Tourism with a conscience

We all know that we need to be more responsible for maintaining the planet but not all of us know how to reconcile this with taking our annual holiday. It’s true that worldwide tourism allows us to experience idyllic ‘untouched’ places, yet as soon as we arrive we are in danger of ruining it. Unintentionally but nevertheless the impact of tourism begins to change every destination, whether it’s as obvious as the over development of the Spanish Costas, cutting down the rain forests or simply disturbing the wildlife and damaging the flora. Take Australia´s Great Barrier Reef or the Valley of the King’s in Egypt, our very presence threatens their very survival.

But it doesn’t mean we have to stop travelling. If you want to assuage your conscience there are plenty of opportunities to see the world without having an adverse effect on it, and in many cases you could make a real difference. As green issues come to the fore, various travel companies have jumped on the bandwagon, claiming to offer ‘green travel’. When in reality they’re providing cultural trips, adventure holidays or nature tourism, such as taking a boat to see some Turtles, as opposed to bona fide eco-tourism. So what exactly does it mean; responsible tourism, eco-tourism, green tourism and sustainable tourism?

Eco-tourism
As defined by The Ecotourism Society eco-tourism is “responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people”. Meaning it’s not enough to just visit places of environmental interest, the local community or environment must benefit from your visit. For example the act of sailing down the Amazon brings no rewards to the area but if you were to raise awareness or money to preserve the region, then that would be considered eco-tourism.

Responsible tourism
To count as responsible tourism, you need to ensure that no matter where you visit, you make no difference to the surroundings, especially no negative impact.

Sustainable tourism
As the name suggests sustainable tourism takes care not to deplete natural resources, so as not to disturb or change the places visited. Your visit should have no impact on the local surroundings. Canoeing along a river is sustainable, hunting is the complete opposite.

Green tourism
Understandably ‘green tourism’ is often the label used when referring to ‘eco’ or ‘sustainable tourism’. However, the term should be used to describe holidays involving activities which will have a positive effect on the environment. Projects designed to provide water systems, solar power, sanitation or any other activity which will bring direct benefit to the region visited.

Travel insurance
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www.ecotourdirectory.com
www.responsibletravel.com