Eventful days at the ITB with many exciting discussions lie behind us. A particular highlight was the panel discussion "Joint Effort, Joint Benefits" on the topic of human rights due diligence in tourism, organized by Futouris together with the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism.
Joint efforts for joint success: Why is a collaborative approach needed to establish human rights due diligence in tourism beyond the legal guidelines? In March 2024, panelists with many years of experience from well-known companies in the tourism industry came together on one stage at ITB to discuss this topic and the industry project initiated by Futouris and the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism.
Caroline Steimle from the FTI Group, Petra Thomas from the association forum anders reisen e.V. and Manfred Häupl from Hauser Exkursionen held exciting discussions on the joint industry project to develop online training courses on human rights due diligence for partners in the destinations. The entertaining discussion was moderated by Katharina Stechl from the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism.
The speakers had a unified approach to the topic and clearly emphasized one central point: It’s important to join forces!
„Effective multi-stakeholder approaches are needed to improve the standards of global cooperation. The players in the industry – some of whom pursue very similar business models – sometimes work with the same partners. This makes it all the more important not to overburden them with several similar formats with the same content on one topic. The aim is to bundle expertise and strength through a joint initiative.“
– Caroline Steimle, FTI Group
„The joint project is an important tool for training our partners and entering into dialog with them. We are currently not in a position to develop this on our own, so I think it is important that this joint platform exists“.
– Manfred Häupl, Hauser Exkursionen
„The German Supply Chain Duty of Care Act only affects a few companies directly, so we need to work together and involve as many stakeholders as possible to truly achieve change and drive sustainable development.”
– Petra Thomas, forum anders reisen e.V.