Webinars

Upcoming Webinars

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Past Webinars

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Lunch & Learn Session: 14 November, 12.00 - 12.45 pm CEST

Lunch and Learn with Anita Dodds: Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation by Voluntourists in South-East Asia

Voluntourism in Southeast Asia is growing, but it raises critical concerns about child protection and sector regulation. Anita Dodds, a criminologist with 30 years of experience, discussed how offenders exploit voluntourism and what measures are being taken, especially post-COVID-19, to safeguard children. 
 

She highlighted gaps in regulations, local authority efforts, and practical steps for promoting child-safe tourism. Dodds is a close partner of ECPAT, a member of the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism.
 

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Lunch & Learn Session: 19.Juni 2024, 12.00 - 12.45 pm CEST

Lunch and Learn with Ventura Travel / V Social Foundation: Intersectoral Cooperation for Positive Impact in Travel Destinations - A Case Study From Mexico

This brief, inspirational session with our member, Ventura Travel and their V Social Foundation, showcased how the collaboration between nonprofit organizations and the private sector can significantly improve the well-being of local communities in travel destinations. 
Our case study took us to Mucuyche, a small community in Yucatán, Mexico, where V Social supports a group of 12 women venturing into tourism in 2016, seizing the opportunity to attract visitors seeking cultural experiences and tours to the nearby cenote Yaaz Utzil. By pointing out the trajectory of this grassroots effort, focusing on gender equality, we pointed out how tourism can really make a difference and also point out the urgency to think and do tourism differently.
 

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Lunch & Learn Session: 29.April 2024, 12.00 - 12.45 pm CEST

Lunch and Learn with Planet Abled: Mainstreaming Accessibility and Inclusion in the Tourism Industry

Join us for a concise and insightful session by Planet Abled and gain valuable insights on fostering better inclusion and learn actionable steps towards enhancing accessibility in tourism. Learn from Neha Arora, founder of Planet Abled, how to ensure businesses and destinations are driving inclusion and have the capability to welcome all types of disabled travellers. 
This session is held by Planet Abled and organised by the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism. 
 

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Lunch & Learn Session: 18.March 2024, 12.00 - 12.45 pm CET

Lunch & Learn Session: ANVR's Work Towards The Eradication of Child Exploitation in Tourism

With the support of the government and in collaboration with a broad consortium of Dutch tour operators and their local Indonesian DMCs, the ANVR (the Dutch branch organisation for outbound tourism) has been working in recent years to map and tackle child labour and other forms of child exploitation related to tourism in Indonesia. 
Learn from Frank Radstake, deputy director of ANVR, about this multi-stakeholder project and ongoing work to tackle child labour and exploitation in the tourism value chain. This session was held by ANVR, a member of the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism.

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Lunch & Learn Session: 13.February 2024, 12.00 - 12.45 pm CET

 TourCert speaks about the Tourism Impact Alliance

Join this short informative session with our member TourCert about the Tourism Impact Alliance project and learn how they work towards impactful certification in tourism.
There will be also time for discussion and questions. 

The Tourism Impact Alliance is an international project implemented by TourCert and co-financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO. The project addresses the challenge of over 150 tourism sustainability labels and the many different standards and aims to promote harmonization of standards and measurability of sustainability performance. 
The project aims to improve the transformational impact of companies, destinations and supply chains through performance measurement, digitalization and impact orientation. This is where value-oriented and tourism-competent certifiers can play a crucial role, if given the chance.

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Webinar: 19 April 2023, 11 am - 12 pm CEST

Launch Destination Risk Map
An Interactive Map to Access Country-Specific Human Rights Risks for the Tourism Industry

The "Destination Risk Map" is a virtual and interactive world map based on 13 international indices that comprehensively cover various tourism-relevant human rights issues, such as children's rights, labour rights, freedom rights and environmental sustainability. Each country is displayed based on an overall score in corresponding colour scaling. So far, the map covers data for 36 destinations particularly relevant for European tour operators. In the future, further data will be added. The tool gives a first overview of the human rights situation in a destination. It is a valuable supplement to the existing "Get Started" tool, which shows human rights risks along the tourism value chain.

In this webinar, the Roundtable presents its new tool and existing offers for tourism businesses to address their risks in the value chain and act with human rights due diligence.

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Webinar: 28 March 2023, 11 am - 12 pm CEST

Launch Guideline
Responsible Tourism in Oppressive Regimes - A Guide for Tour Operators to Put People First

The tourism industry sends travellers all over the world and maintains economic relations accordingly. A boycott cannot be the solution - but it is the responsibility, also of small and medium-sized enterprises to act with special care and attention when dealing with oppressive regimes. This applies where challenging political conditions have existed for years, are just changing or where new destinations and travel markets are emerging.

