On 26 April 2012, Mr Thomas Frommhold assisted the high-level conference organized by TÜV Rheinland Academy titled "Sustainable ways towards Business Tourism in Metropolitan Areas".
As part of its pilot project “Sustainable Business Travel in Berlin”, the Academy dealt with the challenges and solution strategies for Berlin-based enterprises offering services and products to business travelers. In close cooperation with SMEs they have created future scenarios and ideas about the possible range of innovative and sustainable products for business travelers in metropolitan areas and their successful market placement. The experience and best-practice examples gathered in the project were presented during the conference, followed by a lively debate among economic, scientific and political experts.

The Oder-Neiße Cycle Route which follows the two rivers along the German-Polish border: As part of the project „Development, Profile Raising and Marketing of Cycle Tourism and Corresponding Touristic Offers Along The Oder-Neiße Cycle Route “, mas|contour had been assigned by tmu – Tourismus Marketing Uckermark GmbH to moderate the corresponding workshops at three different places along the cycle route (Neuzelle, Groß Neudendorf, Criewen). The World Café turned out to be a successful method for tourism stakeholders and associations to provide a broad variety of input on the theme. One of their main objectives is to tighten their networks in order to strengthen their marketing positioning in this area.

mas|contour has been entrusted by the Nicaraguan trade association „Asociación de Productores y Exportadores de Nicaragua (APEN)“ to support Nicaraguan inbound agencies in their efforts to establish new business relations with European travel stakeholders. The overall aim is to conclude contracts in various source markets (Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway etc.).

mas|contour - staff Jara Schreiber is a participant in the Young Executives program "Young Leaders for Sustainability (YLS) 2012" of the Collective Leadership Institute in Potsdam. The practice-oriented program combines sustainability issues with methods for the design of change processes through dialogue. The aim is to implement a sustainability project for a period of 11 months.

mas|contour has been a member of DRV since February 2012. The German Travel Association – Deutscher ReiseVerband- is the leading lobby of the travel industry in Germany (www.drv.de).

For the fourth time, Ms Nicole Häusler has successfully hosted seminars on the topic ‘Responsible Tourism’ in Myanmar/Burma. The courses had been organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and it was the first time they were held for both the public and the private sector. Ms Häusler ran the two seminars together with Professor Harold Goodwin, Director of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism. The results have been summarized in the Nay Pyi Taw Responsible Tourism Statement.

 

Download

As in previous years, the team of mas|contour will be exhibiting at this year’s ITB, to be held in Berlin from 7 to 13 March 2012. If you would like to visit us in person you can email us at contact@mascontour.info to make an appointment, but you are also very welcome to come to the events at ITB in which our team members will serve as panelists or moderators.

 

Download Program

At the regular’s table of GATE (www.gate-tourismus.de) Matthias Beyer lectured on the consequences of climate change due to winter sports in alpine destinations. He illustrated the currently existing strategies in order to adapt to climate change and maintain tourism as a factor of economic growth in the long term.

mas|contour had been invited by STUBE e.V. (“Studienbegleitprogramm” – a support program for students from Africa, Asia, Latin America and South-East-Europe) to discuss with students from twelve different „developing countries“ the pros and cons of tourism in these regions.

During a one-day-workshop, the chief editors of MAIRDUMONT, Germany’s leading publisher of travel guides, and the staff of mas|contour discussed to what extent the publishing house will strengthen the focus on „sustainability“ in its products.

mas|contour took part as German-speaking public relations representative on behalf of the Serbian Authority for Tourism. We visited the Serbian fair stand at the CMT where we not only enjoyed the interesting exchange of professional views but also the variety of local Serbian products.

In cooperation with the International Fair for Holidays, Travel and Leisure (Vienna), the Austrian organization “Naturfreunde Internationale” (NF) and ECAPT Austria, the Austrian platform of the international network for children’s rights, ECAPT International („End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes“), organized a two-day-program which dealt intensively with CSR and sustainable tourism. mas|contour had been invited to take part in two debates: “CSR and communication” and “Informal training in tourism”

The academy had organized a two-day workshop on “Sustainable tourism in support of sustainable development? Chances and risks of travelling in developing countries”. In the presence of 23 interested participants (teachers, travel agents, graduates) Mrs Nicole Häusler gave two lectures, one titled “Can tourism be a source of development? The promotion of tourism initiatives as part of Germany’s development policy” and the other one titled “Combat poverty by means of private tourism initiatives”.

Within the frame of a new marketing concept for the biosphere reserve Bliesgau mas|contour had organized a workshop and presented the first results of the market and trend analysis of edutainment.

