"Responsible Tourism, Responsible Tourist" Conference in Budapest

The Budapest Business School, College of Commerce, Catering and Tourism held a conference on sustainable development in tourism : “Responsible Tourism, Responsible Tourist”. The conference included four thematic sessions
- Preservation or devastation? The interaction of tourism and nature; individual, communal and social responsibility in tourism
- .The responsibility of tourism enterprises and tourists in sustainable tourism
- .Value preservation and value creation: culture and education in responsible tourism
-.The significance of gastronomy in responsible tourism
The two-day conference was attended by 25 international delegates and presenters, approximately 30 faculty members from the Budapest Business school and around 90 students.
Csilla Szalók - Head of Department of Tourism, Catering and Commerce, BGF presented her paper :„The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Common Shared Value (CSV) on Responsible Higher Education in Tourism” while Melanie Smith - Associate Professor in Tourism, BGF and Chair of ATLAS, focussed on the education side with her paper : „Responsive and Responsible Tourism Education”
The following keynote speakers addressed the issue of responsible tourism in Europe.Gergely Horváth - CEO, Hungarian National Tourism PLC
Value preservation and value creation: culture and education in responsible tourism
Henri Malosse - European Economic and Social Committee
How to promote tourism and preserve the regional identities- the european way?
Zoltán Tóth - Budapest Business School
Comments on the sustainable growth of European tourism
Hervé Fournier - Project Manager/Board of Directors - Regional Economic Development, State of Valais, Switzerland
Valais: A brand showcasing a Swiss tourist destination’s best products
Darko Lacmanović - Associate Professor, Vice Dean, Montenegro Tourism School, University Mediterranean
Positioning of Montenegro as a responsible tourist destination.
The two-day conference ended with a Round Table Discussion and Summary with Susan Fournier (ICHRIE President), Philip Sloan (IUBH, Bonn), Michael Ireland (University of Plymouth) and Melanie Smith (BGF, Budapest).
On the social side, the students had organized a city tour on the hop-on/hop-off bus. Cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, Budapest extensive World Heritage Site includes the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quater. Other highlights include a total of 80 geothermal springs, the world's largest thermal water cave system.