Responsible travel is about more authentic holiday experiences that enable you to get a little bit more out of your travels, and give a little bit more back to destinations and local people.
Below you will find some general tips and guidelines on how you can travel responsibly:
- Before you go on holiday
- Getting there
- Choosing accommodation / activities
- While you are on holiday
- Cultural Sensitivity
- Shopping
- Eating
- Travelers’ Philanthropy
- Useful links on sustainable travel
Before you go on holiday
Search the web: Look for websites specialising in responsible travel, ecotourism or sustainable tourism, e.g.
Rainforest Alliance
Lonely Planet
Responsible Travel
National Geographic
WWF
Plan to travel environmentally friendly and use for example the WWF Travel Helper.
Unplug your home or office: Responsible travelling begins at home. Before you head out, unplug any appliance that won’t be in use while you’re away such as computers, chargers, televisions, video game players and microwaves.
Go paperless: Use online resources to plan and book your trip, and then, when necessary, print out maps and other materials at home on recycled paper.
Support sustainable tourism practices: Choose tour operators that support sustainable tourism through their bookings and operating policies. Have the motto: “When I book a trip with a tour operator, I always do it directly and I always start with one key question: ‘How do you support sustainable tourism practices?”
Lighten up: Packing lightly will make it easier to get where you’re going, while also reducing your negative impact on the environment. So leave the extra shoes and clothes at home, and stick with durable, neutral-coloured clothing that can be easily mixed and matched to create different looks over several days of travel.
Check your ride: Doing some very minor, simple, and inexpensive maintenance to your vehicle before embarking on your travels will go a long way toward reducing fuel consumption, increasing gas mileage, and saving both the environment and money.
Offset your travel: Using carbon offsets in lieu of true environmental stewardship is not cool. But, if you travel responsibly by recycling, reusing, and taking advantage of every low-emission, energy-saving transportation option along your way, then purchasing RELIABLE carbon offsets is an additional step you can take to minimise your impact.
Do as much research as you can: The more you know about a country and its people before you arrive, the quicker you get under the skin of a place.
Here you can find a few easy steps for planning your responsible trips.
Getting there
Take vacations nearer to home, or pick locations that you can reach by forms of transport other than plane. When you travel to your holiday destination, you are contributing to significant emissions of climate change causing carbon dioxide.
Use public transport: Rather than hiring a car at the airport choose other ways to get around like taxis, trains or buses.
If you do travel by car, check out tips on how you can save fuel, money and help the nature.
Fly Nonstop: Jets produce an average of almost 4 tons of CO2 per passenger per flight, and burn the most fuel at takeoff. Reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associate with flying by choosing non-stop flights whenever possible.
Choosing accommodation / activities
Stay green: choose accommodation that have effective waste treatment systems, that recycle, that are energy efficient, and, where possible, that use environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar energy or hydroelectric power. Learn more about Green Certification and where to stay ‘green’ in Africa.
Ask questions: Tour operators, hotels and lodges that are genuine in their approach to responsible tourism will generally have a written policy covering their environmental impact, employment and cultural policy. If they don’t, ask them why – by their response, you’ll be able to make the judgement call. Some sample questions:
1) What is your environmental policy?
2) What percentage of your employees are local citizens?
3) Do you support any projects to benefit the local community?
4) Do you support conservation? How?
5) Is your business certified?
6) Have you won any eco-awards?
7) Are you recommended by any reputable NGOs or conservation groups?
8) What sorts of policies have you implemented to reduce water consumption, conserve energy or recycle wastes?
9) How do you educate visitors about local natural areas, wildlife, energy conservation, and local culture?
10) How do you monitor these practices?
Hire local guides: Enrich your experience and support the local economy. Ask guides if they are licensed and live locally.
While you are on holiday
Limit energy use, including your use of air-conditioning and hot water. Turn off all lights and taps when you leave the hotel rooms.
Wash your own clothes: Cleaning your clothes through a hotel laundry service is pricey and wastes water.
Reduce your waste: To trim excess food wrapper and storage waste from your diet when you travel, pack a waste-free meal or snack in a reusable container to bring on your trip. Clean and reuse the container during your travels to limit excess wrapping whenever possible.