On 2 December 2011 Thomas Frommhold took part in the 3rd expert workshop on "Tourism and Biodiversity" of DTV, German County and Ö.T.E in Magdeburg. Various regional initiatives in the field of nature tourism were presented. Topics in detail: Economic effects, product development, qualification, quality assurance, collaboration and commercialization. The approximately 60 participants were primarily representatives of tourist service operators, tourism associations and initiatives, and local and regional governments. Further information: Link

For the first time, the ‘Tourism Working Group’ of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) took place in Myanmar, in the presence, amongst others, of representatives sent by the six neighbour countries of the Mekong region as well as participants representing the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and PATA. Mrs Nicole Häusler had been asked to perform a half-day workshop focussing on the subject ‘Responsible Tourism’.

 

The meeting, which took place in the ancestral town of Bagan, famous for its old temples, had been professionally organized and was inspired by the current political changes undergoing Myanmar. The participants held various discussions with representatives of the ‘Ministry of Hotels & Tourism’ as well as the ‘Mekong Tourism Board’ about sustainable tourism planning in Myanmar.

Mrs Nicole Häusler assisted the „Luncheon Meeting“of the Thailand PATA Chapter which discussed the improvement of communication structures in the tourism sector in times of crisis. The choice of the discussion topic had been triggered by the recent floods in Bangkok. Mr Martin Graigs, the new Chief Executive Officer of PATA, Mr. Khun Suraphon Sevtareni, the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) as well as Dr. Seksan Narkwong, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism & Sports, were among the panelists. Unfortunately, the subject “Tourism and Climate change” was not a topic during the discussion.

Matthias Beyer was lecturer at University of Applied Sciences Bremen and gave seminars on Tourism in the International Development Cooperation. The training module included topics such as sustainable tourism planning in developing countries, tourism as instrument for poverty reduction, Corporate Social Responsibility as well as environmental management.

Nicole Haeusler and Hendrik Wintjen visited this second biggest tourism fair in Europe. They met with many international colleagues and particularly took part in events on responsible tourism. As a member of the advisory board of the Responsible Tourism Day at WTM, Nicole Haeusler gave a lecture on „tourism and livelihoods“.

Matthias Beyer participated in a specialist talk of the parliamentary group Alliance 90/ The Greens on 21 October 2011 in Berlin. Tourism representatives as well as specialists from the textile and food sector discussed the pros and cons of a national and inter-sectoral sustainability label.

mas|contour is developing, on behalf of the Biosphärenzweckverband Bliesgau (Bliesgau biosphere consortium), a marketing concept for the discovery region Bliesgau in the German federal state Saarland. Based on the documentation and evaluation of the tourist market for edutainment offers, scenarios and innovative marketing measures are developed in order to strengthen the market position of the discovery region Bliesgau in the field of edutainment in the long term.

mas|contour conducted a future workshop with 31 local stakeholders from the Altmark region on 5 October 2011. In various thematic groups the actors developed many ideas how to shape future tourism in the Altmark region. The results of the future workshop serve as basis for the development of a tourism vision for the region.

Glaciers are among the natural features which will be most affected by climate change. Therefore, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences of Vienna and the “pro natura – pro ski” Foundation jointly organised the conference “Topless’ in the future? Glacier Skiing Areas in Times of Change” in Salzburg/ Austria at 28 September 2011 to address this issue and discuss strategies for future tourist use of glaciers. Matthias Beyer gave a lecture on “Tourism in Glacier Skiing Areas: Criticism and Demands from the Sustainable Tourism Perspective”.

This month, the Trentino School of Management (TMS) has published an Italian-speaking book on responsible tourism, with the title Turismi responsabili. Theorie, practise, prospettive. For this publication Nicole Häusler has written an article about informal training in a luxury eco-resort in Sri Lanka: Da bambino avevo un sogno: volevo diventare chef. Attività di training non formali nel settore dell’ospitalità in Sri Lanka.

 

Download Table of Content

On 5 September, experts and media representatives met within the ‚touristic circle‘ in Munich in order to discuss the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in the tourism sector. Besides Matthias Beyer, representatives of TUI, Gebeco, Studiosus Reisen and TourCert were invited as experts.

During the PATA Travel Mart in Delhi Nicole Häusler visited, among other things, the exhibition stand of the north Indian Federal State of Uttarakhand. mas|contour is implementing a project in Uttarakhand on behalf of GIZ to support sustainable tourism. Among the objectives is the development of quality standards as well as sustainable standards for the accommodation sector. Afterwards, Nicole Häusler participated as member of the ‚Sustainable and Social Tourism Committee’ at PATA Board Meeting.

