UVM Blogs

As the week wrapped up, it was time to gather some thoughts from the participants.  These students had come from all different tourism related fields;  we had private sector tour operators-both large and small, certification specialists, donor representatives, national parks policy writers, grad students, continuing education students, NGO…[Read more]

The Gap team started their late afternoon session strong with a catchy 4 minute video called Social Media Revolution , which posed the question…”Is Social Media a fad?  Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?” The “Gapper” guest speakers, Kerri Minns-Social Media Specialist, Star Statulevicius-Sales Supervisor, and Ben…[Read more]

Following the video conference from Africa, Megan led a great session on creating tourism models that bring new economic benefits to rural peoples.  In recent years, sustainable tourism development has become an interesting new opportunity for post war countries.   Megan guided the class through her firm, Eplerwood International’s (EWI),…[Read more]

On Friday, the students were welcomed via video conference by Dr. Anna Spenceley, renowned tourism researcher and editor of the course textbook, Responsible Tourism. Dr. Spenceley joined the class from her office on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa.  Everyone enjoyed the exciting real-time dialog on topics ranging from greening…[Read more]

On day 4, the internationally focused course took a step back and deeper look into local impact with guest lecturers Ann Nygard,  UVM professor Dave Kestenbaum and the Vermont Fresh Network’s Executive Director, Meghan Sheradin.  They also explored certification standards with Green Seal representative, Rani Bhattacharyya. The morning began with…[Read more]

Megan provided insights from her 8 years of working in challenging field situations as an international development consultant, where tourism can be a lifeline for people living far from the benefits of the cash economy and globalization. Her passion to direct the attention of sustainable tourism professionals to the growing importance of tourism…[Read more]

After the mid-day break we heard from Richard Edwards, who shared his experiences in his role as Marketing Director at Gap Adventures, and as the Director of Gap’s foundation,  Planeterra, a non-profit organization with a history of supporting communities through travellers’ desire to give back. The session was full of rich examples of current…[Read more]

Day 2 welcomed Gap Adventures of Toronto, Canada.  Gap Adventures is the world’s largest independent adventure travel company in the world and the students were privileged to received three Gap Adventures sessions throughout the week! CEO, or ” Captain” as he is known by his team, Bruce Poon Tip, enlightened, educated and led the class for nearly [...]

The week started off running with Megan Epler Wood’s orientation lectures and a great kick-off presentation by Peter Shumlin, VT Gubernatorial Candidate and Senate Pro-tem leader. The discussion for the night’s events centered around how sustainable tourism can better benefit local economies. He was joined at the podium by internationally renowned…[Read more]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 9, 2010 Peter Shumlin Speaks at Event at UVM on Tourism, Agriculture and Local Economies Burlington, Vermont Gubernatorial candidate and Senate Pro-tem leader  Peter Shumlin will join a discussion at UVM at 5PM in the Billings Building, Marsh Lounge on how sustainable tourism can better benefit local economies.  He will…[Read more]

Ecotourism Sustainable Ecotourism Lead Instructor: Megan Epler Wood, Lead Lecturer and owner, EplerWood International 2 Global Sustainable Ecotourism Development: Achieving Economic Growth, Alleviation of Poverty, and Environmental Conservation A Five-Day, Intensive Summer Program for Professional Development or College Credit Dates: July…[Read more]