Lend a hand: Make a positive impact on any community you visit by giving back in some way (e.g. pick up trash on the beach).
Save water: Minimize your use of personal care products and detergents to wash linen, and reuse your hotel towels and bed linen.
Conserve water and take showers rather than baths. Use a refillable water container, sterilizing water when necessary rather than buying bottled water.
Dispose of sanitary waste properly. Don’t flush cotton buds, condoms, tampons and plastics down the toilet, or you might just find them on the beach!
Recycle newspapers, magazines and your beverage containers (many can sometimes be returned for refunds).
Avoid plastic water bottles where possible.
Rent a bike: In many places you can rent them out. They are not only environmentally friendly and cheap, but also a great option for sightseeing.
Respect the environment and stay on trails and public footpaths. Do not remove plants or feed animals, and never litter.
Reduce the impact of your recreational activities by avoiding sports which have a significant harmful impact on the environment, or choose more progressive establishments (e.g. golf courses which recycle water).
Be aware of suggested or legal approach distances and other recommendations for observing wildlife. A basic rule of thumb is if the animal is altering its behavior due to your presence, then you’re too close. Check out Lonely Planet’s Wildlife Watching Tips.
Stay simple: When looking for a place to stay, choose the smallest, simplest option. Smaller properties with fewer amenities consume less energy, and typically provide more personal, and authentically local, service.
“Voluntourism” refers to travel that combines elements of organized voluntary work with leisure travel and is a fast growing niche market in the global tourism industry. Thousands of “voluntourists” visit South Africa annually, including significant numbers from Europe who purchase voluntour packages through travel companies or directly from inbound service providers. See Fair Trade and Tourism South Africa for certification of such projects and the “Code of Good Practice for Responsible Volunteering in South Africa”.
Visit Blue Flag Beaches: Support coastal communities practicing responsible environmental stewardship policies, and help ensure a healthy beach vacation, by choosing Blue Flag beaches. Marinas and beaches earning the coveted Blue Flag have met 29 criteria covering four major areas:
1. Environmental education and information
2. Water quality
3. Environmental management
4. Safety and services
Make a suggestion: little things mean a lot when it comes to lessening our impact on the environment, so speak up and let hotel and restaurant owners know what more they could be doing.
To learn how you can minimize your impact on fragile places, visit Lonely Planet’s Responsible Travel Tips or find particular “ecotips” for your destination on the WWF country-map.
Cultural Sensitivity
Most important: Treat others the way you wish to be treated.
Learn a few words of the local language and make sure you know what’s considered polite and what’s not in terms of eating, greeting and dressing.
Be respectful of local citizens’ privacy. Ask permission before entering sacred places, homes or private land.
Ask for photos: Be sensitive to when and where you take photos/videos of people. Always ask first.
Visit during a festival: Schedule trips in conjunction with vibrant, local celebrations which provide a window into the culture and help to support traditional crafts and customs.
Keep your word: If you’ve promised to send pictures or gifts to local people remember to do so, many are promised and not all arrive!
Go with the flow: Other cultures have very different concepts of time, personal space and socially acceptable behavior. You’ll find it a lot less stressful – and a lot more enlightening – if you just chill out. You might even reassess your own ideas.
Click here to learn more about “Culture Shock versus Cultural Connection”.
Shopping
Think twice before you buy any products made from any endangered species, including animal hides and body parts, tortoise-shell, ivory, or coral – they could be illegal.
Pay a fair price: Don’t engage in overly aggressive bargaining for souvenirs. Don’t short-change on tips for services.
Buy from local artisans
Eating
Eat in local restaurants, shop in local markets and attend local events. That way money spent in the community stays in the community.
Choose organic, Fair Trade options when possible. Click here to find out more about Fair Trade Products.
Order Sustainable Seafood: Limiting your seafood choices to fish and shellfish that are more abundant and more responsibly managed helps protect ocean life and habitats. See SASSI for examples.
Travellers’ Philanthropy
Why not donate to a local project in the area you’ve visited?
Visit the following sites for more information on sustainable travel:
