2010 Alumni Innovators

Jonathan B. Tourtellot
Director, and Geotourism Editor,
National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations
National Geographic Traveler

A National Geographic Society senior editor since 1980, Jonathan B. Tourtellot launched what would become the Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations (CSD) in 2001. Writer, self-taught geographer, and sometimes photographer, he is the Director of CSD and the Geotourism Editor for National Geographic Traveler magazine. He initiated and supervises the Destination Stewardship Surveys reported annually in National Geographic Traveler magazine—the 2009 survey on global destinations appeared in the Nov./Dec. issue—and launched the column “DestinationWatch” for Traveler.  He has also covered climate change for Traveler. He originated the concept of geotourism defined as “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.”  He helped develop the study Geotourism: The New Trend in Travel, the first major survey of U.S. traveler behavior and attitudes about sustainability and destination stewardship. He is primary author of the Geotourism Charter, a set of principles adopted by various world destinations from Norway and Guatemala to Portugal’s Douro Valley and the city of Montreal. He initiated the annual global online “Geotourism Challenge” conducted by Ashoka Changemakers and planned to focus on coastlines in 2010. He represents National Geographic in the U.N. World Tourism Organization and the associated Centre of Excellence for Destinations.

 

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