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How to be a More Responsible Tourist

Mass tourism damages the environment and the local culture. Flocks of tourists descend on concrete resorts where the local culture has been squeezed out, staying in huge hotels or apartment blocks that have little consideration for their impact on the environment. Responsible tourism, on the other hand, operates on a much smaller scale, and aims to create better places for people to live in, and better places to visit.

For travellers with a conscience, ‘responsible’ package holidays are now readily available, but you can also plan a trip independently in a far more responsible way. Basically, if you can minimise the impact you and your travels have on the local culture and environment, while at the same time boosting the local economy and helping to create employment opportunities for locals, you’ll be on the right lines. Here are our tips for responsible travel to get you started…

Transport

Public transport offer the most environmentally-friendly way of getting to your destination and getting around once your arrive, minimising carbon dioxide emissions. Air travel is the worst of all, so minimising the number of flights you take will help reduce your carbon footprint. It may be possible, for example, to travel overland rather than hop on an internal flight for some legs of your journey. Try to avoid using taxis or hiring a car at your destination, and get around on foot, by bike, or by public transport instead.

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Accommodation

Some accommodation establishments are far more responsible than others. Try to support the local economy by staying in smaller, locally-owned establishments, and ask about their environmental policy to see if they have considered their impact on the environment.

Eating out

You can help support the local economy by eating out at independent cafés and restaurants rather than international chain restaurants imported from elsewhere. You could drink local beer, soft drinks and fruit juices rather than imported brands. You can also minimise your impact on the environment by avoiding packaged snacks that create lots of waste and are often transported long distances.

Shopping

If you’re souvenir shopping, look out for local, handmade products that will help to sustain the local economy, support the community, and ensure the survival of age-old traditions. Make sure you don’t buy anything made from endangered plants or animals – it’s worth researching these before you go.

Culture

Read up on local cultures and learn a few words of the local language before you arrive – you’ll get far more out of your experience and local people if you can break the ice and communicate a little.

In many places it’s well worth hiring a local guide, so that you can discover a lot more about local culture and people’s everyday lives, and contribute to the guide’s income.

Learn about and respect local cultures, traditions and holy places. If you’re in any doubt about how to dress or behave, ask locals for advice or don’t visit.

Waste and resources

Try to reduce the amount of waste you generate – for example, you could use a water filter bottle and take biodegradable products. Be aware that resources such as water may be limited, and do your best to preserve what is available. You can wash very effectively with very little water as long as you don’t keep it running!

Activities

Embarking on a range of adventurous activities is all part of a rich travel experience, but some activities are more responsible than others. Swimming with dolphins, for example, is hugely popular – but this can involve swimming with captive dolphins, which many consider to be unfair, or with wild dolphins, which is a more responsible alternative. For every activity you embark on, do some research beforehand, and ask various operators about their policy for responsible tourism before deciding who to spend your money with.

Spending

Reinforcing our previous points about supporting local businesses, it’s worth trying to make sure that every time you spend money anywhere, it is always going into the hands of local people. Remember your relative wealth in many destinations, and pay whatever something is worth. It’s fine to haggle if you genuinely think something is too expensive – but try to be fair with how much you end up paying!

By considering some of these issues and trying your best to be responsible, you should enjoy a more authentic travel experience, and your time away will also benefit the local people and their environment.