Making Tourism Destinations Sustainable
Tourisk is an international consulting firm specializing in sustainable tourism and the protection of fragile cultures, ecosystems and tourism destinations. It has an extensive portfolio of projects worldwide as well as considerable experience with the development of tools in support of sustainable development for international agencies and institutions. (See downloads area to obtain a number of tools and documents which we urge people to use where appropriate.) Tourisk was incorporated in 2003 and its principals have worked in the field of sustainable development and tourism for over 25 years.
The term” Tourisk” originated with the concept of risk management for tourism and its destinations, and also reflects the Spanish “Todos riesgos” and French ” Tous les risques” reflecting the holistic approach which we take in our work in several languages. Tourisk also works to broaden the concept of integration of human=biosphere relationships for all communities and ecosystems.
The Mission of Tourisk Inc.
Our mission is to foster more sustainable planning and management of tourism for the benefit of tourists, the tourism industry and host destinations. With project experience in more than forty countries, Tourisk provides studies and analyses, evaluation and training services including work in sustainable development, environmental management, risk scan and management, accessibility solutions, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. A current focus is on providing the new iAccess.world program to provide information to challenged travelers to make their travels safer and more satisfying.
To this goal, Tourisk Inc. provides a range of consulting and training services to the tourism industry worldwide. Tourisk Inc. was founded in 2003, and its staff has over forty years experience as consultants, advisers, and analysts in all parts of the world. Dr. Manning, the President, has been the leader of the international task force on indicators for sustainable tourism for the World Tourism Organization, lead consultant on the current program to establish Observatories of Sustainable Tourism worldwide, and has managed tourism development projects in five continents. Tourisk Inc. focuses on integrative methods for planning for communities and tourism destinations and has been an important part of the development of indicators and standards for sustainability for tourism internationally.
Tourisk Inc. is active in the development of criteria and standards for sustainability for tourism destinations, the implementation of information standards internationally to support accessible travel designing the criteria and indicators for the project to define and monitor sustainable destinations for GSTC, and designing procedures for the assessment of impacts of mass and cruise tourism on small and sensitive destinations. Many of the tools and techniques pioneered by Tourisk can be accessed and downloaded on this site.
Current projects include work internationally in the definition of the concept of wellbeing and how to create meaningful metrics and outreach methods to change the dialogue from economic measures and growth to a more sustainable future for humanity and the planet which supports it.
Tourisk Inc. provides consulting and training services to governments, enterprises and academic institutions on a cost recovery basis. Rates are commercially competitive but may be waived or negotiated in the case of socially beneficial projects of interest to Tourisk Inc.