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    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    Showing 9 of 101 news items in Tourism & Remote Work
    Awaji Island: Japan’s ‘First Island’ Offers a Gourmet Taste of a Sustainable Future
    Tourism & Remote WorkFebruary 12, 2025

    Awaji Island: Japan’s ‘First Island’ Offers a Gourmet Taste of a Sustainable Future

    Photo Source: https://awajikanko.com/blogg/wp-content/uploads/harusansan1.webp. [Awaji Island](https://pen-online.com/travel/minami-awaji-an-island-city-rich-in-culinary-delights-traditional-crafts-and-theater/), situated in the east of the Seto Inland Sea, boasts lush greenery, rugged mountains, and sacred sites steeped in myth. Revered as the legendary Onokoro Island, it is said to be the first land formed from seawater by the gods Izanagi and Izanami. This deep historical connection contrasts with its vibrant, present-day character. Easily accessible from Osaka or Kobe, the island is just a short drive across the towering Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. Known as Miketsukuni, or a ‘Land of Food,’ Awaji’s legacy as a culinary treasure lives on through exquisite local ingredients and innovative approaches to wellbeing and sustainability. The island straddles myth and modernity, past and future, offering a singular destination where history resonates, nature thrives, and greener possibilities bloom. Nowhere is Awaji Island’s commitment to sustainability more evident than at Haru San San, a farm-to-table restaurant championing local, homegrown produce and sustainable agriculture. Situated amidst fields cultivated using circular farming practices, the building itself, designed by Pritzker Prize laureate [Shigeru Ban](https://pen-online.com/travel/shonai-hotel-suiden-terrasse-un-etablissement-chic-dans-un-region-reculee-du-japon/), forms a natural part of the tranquil scenery, incorporating traditional thatched-roof techniques with an eco-conscious hybrid structure of recycled paper tubes and minimal timber.

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    Sapporo, Japan Sets an Example for Sustainable Winter Tourism: How the Snow Festival is Fighting Climate Change with Renewable Energy
    Tourism & Remote WorkFebruary 4, 2025

    Sapporo, Japan Sets an Example for Sustainable Winter Tourism: How the Snow Festival is Fighting Climate Change with Renewable Energy

    Excerpt and Photo from travelandtourworld.com The Sapporo Snow Festival, one of the most famous winter events in the world, is set to return for its 75th edition from February 4 to 11, 2025, in Sapporo, Japan’s northern capital. Known for its massive and intricately designed snow sculptures, the festival attracts around 2 million visitors each year, making it a key tourism event not only for Japan but also for international travelers seeking a unique winter spectacle. However, recent years have presented significant challenges that could reshape the festival’s future, influencing both domestic and international tourism trends. **A Global Attraction Facing an Uncertain Future** The Sapporo Snow Festival has long been a staple of Hokkaido’s winter tourism, offering a mesmerizing landscape of ice and snow that draws travelers from all over the world. Tourists visit the city to admire over 200 snow sculptures, some reaching impressive heights of 12 meters or more. In addition to showcasing elaborate ice carvings, the event features light displays, winter-themed performances, and cultural exhibitions. The festival significantly contributes to Sapporo’s economy, hospitality industry, and local businesses, reinforcing its reputation as a premier winter travel destination. However, organizers now face a combination of climate, financial, and staffing challenges that threaten to disrupt the festival’s sustainability. The increasing operating costs, declining sponsorships, and rising temperatures due to climate change have added complexity to maintaining this grand event. **The Impact of Climate Change on the Festival and Global Winter Tourism** One of the festival’s biggest concerns in recent years has been climate change. The global rise in temperatures has led to irregular snowfall patterns in Hokkaido, which makes collecting and maintaining the large amounts of snow needed for the sculptures more difficult. Organizers have noted that in previous years, the winter climate was much colder, ensuring stable ice structures. However, more frequent warmer spells, sometimes reaching 5-6°C, are now melting the sculptures prematurely, forcing organizers to rethink how they can preserve the snow structures for the festival’s duration.