On behalf of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), mas|contour has conducted an analysis on the Philippine islands of Bohol and Cebu to assess to what extent small local enterprises can be better integrated into the hotel supply chain. The analysis considered both the demand and the supply sides and identified a wide range of potential local producers and products to supply the hotel sector. The development of a product catalogue is planned, and a number of events will be organised to bring together the hotel sector and the local enterprises.

Nicole Häusler, Alumna, was invited by the Institute of Social Anthropology and the Faculty of Social Sciences to give an insight in her work as responsible tourism consultant.

mas|contour was commissioned by the Tourism Association Altmark to develop a tourism strategy for the region Altmark in Saxony-Anhalt up to 2030. The aim of the strategy is to pave the way for an integrated tourism and regional planning as well as for innovative tourism products.

Innovators of Mekong tourism convened in Pakse (Champasak Province, southern Laos) on the Mekong River, to share insights and business leads on the region’s emerging destinations on May 27-28. Nicole Häusler gave a presentation on Future Trends in European Markets (www.mekongtourismforum.org).

Whithin the scope of the project „Development of a sustainable Destination Management Structure in the Lake Skadar region“ mas|contour moderated a workshop and helped to organise a study tour to Lake of Constance (Germany) which was attended by twelve tourism representatives from the Lake Skadar Region. Among several other meetings an intense exchange with ‚Internationale Bodensee-Tourismus GmbH’ took place in Costance (www.labhard.de).

Matthias Beyer gave a speech on „Sustainable Wine Tourism“ at the fourth International Wine Tourism Symposium in Iphofen. Symposium participants were tourism professionals and winegrowers from the region Frankonia.

The Riviera Maya is a holiday region on the Carribean coast in South-East Mexico.
On behalf of the Green Ideas Expo, mas|contour evaluated the tourism risks and chances in Tulum and on the island Cozumel and showed to local stakeholders ways for sustainable tourism development.

Matthias Beyer was invited to speak at the fourth Astana Economic Forum and gave a speech on sustainable destination management. The forum was attended by more than 3000 participants from all over the world.

From 13 to 15 April 2011 the second World Tourism Forum was held in Lucerne. This year’s theme was “Sustainability in Tourism: Challenges, Pathways and Intelligent Business Models”. mas|contour was represented by Matthias Beyer, who took the opportunity to exchange information with international experts on questions of sustainability in tourism.

During the celebration of the 60th anniversary of PATA in Beijing Nicole Häusler were selected as member of the „Committee of Sustainable & Social Responsibility“.

mas|contour organized successfully the PR activities of ‚National Tourism Organisation of Serbia - TOS‘ before and during ITB including the organization of the press conference.

With members of the German NGO Futouris e.V. (among others Thomas Cook, TUI AG, Dr.Tigges/Gebeco, TUI Austria and Switzerland), Nicole Häusler carried out a workshop defining the conditions for a successful implementation of sustainable projects promoted by Futouris in the future (www.futouris.org).

During the RBB Kulturradio broadcast „Hörerstreit“ Matthias Beyer was questioned on the consequences of the revolutionary upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia for tourism and discussed with listeners about the current acceptability of travels to North African countries.

mas|contour attended in Berlin an event with the topic “How much sustainability strategies does a green company need?” The event was organized by our principal bank called ‘GLS Bank’; GLS is the first socio-ecological bank in the world (www.gls.de).

In cooperation with ‚Naturfreunde Internationale‘ and ECPAT Austria, ‚Ferienmesse Wien‘ arranged for the first time informative meetings on CSR on January 13 and 14, 2011. Nicole Häusler gave two presentations focussing on ‘CSR and target groups’ and ‘CSR and hotels’.

Within the scope of the Project of “Support to Tourist Destinations to Central and Mountainous Parts of Montenegro”, GIZ wants to establish a sustainable Destination Management Structure, which can function independently upon GIZs phasing out period. This includes establishing DMS, branding of the Lake Skadar region, harmonized development and coordination between current tourism drivers at the lake, and improved tourist information system. masIcontour shall support this process between January and September 2011 by organizing a study tour to Lake Constance (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and by facilitating two stakeholder meetings in Montenegro focussing on the development of a common model of DMS among the stakeholders.

Matthias Beyer and Nicole Haeusler have been admitted as sustainable tourism development specialists to the expert database of the Initiative „Biodiversity in Good Company“ launched by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (www.business-and-biodiversity.de).

 

Download Profil Häusler
Download Profil Beyer