EplerWood International - Sustainable Development, Ecotourism, Destinations, Communities

Featured Project
Belize Tourism Board Action Plan 2010-2012
Belize

EWI continues to advance Destination Stewardship in Belize by supporting the launch of a Knowledge Management System for the Belize Tourism Board. With Epler Wood's oversight, the Planeterra Foundation and the Cornell Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at the Johnson School of Management have partnered to assess the underlying costs and benefits of sustainable tourism for the country.

In the winter of 2011, a Cornell student team began measuring the social, economic and environmental costs and benefits of tourism development on Ambergris Caye, Belize's number 1 tourism destination. A Planeterra Fellow from Cornell is now preparing approaches to assess the types of strategic investments that local and national government, businesses and local citizens will need to consider to maintain competitiveness, sustainability and local well-being on the Caye in the long term. An article on a portion of this work illuminates the progress that is being made. Read More

Sustainable Development, Ecotourism, Destinations & Communities

About EplerWood International

EplerWood International was launched in January 2003, by Megan Epler Wood, founder and past president of The International Ecotourism Society.

EplerWood International advises the private sector, government, international development projects, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions on sustainable tourism and ecotourism development. Learn more

Epler Wood Spoke at TIES Conference on Ecotourism Destination Management Tools in the 21st Century

Megan Epler Wood spoke at The International Ecotourism Society annual conference "Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference", held on September 19-21, 2011, in Hilton Head Island, SC.

Megan presented on a new Knowledge Management System that has been developed with the Belize Tourism Board, by a multidisciplinary team from Cornell University, the Planeterra Foundation and EplerWood International.

In The News

Voluntourism Research Project with TIES
In October, Epler Wood co-led a stakeholder session at the Adventure Travel and Tourism World Congress in Chiapas, Mexico, with Kristin Lamoureaux of George Washington University.

Global delegates discussed issues related to volunteer management on commercial tours, to provide input for a new set of Guidelines for Voluntourism, slated for publication in 2012. The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) is managing the process with support from the Planeterra Foundation. Learn more

News from the Planeterra Foundation
As Executive Director of the Planeterra Foundation, Epler Wood manages a global effort to support sustainable solutions in iconic travel destinations around the world.

Did you know that tourists spend $200 billion in developing countries each year? Or that 1 in 12 jobs globally is in the tourism industry? No other industry spreads wealth and jobs across developing countries in the same way. Planeterra is using multimedia platforms and social networking to educate people about the powerful, economic reach of the travel and tourism industry for social good. Watch the Planeterra's new video "Did You Know?" here.