Kathmandu, September 17, 2026
Six Meaningful Tourism Innovation Labs now covering more than 20 countries to support the Meaningful Tourism Economy
Tourism has reached a crossroad; new forms of tourism are needed to react to the challenges of climate change and the disruptive force of AI.
MTIL Meaningful Tourism Innovation Labs are local centres for the practical application of the Meaningful Tourism paradigm, which offers a solution for destinations and companies to survive and strive in the coming decades. With the MTIL Mongolia and the MTIL Indonesia their number has now grown to six centres, with more in the pipeline.
The Meaningful Tourism paradigm defines six main stakeholders in tourism and hospitality. All of them need to receive objective benefits and subjective satisfaction from tourism and hospitality activities to support the sustainable development of destinations, companies and organisations, to mitigate and adapt to climate change and to successfully perform transformative processes within a fast-changing world. PATA Pacific Asia Travel Association has declared “A Meaningful Tourism Economy” as the vision for the development of the Asia-Pacific region.
The MTILs are offering trainings, round-table talks, workshops and implementation services for local, regional and national organisations as well as companies and associations.
With the help of the MTIL network it becomes possible to exchange Best Practice examples around the globe. The leading MTIL is based in Nepal, working on behalf of the MTC Meaningful Tourism Centre. MTC and its founder and Executive Director Prof Dr Wolfgang Georg Arlt are also based in Nepal. Prof Dr Arlt has been nicknamed PROF M, with M standing for Meaningful with a capital M.
Other MTILs are located in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Western Africa, the last one covering 17 countries in the region. MTILs are organised by universities, research institutions and other non-profit organisations.
Prof. Dr. Arlt: “Meaningful Tourism Innovation Labs are a place of learning, exchange and cooperation to put new ideas about tourism development into practice. Many traditional forms especially of outdoor tourism are severely challenged by Climate Change, and Climate resilience is no longer optional. The basic idea of Meaningful Tourism is very simple: All stakeholders need to be happy about the benefits and the satisfaction they receive from tourism, otherwise there will be no sustainable tourism development. Meaningful Tourism is about the alignment of interests, not about shaming and prohibiting. The MTILs help to develop a positive new approach to tourism.”
Before the end of 2026, the number of MTILs is planned to grow to more than ten, covering more than 30 countries, mostly in Asia and Africa.
Contact: mtc@meaningfultourismcentre.org
Lalitpur, Nepal