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    Hit by blackouts, Cuba’s tourism industry now braces for Trump
    Tourism & Remote WorkDecember 16, 2024

    Hit by blackouts, Cuba’s tourism industry now braces for Trump

    With winter nights drawing in across North America, Canadian “snowbirds” – citizens who flee their freezing temperatures for sunnier climes every year – are planning their annual trips to Florida or the Caribbean. Traditionally, Cuba has been hugely popular among Canadians, drawn to the pristine white sands of beach resorts like Varadero. They fill the void left by Americans wary of the travel restrictions imposed on them under the continuing [US economic embargo](https://cu.usembassy.gov/services/traveling-to-cuba/) of the largest island in the Caribbean. Figures show that [almost one million](https://www.travelweek.ca/blog/goals-and-gains-cuba-tourist-board/) Canadian tourists visited Cuba last year, the top country of origin for visitors by some margin.

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    Paradise lost? How cruise companies are ‘eating up’ the Bahamas
    Tourism & Remote WorkDecember 2, 2024

    Paradise lost? How cruise companies are ‘eating up’ the Bahamas

    Joseph Darville has fond memories of swimming with his young son off the south coast of Grand Bahama island, and watching together as scores of dolphins frolicked offshore. A lifelong environmentalist now aged 82, Darville has always valued the rich marine habitat and turquoise blue seas of the [Bahamas](https://www.theguardian.com/world/bahamas), which have lured locals and tourists alike for generations. The dolphins are now mostly gone, he says, as human encroachment proliferated and the environment deteriorated. “You don’t see them now; the jetskis go by and frighten them off. “There’s a lot going on. It’s a tragedy – and continues to be a tragedy,” says Darville. Now, he fears further acceleration of the decline, with the scheduled opening next year of Carnival Cruise Line’s vast [Celebration Key resort](https://celebrationkeygrandbahama.com/about-celebration-key), now under construction on the island’s south coast. The sprawling entertainment complex across a mile-long beach, already stripped of its [protective mangroves](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/13/fiji-magrove-destruction-why-tourism-restoration-plan-importance-the-price-of-paradise), will ultimately bring up to an additional 4 million people a year to the island, Carnival says, with four of its ships able to dock simultaneously. Concerns about giant cruise ships bringing multitudes of tourists, [and pollution](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/04/cruise-ships-polluting-uk-coast-as-they-ignore-greener-power-options), to the ecologically fragile Bahamas are nothing new. Neither is the concept of foreign-owned cruise companies buying land to build private retreats exclusively for their passengers: Disney’s Castaway Cay, a private island near Great Abaco, last year celebrated its 25th birthday.

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    Why you should go island-hopping through Estonia’s western isles
    Tourism & Remote WorkNovember 12, 2024

    Why you should go island-hopping through Estonia’s western isles

    Photograph by Simon Bajada. Retrieved from nationalgeographic.com In western Estonia, drama unfolds not in the landscapes, but in the stories that bubble beneath their surface. My first inkling of this comes when I board a car ferry called Toll the Great, bound for the island of Muhu. The modest strip of land I find myself gliding towards is so flat and featureless it looks like it’s been ironed onto the water, whereas the tale of Toll — mythical strongman, sauna master and hero of Saaremaa, an island connected to Muhu by bridge — has all the theatrics of a rollercoaster epic. I imagine Toll towering in his farmer’s garb, muscles bulging, as he rushes through the waves to help embattled sailors in stormy weather. Or wielding an iron axe as he single-handedly fends off encroaching armies and foreign bullies. Armed with Toll’s legends — which are pasted onto the wall of the boat like everyday adverts — I drive off the ferry gangplank an hour later ready for adventure. With five days in front of me, my plan is to island-hop, dropping anchor in Muhu, Saaremaa, Abruka and Kihnu to explore the unique cultures and common histories of their communities. It’s peak summer, but you wouldn’t know it as the car slips down Muhu’s empty, spruce-lined roads. Chalk driveways corkscrew off towards isolated thatched-roof cottages and wooden farmhouses encircled by moss-covered dry-stone walls typical of the islands. It’s as still as a watercolour. When I arrive at Muhu Veinitalu for lunch, I have it almost to myself — and owner Peke Eloranta is happy to show me around his vine-bordered passion project. Wearing a faded blue blazer and a stained, torn cowboy hat, he pours me a glass of his sparkling rosé and proudly introduces Veinitalu as a B&B and restaurant but, most importantly, the only winery in Estonia — and, he believes, the most northerly in the world.

