Is it plagiarism if you acknowledge it in advance, state the source and copy it verbatim? I'm not sure, and I'm betting John Norlander, CHA, President of Carlson Hospitality Worldwide will not care either!

Recently I stayed in one of John's best managed hotels. In my room I found a copy of the Nov/Dec/Jan 1995-96 Carlson Voyager. It is a nice magazine. It does what it is supposed to do-keep the reader interested with informative articles while it sells Carlson Hospitality Worldwide's services to guests in order to encourage repeat stays at the hotels associated with their various brand names and the use of the company's various restaurant concepts.

In a section titled "Executive Update", I found the following comments by John Norlander. I thought it was very pertinent to the Hospitality News reader. So here it is, Tourism On The Planet Earth, in its entirety:

"At Radisson Hotels Worldwide and Country Inns & Suites by Carlson, we are proud to play an active part in the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. U.S. President Bill Clinton commissioned the conference to examine nine key issues relating to the tourism industry: research, promotion, facilitation and reduction of barriers, education and training, travel safety and security, and environmental concerns. I was privileged to serve on the Environmental Committee.

"When the President calls for a White House Conference, it is an indication that he deems its subject to be of great importance. Travel and tourism provides employment for more than 6 million Americans and generates a payroll of almost $104 billion.

"The title of the popular best seller Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, symbolizes the polarity of thought and philosophy that is often portrayed in our society as separating environmentalists and the business community. News reports of environmental activists clashing with business interests would lead us to conclude that business leaders are from Mars and environmentalists are from Venus. 

"Our vision of this issue was shifted dramatically through fascinating testimony and presentations. We began to see many opportunities for the tourism industry to work positively with environmental interests to achieve common goals. I believe a key to this process is to create a balance between the interests of the environment, tourism industry and the tourist: the Triangle of Preservation.

"The work of the White House Conference Committee has focused on development of policies and procedures to create this balance. This includes such strategies as building public awareness through education and developing "best" practices and policies for both private industry and local, state, federal and international governmental bodies. Codes of ethics also need to be developed to create a framework for training programs and public/private partnership, efforts. We also need to celebrate and showcase success by developing awards and recognition programs for outstanding examples of environmental responsibility in the tourism industry, of which there are many.

"The Triangle of Preservation is a symbol we all can embrace to ensure the future of the tourism industry and our world. In fact, business leaders are not from Mars, and environmentalists are not from Venus. We are all from planet Earth, and we need to work together.

"The White House Conference is a great opportunity to showcase the far-reaching economic impact of the tourism and travel industry and the many ways it enriches our lives."