Free webinar series promotes and discusses expanding role of Responsible Tourism

Kick-starting for summer on June 4th, 2009, seven leading global advocates of responsible tourism will be presenting at a public webinar on the present and future of responsible travel industry.

As the inaugural "event," speakers will discuss and illustrate the thoughts and ideas of  Responsible Tourism Week 2009 – an online discussion held the week of May 18-22 that focused on responsible tourism around the world.

Using examples pulled from their extensive store of experiences or promoted through their organizations, the speakers’ primary objective is to demonstrate the universal appeal of responsible tourism to a broad range of constituencies in all sectors.

The initial webinar will also serve as an open invitation for interested parties to participate in future discussions as well as be a guest speaker.

To register, visit http://rtweek09-pr.eventbrite.com/ . Attendance is limited to 90 people and is on a first-come-first-served basis.

Featured presenters

Sally Broom – CEO , Your Safe Planet & Fringe Network
Sally Broom is founder of  YourSafePlanet.com – a global network that connects travellers with experts at the grassroots who advise on trip planning using their up-to-date local knowledge – and Fringe Network – an online network that works to bring attention and energy to grassroots projects and, through collaboration, facilitate more local/sustainable travel.

Stephen Chapman – Founder , Make Travel Fair
Stephen Chapman is the founder of Make Travel Fair – a site that won a TravelMole Web Award in its first year for ‘Best Online Education Site’, and more recently he was selected as ‘One-to-Watch’ in Travel & Leisure as part of The Courvoisier Future 500.

Len Cordiner – CEO of whl.travel
Len Cordiner is the founder of whl.travel – a global grassroots network of travel websites catering to independent travelers journeying off the beaten track and tired of the limited travel options offered by most online service providers. whl.travel emphasizes responsible travel and keeping things local by focusing on smaller hotels, guesthouses and tour operators, particularly, but not exclusively, in developing countries where it can really make a difference.

Ron Mader – Founder, Planeta
Ron Mader is a professional journalist and founder of Planeta.com – the web’s first site dedicated to ecotourism – promoting environmental conservation, responsible travel and peacemaking.

Kenrick Theus – Director, International Centre for Responsible Tourism-Belize
Kenrick Theus is the Food and Beverage Management Lecturer at the University of Belize for the Bachelor Degree Students as well as one of the founding members of  the International Centre for Responsible Tourism-Belize (ICRT-Belize).

Valere Tjolle – Editor, Vision on Sustainable Tourism , TravelMole
TravelMole is the most highly acclaimed and largest global online community for the travel and tourism industry with over 450,000 registered newswire subscribers – travel and tourism professionals worldwide.