| While tourism campaigns have long
touted 'destinations' -- we are simply entering a place
that is someone else's home.
If those working in the tourist trade embrace the values our
counterparts wish developed, then we can make a huge leap forward.
The trick lies in listening to locals, listening to visitors
and creating the opportunites that connect top-down and grassroots
efforts. Travel agents, travel providers and travelers are the
principal players.
Here's my thought: responsible tourism is treating
others the way they wish to be treated. It's a variation
on the Platinum
Rule ... it's also common sense and good manners.
A growing number of travelers want their journeys to be less
invasive and more beneficial to the local community. They want
to better understand the culture of the people they meet in
the places they visit. Visitors should be mindful that we are
entering a place
that is someone else's home. Sounds complicated? Try this --
imagine what irresponsible
tourism looks like and then imagine its opposite.
Or put another way - courtesy of the 2002 Cape Town Declaration
on Responsible Tourism -- responsible tourism creates better
places for people to live and better places to visit.
CAPE TOWN DECLARATION
Responsible tourism as defined in the 2002 Cape
Town Declaration:
• minimizes negative economic, environmental, and social
impacts;
• generates greater economic benefits for local people
and enhances the well-being of host communities, improves working
conditions and access to the industry;
• involves local people in decisions that affect their
lives and life chances;
• makes positive contributions to the conservation of
natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world's
diversity;
• provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through
more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater
understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues;
• provides access for physically challenged people; and
• is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists
and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence.
The declaration
concludes with a commitment 'to work with others to take responsibility
for achieving the economic, social and environmental components
of responsible and sustainable tourism.'
TRENDS
We ask a lot of tourism these days ... that it be eco, that
it be sustainable and that it be responsible. These signs are
encouraging. Global tourism is experiencing a massive transformation
in the 21st century. Travelers and locals are seeking ways of
building constituencies with the shared goal of making tourism
more responsible.
Toward that end we propose connecting the natural and virtual
worlds. Live Local. Think Global. Respond personally.
Says noted author and activist Deborah McLaren: "Responsible
tourism is based on ethics and human rights. It also means support
for community-based travelers' programs, including homestays,
guest cottages, ethno-museums, and educational programs that
bring tourist dollars directly into communities."
TOWARD CONSERVATION
Responsible travel means extending solidarity over time. Efforts
that exhibit continuity make poor situations better and good
situations great. How to stay in touch? As Rob Brezsny writes
in Pronoia,
"Choose worthy targets and ransack your imagination to
come up with smart, true and amusing praise about them."
CONCLUSION
The work ahead lies in connecting top-down and grassroots efforts.
Responsible travel means extending solidarity over time. Efforts
that lack continuity, even if developed with good intentions,
can make situations worse.
For a recommended overview, download the Responsible
Travel Handbook (PDF) published by Transitions
Abroad.
What is the opposite of responsible tourism? How about irresponsible
tourism?! There is even a web forum
that discusses the troubling aspects in travel such as wildlife
exploitation and irresponsible tour operators.
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