SPECIAL ISSUE – Dashain, LinkedIn, Singapore and ITB Asia
Dear reader,
this week, the office of the Meaningful Tourism Centre in Kathmandu is closed, as the week of Dashain has arrived, the most important festival for Nepal. There is also no podcast in the Travel Dialogues South Asia series to report on for the same reason.
However, we are providing you with a special issue in the form of this extended editorial to share a couple of positive news with all of our readers.
First of all, we are finally back on LinkedIn. The full edition of Meaningful Tourism Weekly is published on Ghost (https://meaningful-tourism-weekly.ghost.io/) and is free to subscribe to for everybody.
However, we are also publishing a shortened version on LinkedIn. This version could not be provided in the last few weeks as the LinkedIn account was hacked. Fortunately, after several efforts, we are back in control, and if you are reading this on LinkedIn, you can see it works.
Secondly, there is some major news about the organizational structure of the Meaningful Tourism Centre, which has found a new home as a Limited Private Company in Singapore under the name – you guessed it – Meaningful Tourism Centre Pvt. Ltd.
Finally, your humble editor is currently in Singapore and attended the ITB ASIA, organized by the Mes Some ITB fairs, organized by Messe Berlin.
Some fairs are a bit too small for many potential visitors and exhibitors to invest the time and money to participate, like the still struggling ITB India. Some others, like the ITB Berlin, the mother of all tourism fairs, are so big that you never meet somebody serendipitously.
ITB ASIA, which was hosted from October 21–23, 2026 by the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore, felt just right. Big enough to bring together all European and Asian major players, but small enough to bump into old friends not seen since the pandemic. The integrated conference illustrating the motto of this year "Experiences in Motion: Human-Centred Design in Travel & Tourism" had enough diversity of topics, but did not create the urgent wish to listen to two or three parallel presentations at the same time.
About 1,000 exhibitors, 1,500 buyers, and close to 20,000 attendees from 132 countries met in Singapore, some of them also coming for the MICE Show Asia and Travel Tech Asia parts, which are integrated into the ITB Asia.
The general mood could be described as careful optimism, seeing rising numbers of visitors to most destinations, while at the same time recognizing the growing number of military conflicts and natural disasters, whose frequency and severity are increasing month by month.
The biggest international tourism source market in the world, China, is finally on the way to reach the quantitative levels of 2019 again. The way Chinese travellers are planning their trips and executing it, however, has dramatically changed, as for example, the Hong Kong-based expert and old friend of MTC, Anita Chan, showed, presenting new research results of her company, Compass Edge. Social Media have become the new search engine, and such search is now looking for the best place for preferred activities, rather than starting with a destination as the first level of decision. She also pointed out the growing importance of the 50+ age market segments, travellers with more money, time and travel experience that the younger age groups and now often not burdened anymore by the need to spend time and money on their grandchild(ren) as their daughter refuse to give up their career to become a mother.
For your humble editor, as the Executive Director of the Meaningful Tourism Centre, the ITB Asia will also remain the place where in 2022, sponsored by Visit Berlin, the first Meaningful Tourism Awards were given to early adopters of the holistic approach to tourism, which is finding more and more recognition and acceptance in the tourism and hospitality industry. PATA Pacific Asia Travel Association adopted A Meaningful Tourism Economy as the Vision for the Asia-Pacific region, recently the Pakistan Tourism Development Council leadership assured the willingness of the stakeholders in Pakistan to use the Meaningful Tourism paradigm as the leading guideline for the development of tourism in the country.
On the third day of the fair, and as the very last panel discussion of the whole conference, a Sustainability Panel with the title "The Next Decade of Sustainable Travel" featured several experts, including your humble editor, on the stage of the Knowledge Theatre. They were asked to share their perspective on embedding sustainability into travel strategy, product development, and destination management, helping businesses position themselves competitively while creating ethical and meaningful experiences for travellers worldwide.
The speakers included Preethi Sanjeevi, CEO & Co-Founder of Greytt.ai; Mark Wong, the Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World; Assistant Professor Dr. Kaewta Muangasame, Project Director of the Thailand Green Plan 2030 Project, Department of Tourism of Thailand (DOT), and Director of the Sustainable Tourism Action Center (STAC), as well as Vinita Penna, Marketing Manager of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council as chairperson.
It was a great pleasure to hear all other panelists endorsing the concept of Meaningful Tourism as a useful next step in the development of sustainable tourism. It was pointed out that the concept, especially when supported by AI tools, is able to provide the base of the necessary customization of offers and the communication of such offers to the relevant source market segments. The many Community Based Tourism projects in Thailand, as well as, for instance, the curated extramural activities of small luxury hotels, were all seen as potentially benefitting from a scientifically sound strategy as provided by the Meaningful Tourism paradigm.
The need to step up this work was proven by the destination Singapore itself, which has been covered by the “Haze” of bad air caused by burning fields and forests in neighbouring Indonesia. It has been shrouding the city for a record period of three weeks, resulting in equally record levels of patients in hospitals treated for respiratory problems. Cancelled flights and cancelled hotel reservations are direct consequences, the damage to the destination brand the even more important result for a city which is proud about its level of cleanliness and flawless organization. Smoking or vaping in public places is prosecuted with a fine of more than 1,500 USD, when inhaling the air alone is more dangerous to the health of the visitors.
In the coming week, everything should go back to normal and we hope that we will be able to provide regular editions of the Meaningful Tourism Weekly to our readers again.
As always, all best wishes from the Meaningful Tourism Weekly team in Kathmandu and Manila, and from the whole Meaningful Tourism community to all our readers!
MTC Certified Trainers
Below is an overview of all Certified Trainers for the Meaningful Tourism Transformational Game Workshop, along with the World Map showing the countries we currently cover.
The MTC Certified Trainer network is constantly growing. As the map shows, dedicated experts already serve many countries and regions worldwide. However, MTC is continuously looking for professionals with experience in training or lecturing and a passion for sustainable tourism to join the network and fill the gaps on the map.
About Meaningful Tourism Weekly
Meaningful Tourism Weekly is published every Thursday by Meaningful Tourism Centre (MTC) - London and Kathmandu, in collaboration with Travel Asia Now, led by Rhea Vitto Tabora.
Each issue features an Editorial, updates on MTC activities, a Best Practice Example, a profile of an MTC-certified trainer, news about upcoming events, and, occasionally, additional op-ed pieces from guest authors. The Meaningful Tourism News section also includes carefully selected news items, including videos and podcasts, with links to their original sources.
Subscription to Meaningful Tourism Weekly is free, with the addition of a paid content section that includes a library of surveys, exclusive articles, conference presentations, and statistical data, offering subscribers invaluable resources.
Sponsorship opportunities are available for those interested in supporting this initiative.
For more information about MTC's training programs, market research, product adaptation, consulting services, conferences, strategy development, and marketing, visit our website or email us at info@meaningfultourismcentre.org.