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    How Digital Nomads Can Experience The Nordic Winter For Free
    Tourism & Remote WorkNovember 6, 2024

    How Digital Nomads Can Experience The Nordic Winter For Free

    Digital nomads—remote workers who leverage technology to live and work from anywhere—are mostly associated with warmer climates and countries with a low cost of living. The Nordic region, with its cold, dark winters and notoriously expensive prices, rarely features on the hit-list of traveling online entrepreneurs. But all that could be about to change thanks to an initiative known as the [Arctic Digital Nomads Grant](https://www.arcticdigitalnomads.com/). Coworking spaces and communities in the Norwegian fjord village of Geiranger, the settlement of Vágur in the south of the Faroe Islands, and Iceland’s rugged westfjords region have banded together with support from the Nordic Atlantic Cooperation ([NORA](https://nora.fo/?_l=en)) to launch the program. Successful applicants will receive free accommodation and office space for between one and three months between January and April in 2025, together with opportunities to embrace everything that’s great about Arctic culture—from local traditions to outdoor experiences.

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    UNESCO promotes sustainable tourism and heritage conservation in Socotra Archipelago
    Tourism & Remote WorkOctober 25, 2024

    UNESCO promotes sustainable tourism and heritage conservation in Socotra Archipelago

    Excerpt and photo from unesco.org UNESCO, in collaboration with the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage (ARC-WH) and the UNESCO Chair for World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Management in the Arab Region (UNESCO Chair GUTech), successfully concluded a five-day training program in the Socotra Archipelago from September 25-29, 2024. The program gathered 45 participants from various stakeholders within the tourism industry to equip local tour guides and relevant authorities with the knowledge and skills necessary to support conservation efforts, enhance visitor experiences, and build partnerships with local communities. The Socotra Archipelago, renowned for its rich biodiversity, is home to many endemic species. Socotra Island, the largest in the Arabian Peninsula, symbolizes the region’s natural heritage. Protected by Yemeni law through the Socotra Conservation Zoning Plan, the Archipelago has earned international recognition for its exceptional natural value. It was designated a UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserve in 2003, Yemen’s first Ramsar Site in 2007, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Despite its natural beauty, Socotra faces significant challenges, such as environmental degradation, socio-political unrest, and the impacts of climate change. The ongoing conflict in Yemen further underscores the urgent need to safeguard Socotra’s heritage and promote sustainable development. The island’s inhabitants, deeply connected to their environment, rely on traditional practices such as dragon’s blood extraction and Socotri music, both integral to their cultural identity. Local civil society organizations (CSOs) play a crucial role in conservation efforts, despite limited resources and capacity.

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    Thousands protest against over-tourism in Canary Islands
    Tourism & Remote WorkOctober 25, 2024

    Thousands protest against over-tourism in Canary Islands

    Excerpt and Photo from euronews.com Around 30,000 people took to the streets of the different cities and towns of the archipelago on Sunday under the banner “The Canary Islands have a limit.” In 2023 over 16 million tourists visited and it’s likely that number will be higher when 2024 is over. Tourists spent more than 20 billion euros in 2023, but it comes at a price. And whilst the protesters concede that tourism provides crucial jobs, they say most of them are low-skilled and badly paid. As many properties are owned by second home-owners who don’t live there all the time, buying a property to live in has become prohibitively expensive – and renting an affordable apartment has long been a struggle. Tourism grew by five percent last year and the protesters say it’s too much, as the islands have become overcrowded. Many suggest the answer lies in attracting fewer, wealthier tourists as other countries have successfully done.

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    ‘We learned from Iceland’s mistakes’: The Faroe Islands’ hopes and fears about tourism boom
    Tourism & Remote WorkOctober 17, 2024

    ‘We learned from Iceland’s mistakes’: The Faroe Islands’ hopes and fears about tourism boom

    Jorgen Niclasen never imagined that one day thousands of tourists would land on the Faroe Islands. Or that, on this archipelago lost in the North Atlantic, where fine weather is rare and there is often thick fog, he would come across groups of Americans hiking around the cliffs of Kalsoy, photographing the grass-roofed houses of Gjogv, or watching puffins on the rocks of Mykines. “For us, waterfalls were just water. Fjords, just fish stocks. Rocky spurs, just stone. We couldn’t see the beauty of it all,” confided the 55-year-old Faroe Islander. In summer, he accompanies tourists by boat to the Drangarnir Arch, one of the Faroe Islands’ most famous postcard locations. “Many decide to come after seeing photos on Instagram. Social media has made us exist,” admitted Jens Eystein i Lodu, co-founder of Bluegate, the agency that organizes sea trips. He started his business in 2017, with a single motorboat. He now owns three, and soon a fourth. A one-hour trip costs €90 per person.

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