Palau, a Western Pacific island-nation, has seen a massive growth in tourist numbers, particularly in the past three years.

The Palau Legacy Project, a tourism marketing body that works alongside the government, recognised that without action, it would be too late to protect some of the most unique parts of the country, such as the UNESCO World Heritage listed Rock Islands.

The challenge: find a balance between encouraging tourism without compromising the environment.

However, the costs of environmentally wasteful, destructive behaviour are often difficult to feel on an individual level. Those costs are not the result of any one person’s careless actions but of aggregate actions.

This makes it difficult for people to understand the value of making an effort towards conservation.

The objective: partner with the government, the Palau population and the tourist industry to model and promote sustainable attitudes and behaviour among tourists and locals.

The Palau Government passed a new law on December 6, 2017, directing immigration officials to use the Palau Pledge entry visa stamp.

The agency worked with the client (the Palau Legacy Project, a sustainable tourism marketing body), the government, the tourism industry and citizens to implement the new policy.

• Immigration law, customs processes were changed permanently

• The Pledge was issued in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean

• Visitors required to watch an inflight film shown on all inbound flights

• Business accreditation program created to empower tourism businesses/ residents

• New curriculum for primary/ secondary school students and other training programs to help build eco-awareness and conscious business principles within the tourist sector

• Locals/ tour operators encouraged to take Pledge

• Multi-language passport brochure/ airport posters/ website/ signage around Palau/ social influencer activity