Janie Neumann, VisitScotland’s Sustainable Tourism Manager, plays a key role in VisitScotland’s Responsible Tourism activity, with a focus on the transition to a low-carbon future and supporting Scotland’s NetZero by 2045 targets. She has over 20 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry, working to support the delivery of responsible tourism that benefits businesses, provides enriching quality experiences for visitors, enhances the communities it operates in and protects the natural and cultural heritage it depends on.
Originally from Berlin, Janie started her academic and working life in Scotland, studying at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, working at Dynamic Earth. Following 5-year stint in the US and England, where she completed her Masters in Tourism and Environmental Management at Oxford Brookes University, Janie returned to Scotland to work for Green Tourism, a global leader in sustainable tourism certification. Her where she advised over 300 businesses, supporting them on their sustainability journey, as well as advising New Zealand and British Columbia on the development of their own sustainable tourism certification programs.
At Visit Scotland for 11 years, Janie has been a key driver of sustainable tourism support for industry and the wider organisational commitment to a more responsible low carbon tourism development. Janie has been leading on VisitScotland’s Destination Net Zero work delivering a range of projects, including support for industry and destinations on climate action, as well as funding support for EV charge points and Green Certification.
Alongside partners from UNWTO, UNEP, Tourism Declare and The Travel Foundation, Janie represented VisitScotland as was part of the drafting committee of the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism. The Glasgow Declaration was launched at COP26 in Glasgow, with the ambition to act as a catalyst for urgent action of the global tourism industry, providing a clear and consistent sector-wide message and approach to climate action in the coming decade.
