Of course, we can't help everybody, but that doesn't mean we can't put programs in place that will enable interested travelers to help a handful of people—or two, or even a single child.

Yes, travel contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and, like most aspects of modern life, can cause environmental damage. But without travel, economies would grind to a halt. Travel is part of the human DNA—think ancient migrations, the Silk Route, Marco Polo.

Travel is not going away. There is no reverse button on history. So, the solution is not the end of travel, of flying, of hotel and resort construction. The solution is new fuels, new technologies. Luxe resorts can painfully spotlight discrepancies in wealth between visitors and natives, but the solution is not to not build them. It's to figure out how the resort's presence can help lift up the local community through real job opportunities, cultural preservation, health, and education.

There are often grating cultural differences between us. Like now between segments of the Arab world and the West. But the solution is not to cease dialogue, to stop encounters. It's to figure out ways that contact can help us overcome those differences, which, again, is where travel comes in.

I am deeply convinced that the travel industry has the power to do all this. It is not a centralized industry, of course, and there are enormous challenges ahead. But this congress is dedicated to the proposition that we have shared values and that we can all benefit greatly by talking to each other about these issues.

That is our goal today: To reward and celebrate members of the industry who are already doing a lot, to inspire others and help them figure out what they might do, and, above all, to learn. Hence our keynote speakers, the visionary economist professor Jeffrey Sachs and her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan, a leader in the Middle East on issues of sustainability and cultural dialogue. And hence, too, the four panel discussions.

I see this magazine's role as that of a facilitator: Enabling this congress, publicizing your good works and efforts here and in the pages of the magazine, and making sure that your customers—our readers—know about them, because travel consumers care increasingly about these issues.

For example, more and more people are taking volunteer vacations, combining a good time with a few days of doing good. They write to us about this. They are also increasingly curious about the social responsibility policies of the travel companies they book with.

Doing the right thing is increasingly good for the bottom line. I like to think of it as both a moral imperative and a business imperative. That's a powerful, unbeatable combination that should give us all great hope.

Michael Porter, a legendary professor at the Harvard Business School, said last year at a conference I attended that new models are being developed for how to do things that are good for society and for companies. And it's amazing to me how much progress is being made, how quickly members of the travel industry have realized their power to make a difference.