shooting the Messenger
I seem to have ruffled a few feathers with my Green Rankings for the state tourism websites. I did expect to take some heat, and I was going to let it go by, but after reading some of the stuff being written, I think I need to respond. First, the good stuff.
BuildingCTGreen writes about the rankings, and he also checks out the Connecticut site and confirms the accuracy of the rankings. “I did visit the Connecticut Tourism and Culture site and the ranking is right on. Nothing there to speak of. And it’s a shame. The state has several great eco-friendly tourist attractions such as the Mohegan Sun casino which is powered by two UTC Power fuel cells and has an extensive recycling program or the Saybrook Point Inn which is Energy Star rated, has a DEP Certified Green Marina and has just installed a huge solar array. The folks at triphow.com do mention that most of the states probably have a great inventory of green travel content to populate their sites with; it’s just that some tell their eco-tourism story better than others.”
Florida’s rep posts a comment here, and says that “Thanks for checking out VISIT FLORIDA’s site! Our site is more “tag cloud” search-based than button-based. The downside to this, as you mentioned, is that there is no one page for eco-friendly tourism with all of the content in one place. The upside is that tag cloud searching allows eco-travelers to easily sift through the very large amount of content for a specific part of their eco-trip (green lodging, geocaching, etc.). Perhaps the best way is to incorporate the two and get the best of both worlds…Thanks for the review and suggestions and feel free to keep ‘em coming…”
And now for the bad. First, Mo at Travel 2.0 writes about “why we simply cannot accept the premise of TripHow’s “green” rankings for state tourism sites, which equates a “dedicated green page” to that destination’s commitment to sustainable travel.”
I think I made it perfectly clear that the rankings are about how helpful the websites are to eco-friendly travelers, as opposed to what kind of green initiatives or facilities each of the states have on offer. Anyway, while I certainly don’t agree with Mo that its a ’short term marketing ploy’ to put up a green page informing visitors about eco-friendly hotels and activities available, I can understand that its a debatable issue.
Then, Troy at Travel 2.0 jumps on a couple of spelling mistakes in my review of the Arizona website, and then expands it further into a debate about blogging standards. Does it have any relevance to the fact that Arizona’s website does not have a green page, and that’s what I was saying, and it came across pretty clear, inspite of my poor spelling or apparent disregard for ‘blogging standards’?
Definitely they’re both qualified enough to offer their opinions, and I’ll listen to what they have to say. But with all due respect - Add the green page. Its not going to hurt you, or Arizona, or Orgeon, or the planet. It will, on the other hand, be a good thing even if it directs a handful of potential visitors to your states towards a green trip.
Posted on October 30th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Sustainable Travel, Travel News
Hi PLing,
I think we all agree that some form of ‘green’ or sustainable tourism page(s) on CVB, DMO and all travel industry websites are needed, however Mo and I disagree about the method used to rank them, especially considering the variables that each state encounters when trying to establish a green initiative. For some, it is not as easy as simply adding a green page…or they are trying to establish a longer term strategic plan to address the issue. So, we will have to agree to disagree there.
But, it is certainly a subject that needs more attention from the travel industry.
-Troy
That’s fair enough. My primary intention, as you say, Troy, is to draw attention to this subject, and prod those who aren’t doing anything about it into making a decent effort.
PLing,
Thanks for the props. I agree that your report was clear on its intention and scope of work and should be seen as a benchmark for states to use as they try to develop a better on-line green message to support and promote eco-travel. Fyi, I did let CT’s Tourism Office know about the ranking but haven’t heard back.
Auggie V
Thank you, Auggie, for the post and for letting CT tourism know about it. Even if they don’t get back to either of us, I hope they do something about it.