What is it?

Responsible Tourism vs Sustainable Tourism:

Responsible tourism and sustainable tourism are closely related concepts, but they’re not exactly the same. Both emphasize environmentally and socially conscious travel practices but have different focuses. Let’s break them down:

Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable tourism is a broader concept that aims to minimize the negative impact of tourism on the environment, society, and economy while maximizing its positive contributions. It involves long-term planning and management to ensure that tourism can continue without depleting natural resources, harming local cultures, or negatively affecting the well-being of communities. 

Responsible Tourism

Responsible tourism, on the other hand, is a subset of sustainable tourism. It focuses on the behavior and choices of individual travelers and tourism businesses. It emphasizes respect for local cultures, support for local economies, and efforts to reduce waste & energy consumption during travel.

Use whatever term makes more sense to you, but at the end of the day, the goal is the same: Protect the earth & its inhabitants while still getting to go on adventures!

Why Responsible Tourism

The climate crisis is all around us, it’s impossible to ignore. Change is essential, but we can still travel and live fully if we do so responsibly. So it is crucial that we prioritize responsible tourism, as responsible travel choices can make a huge impact. A large part of this involves simply being mindful of when and where we travel.

The tourism industry has the potential to greatly improve the economy of many locations, but unfortunately, in some regions, locals are actually displaced to accommodate tourists. Responsible tourism has the potential for great positive change if approached correctly; it should work to conserve and protect the natural environment while improving and enhancing the lives of the locals.

Ecology & Economy

The conservation and protection of the environment and the locals are NOT mutually exclusive. If a tourist business conserves the environment but is financially destructive or physically displaces locals, it’s not responsible tourism. If it benefits the locals but endangers the environment, it is not sustainable tourism.

Adapting to Responsible Tourism

The main thing to remember about responsible tourism is that it’s going to change over time. Just like how we used to think that riding elephants or swimming with captive dolphins was acceptable, we now know the devastating effects it has on the animals and how it destroys their quality of life. 

It’s okay to feel guilt for participating in one of these types of activities in the past, as long as you don’t let that guilt consume you and instead let it fuel you to educate yourself and do better. You know the saying… once you know better, do better.

Doing Your Research and Making Responsible Choices

If you can’t find research or articles informing people on whether or not a tourist business/industry is responsible, listen to your gut. Put yourself in the shoes of the locals or the wildlife. If something feels icky or off about it, it’s best to avoid it, at least until you have more information!

I’ll do my best to keep you all informed and educated with the most up-to-date, responsible tourism practices. If you’re curious about a particular tourist business/industry/activity/or practice and you don’t see anything on my page or anything easily accessible online, contact me!

I’m more than happy to dig into some research to help guide your responsible tourist practices. It’s what I’m here for, and it will ultimately help many others who I’m sure have or will have the same questions!

P.S. Explore my post uncovering the harsh reality behind the tourist industry that involves riding elephants.