2011 Tourism Makes a Difference© Awards Call for Entry
On January 12, 1994 my family’s life changed forever.
My 68 year-old dad had a serious stroke, leaving him right side paralyzed plus a 90% loss of speech. For 16 years before he died, my awareness and appreciation for people with disabilities was transformed.
I got my passion of business and adventure from my dad. Even though he was now restricted to a motorized scooter, he still wanted to be a part of the adventures whenever possible…
That’s why when I heard about Tourism For All and their mission to enhance accessibility in the tourism industry, I knew I wanted to interview CEO Jenifer Littman.
Doing Good is Good Business
Tourism For All is doing amazing work. They can help tourism professionals do good and tap into what is the largest growing underserved niche in tourism today: travelers with accessibility issues. This includes disabled and seniors with physical limitations.
A recent study in the United Kingdom, revealed that at least 12% of all travelers either have a family, friend or know someone who has accessibility issues.
How to Grow Your Tourism Business & Do Good Too
If you want to grow your travel or hospitality business 12% or more, without a lot of expense, while doing good for your community and your business, then here’s your opportunity.
Watch this short video interview with
Jenifer Littman, CEO of Tourism For All now.
Jenifer shares resources, guidance and a case study of accelerated business profits, just by enhancing accessibility for all. This is a growing niche market you should become involved with.
Win My New $500 Tourism Marketing Success Course
As part of our commitment to give back and to do good for our tourism community, Travel Business Success is sponsoring the 2011 tourism industry award: Tourism Makes a Difference©.
I have seen many examples of tourism businesses integrating “giving back” or “giving forward” into their business model that has reaped rewards for all.
Here’s you opportunity to be recognized by peers and help your community. The grand prize award winner will be interviewed and featured on Travel Business Success.com, plus get free access to my new Tourism Marketing Success program that could help you double your 2012 sales. Everybody wins!
How to Enter: (submission accepted until December 31, 2011)
1: Write a short summary (500 words or less) of how you are doing good (giving back or giving forward) in your tourism business or destination to help your clients, staff, community and/or the environment. If you want to submit a photo or video with your written, please send them to me for inclusion.
2: Submit your short summary in the comments box below this blog posting on Travel Business Success.
3: Share your stories with friends and associates via the Facebook and the social media buttons on this site so we can all learn from your good work.
Our panel of tourism industry experts will select the top ten submissions. The 2011 award winner will be voted on by Travel Business Success subscribers just like you in early 2012.
Get a Free Copy of The Top Case Studies
The top Tourism Makes a Difference© submissions will be included in an upcoming guide that I will make available to you and the industry for free. I am confident these stories will be both uplifting for you, and a good “Giving Back” road map you can use for your business or destination too.
I look forward to helping each and every one of you grow your business, and enhance quality of life for all in 2012.
Thank you in advance for liking, sharing and tweeting this contest with friends and associates so we receive a lot of submissions, learn from each other and do more good in the world.
To your success, Tourism Tim Warren
Hello Tim,
I really want to learn from you. Right now I am taking three tutorials and that is too much considering the time I spend on my business. Probably your course is the one that I should be taking but somehow I was with the understanding that you weren’t going to offer another this year so I didn’t save room. I know several things that would help my websites but just haven’t had time or know how to do them.. I would like to do the things I think should be done before I take your course. I have also spent over my budget already for this type of thing. However, pleas keep in tough with me for a later date. I haven’t been in the adult market very long.
Thank you.
Gail Goodwin
eet@eastlink.ca
Entry for Tourism Makes A Difference:
Being a small tour operator in the niche market of craft beer tours, you wouldn’t think we could make much of an impact on the economy, but you might be surprised, we were! In any growing industry, advocacy and awareness are key to growth. In fact, we have given awards to some of the breweries we visit for just that. We call it the A+ award. We strive to achieve our own A+ standards as well. Here are a few examples:
A while back, one of the breweries in an area we visit was having difficulty in obtaining permission from their city to have a tasting room allowed on their premises. We of course, sent in our request of support, as well as promoted the info for others to make their voices heard through our social media outlets. During the hearings, our company was brought up as bringing tourism to the area (to tour this and other breweries). Eventually they allowed the tasting room to be brought in. This is one of the top craft breweries in the state, providing a number of jobs ( more since they now have to staff the tasting room) and others in the area are now able to follow suit.
When we first approached Fleming’s Steakhouse in Tampa to do a beer paired dinner for our group, they were hesitant, because they were a “wine bar”! “Who would want craft beer with their steak?” Well, long story short, they are now not only carrying the craft beers we introduced them to on their menu, but they are now hosting their own beer dinners. Again, we have helped the craft beer industry to grow in our community.