We introduce the new printable online publication "Responsible Tourism in Oppressive Regimes – A Guide for Tour Operators to Put People First". It helps tour operators with the complex question of how to offer responsible tourism in politically challenging countries as it guides through the first steps, showcases possible fields of action and offers additional links and resources.
This webinar is explicitly targeted at SME tour operators, product managers and CSR representatives and is intended to

  • Give an overview of the key points to consider
  • Make you understand your impact opportunities
  • Show concrete measures to take action
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Webinar: 12 July 2022, 11 am - 12 pm CET

Choices for Human Rights
How Tourism Businesses Can Influence and Sensitise Their Travellers

It is often unawareness and a lack of sensitisation that lead to the demand for products incompatible with human rights and environmental due diligence. The phenomena of human rights risks and violations in tourism mostly remain invisible to travellers.

This webinar will shed light on how tourism stakeholders can influence travellers to choose more sustainable products with relatively simple means. It will help understand communication's relevance to achieving customer understanding and goodwill for one's business principles and highlight how customers can be sensitised in the destination.

It is targeted at tourism businesses and other stakeholders like DMCs and is intended to

  • Understand the power of understanding when communicating "supposedly unpleasant" topics with customers.
  • Learn how to use this knowledge to nudge customers into more sustainable product choices.
  • Show concrete measures to sensitise customers to social sustainability before and during travel.
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Webinar: 10 May 2022, 11 am - 12 pm CET

Tourism for Good?
Respecting Child Rights in Project Visits

Many tour operators aim to promote cultural exchange and foster an understanding of local customs and societal topics. Therefore, they offer project visits, which enable "authentic" and up-close interactions between travellers and local people. In many cases, these projects have a social component, and often involve children. But as soon as this particularly vulnerable group is included – e.g., by visiting schools, sports projects or community centers –  the line between wanting to do good and causing harm becomes thin.

With the growing trend of tourism activities featuring visits to local projects, more children are involved in tourism and can be put at risk of exploitation. As part of their human rights due diligence, tourism businesses need to develop child-sensitive products, implement policies and adopt approaches that recognise children's vulnerability, seek to mitigate risks and ensure their safety. Continued vigilance is needed not only for child safeguarding measures regarding sexual exploitation but also related to project selection and risk management, direct staff conduct and training, the sensitisation of travellers and the adoption of reporting of suspected cases.

This webinar is targeted at tourism businesses and other stakeholders offering project visits where tourists come into contact with children during their travels and is intended to

  • Provide guidance in ensuring children's rights during tourism-related project visits
  • Raise awareness of the various issues and forms of harm that can arise when children are involved in travel products
  • Show concrete measures on how to implement and improve child protection policies and procedures concerning project visits in tourism
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Webinar: 24 February 2022, 11 am - 12 pm CET

Europe equals easy?
Human Rights in Tourism on the Doorstep – Exemplified by Italy

Even though countries suffering from destabilising factors such as extreme poverty or authoritarian regimes usually top the end of numerous scales to measure human rights development, the supposedly more stable political and economic situation in Europe is by no means immune to this. By focusing on one of the most classic and -popular travel destinations in Europe, this webinar aims to raise awareness of the human rights situation in supposedly unobjectionable destinations. Trade union representative Sarah Lorai and Director of Skedaddle Italia, Naomi Lindfield, both based in Sardinia, will share first-hand reports and guidance on the situation in Italy.

This webinar is explicitly targeted at tourism businesses, associations and other stakeholders operating within Europe and is intended to

  • Raise sensitivity: Human rights in tourism concern every business - also in Europe
  • Show insights: Italy's human rights situation under the lens of a trade union and a tourism agency
  • Get started: Identify human rights risks and integrate measures to protect them in your operations
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Webinar: 30 November 2021, 11 am - 12 pm CET

Turning Drops into Ripples:
How a Living Wage Contributes to Human Rights Due Diligence

Tourism is a major source of employment because of its labour-intensive nature and the significant multiplier effect on jobs in related sectors. But it's also an industry that is often characterised by seasonal contracts, massive overtime, lack of social security, discrimination and inequality. Businesses (in tourism and every other sector) can intensively combat working poverty by paying a living wage to their suppliers and employees. Enabling workers to have a dignified life is essential for human rights due diligence and corporate social responsibility.

This webinar aims to highlight the positive impacts of a living wage. It is targeted at small and medium-sized tour operators, as well as other tourism businesses and is intended to

  • Be a wake-up call: How Covid has worsened working and living conditions around the world
  • Understand the difference between existing and living: How the absence of living wage impacts many human rights
  • Tackle the root: How tour operators identify the appropriate living wage for individual countries and employees
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Webinar 17. August 2021, 11 am - 12 pm CEST

Respecting Human Rights in the Tourism Value Chain
Tools and Offers to Get Started

Sustainability - the big buzzword of our time - is often associated primarily with environmental issues like plastic reduction or the ecological footprint. Tourism is a people's business that depends on the people who work in the industry and live in destinations. And every business activity, also in tourism, has an impact on human rights. Examples of this are land use for accommodations, allocation of scarce resources like water, or staff working conditions.