What impact does this have on main street USA? Well, how about this: Growth of the craft beer industry was 16.2% in dollars from Oct 2010 to Oct 2011, so while the economy may not be pretty right now, the craft beer industry continues to grow and provide jobs for people. In fact, 50 breweries in 20 states opened in the last two months. We will be visiting one of the newest on our next tour, bringing in people who might not have ever known they existed otherwise.
We’ve found in order to be successful though, you have to give back. On a recent tour, we donated $200 to the Saint Jude’s Children’s Fund as part of the prizes we offered to the winners of a scavenger hunt.
We also set up and hosted a beer tasting event to raise money for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life.
The point is, there are always ways to make your work serve others as well as yourself.
We continue to look for other ways to improve our community relations, and were very inspired by Tourism for All and are currently working on making some of our tours accessible! We look forward to adding this awesome addition to our tours!
Cheers!
Ruth Berman and Mike Arra
Bon Beer Voyage
Thanks Ruth and Mike for your great work as advocates for a growing tourism niche, helping your fellow stakeholders and making charitable donations a part of your business model.
I really appreciate your enthusiasm, idea and submission to the 2011 “Tourism Makes a Difference award. We are still assessing submissions and will keep you posted.
I plan on making a MUCH bigger program in 2012 with award showcasing how tourism professionals are enhancing quality of life for their staff, community and environment, often with little or no connection to their business. it’s just the right thing to do.
Keep up the good work and keep me posted.
Cheers, Tourism Tim
Everyone wins.
With my 87 year old paralyzed father now in a wheelchair for a number of years we are fully aware how people with mobility issues are precluded from many things in life. With that in mind we have tailored our 4×4 ADVENTURE tours to be able to take people in wheelchairs on a 4WD tour into the Southern Alps here in New Zealand. We provide a manual chair and as long as we can actually get them into a high clearance 4 WD they can see the magnificent sights just the same as any able bodied person. We tried all our tours out on dad!!!
We can tailor make tours that take into account a persons disability, we have even taken out blind people and described for them what we were seeing and through the peace and tranquility and sweet scents of the mountain air they were able to enjoy the day almost as much as their seeing companions.
We carry EPIRBs ( distress beacons) in case of emergencies as we are often a long way from civilisation. If you look at our website http://www.4x4adventures.co.nz a picture says a thousand words and for anyone thinking of coming to New Zealand.. yes we are open…. only a very small part of the central part of the city of Christchurch was affected by the earthquakes… the rest of the country is ready and waiting for tourists.
We can offer exclusive tailor made tours to work around your disability and have already taken out many people with disabilities health and medical issues…. And even almost completely cured one young lady of epilepsy….she spent several hours just watching a waterfall and left feeling tranquil refreshed and above all almost seizure free since! We know there is protein in our crisp clear mountain air that will revive and refresh the spirit even if the body is still not cooperating!!
We can arrange wheelchair friendly accommodation and in most places enroute we have wheelchair access toilets or can detour to them. Our tours are suitable for anyone aged 6 to 106. We use Toyota Landcruiser Prado vehicles and if the market is big enough we don’t mind investing in a specially adapted 4WD type of van with a wheelchair hoist so that people fully confined to a specially adapted wheelchair can also access our tours.
We already cater for people with special diets so special needs are not new or a problem to us. We have a motto… we can do anything…. the impossible we do at once, miracles take a little longer… but we can’t do anything about the weather!!
Come and see New Zealand home of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings!! You won’t be disappointed…. the films don’t do it justice!!
…………………………..
Kind regards
Happy New Year Phil and Sandi;
I deeply appreciate your work integrating wheelchair access into your cool 4×4 adventures. This is an activity that most wheel-chair bound people miss out on. Good work!
Thanks for your 2011 “Tourism Makes a Difference” submission. We are still accessing submissions and will let you know soon.
I wish my father was still with us. I would have loved to do your adventures with him.
Keep up the good work, keep me posted on your other trips and wok your are doing to “give back” via tourism.
To your success, Tourism Tim
PS How are things in Christansted? How are you and businesses recovering? Love to do a follow up sometime. Let me know.
Any successful entrepreneur usually has a set of qualities that makes him or her stand out and be successful. I found a good article talking about that and you can read more here about five qualities of successful entrepreneurs. What the article basically boiled down to is that it depends upon your focus and persistence. Anyone can have a dream or a desire but the truly successful entrepreneurs are the ones who keep their eye on the ball.