This introductory webinar will help clarify what every tourism business can do to make travel socially responsible. It is explicitly targeted at small and medium-sized tour operators and tourism businesses and is intended for you to:
▪ understand your stake: be aware of human rights issues your value chain
▪ see the benefit: be clear about the business case to respect human rights
▪ get started: know tools, resources and practical recommendations to implement suitable measures in your strategy and operations

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Webinar 15. June 2021, 11 am - 12 pm CEST

The Suit in the Bag, Due Diligence at Home? Organising Business Travel that Respects Human Rights

This webinar will help clarify what needs to be done to make business travel socially responsible. The focus will be on two crucial basic questions:
How do I book?
How do I train?
People in charge of booking business trips within a company will be advised on how to minimise human rights risks already when choosing accommodation, forms of transport or other services. Companies will be supported to understand how a comprehensive code of conduct supports the company's sustainable narrative and educates employees.
This introductory webinar is explicitly targeted at people who are responsible for planning and booking business trips. Depending on the company's size, this may involve the management, travel managers or individual employees and is intended to:
▪ look before book: Minimise risks from scratch
▪ standardise processes: Include respect to human rights and due diligence
▪ implement a code: Train employees to become more responsible business travellers

Webinar 28 April 2021 Title SDGs

Webinar 28. April 2021, 11 am - 12 pm CEST

Connecting the Dots:
Identifying Human Rights References in the SDGs and the Links with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

This basic webinar will show overlaps and links between human rights, the SDGs, and the UNGPs:
Learn how the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide a way for businesses to contribute to the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Find out how human rights are included in the SDGs and what that means for your business. Identify the first steps to keep an overview and develop a strategy for integrating human rights, SDGs and the Guiding Principles in your business operations. We want to help you to get started.

This webinar is explicitly targeted at small- and medium-sized tour operators and is intended to:

  • see a connection: See the tourism and human rights reference in each SDG
  • prioritise: Define the most relevant SDGs for your company
  • join forces: Use the potential in working together
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Webinar 23. February 2021, 11 am - 12 pm CET

A Human Rights Narrative: Additional Value for your Company, Suppliers, and Customers

Follow the communication principle: Do good and talk about it (in the right way). We focus on effectively and credibly communicating human rights-related efforts.

This webinar is explicitly targeted at people who are entrusted with communication within a tourism business or tourism-related organisation and is intended to:

  • Bringing it to life: Learn how your commitment can be communicated.
  • Avoiding pitfalls: Know how to talk about human rights without being deterrent.
  • Building back better: Understand the benefit of a human rights narrative to be more resilient
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Webinar 10. December 2020

Encounters at Eye Level: Tackling Racism in the Tourism Value Chain

Experts inputs and a good practice example - creating awareness and taking action

This Webinar is explicitly targeted at SME tour operators and has the following objectives:

  • Know the history: Understand the impact of colonialism
  • Create awareness: Learn where we act racist without wanting to
  • Take action: Small steps towards anti-racism in your business and value chain
Title Webinar Schyst Resande 9 December 2020

Webinar 9. December 2020

"How can travel businesses be more responsible for human rights?" 

The seminar was organised by the Swedish organisation Shyst Resande. It tackles the question how tour operators and tourism businesses can work concretely to identify, prevent and manage risks and infringements of human rights in the supply chain.

Contents:

Tourism and human rights

  • Risk and consequence analysis in line with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other frameworks
  • Human rights issues in the tourism value chain

How to assess human rights related risks and impacts along the tourism value chain

  • Presentation of tools and methods to analyse risks
  • How to conduct a value chain Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) assessment - with examples from Thailand and Myanmar

Moderators:
Matthias Leisinger, focusright
Jara Schreiber, Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism

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Webinar 2.October 2019

This is our second webinar to inform interested Roundtable members and other stakeholders about the HRIA blueprint project.

In the first webinar, we explained the overall approach and content of the tool, and the project set up. The second webinar informs about the on-site assessment that was conducted in Thailand and Myanmar from 5 to 17 September, and guides step by step through the content of the blueprint tool before explaining the next steps.

Webinar Human Rights impact assessment August 2019

Webinar 28. August 2019

How can tour operators assess human rights impacts in the value chains?

This 1-hour webinar explains: 

  • the development process, the content and methodology of the digital Roundtable HRIA “blueprint” tool; 
  • the project set-up and how the development of the HRIA “blueprint” tool is connected with the on-site assessment in Thailand and Myanmar; 
  • insights in the process to prepare such an on-site assessment