When I was young, the Vietnam War was raging. My Caucasian American uncle was a soldier in the war. As part of soldiering, he would come to R&R in an Asian country I at & often would go the beach. I was young and living in this Asian country and when he visits he would take me along to the beach.
There he often goes to the islands, where back then, before the global tourism boom and economic development, was very much isolated and pristine islands. At the islands, we would go snorkeling.
Once, we were snorkeling for hours and it was just like what one sees in tropical aquariums and from looking into the ocean, we noticed our bodies were feeling things, like objects. We popped up and saw that we were swimming in a big pile of floating trash.
The trash was from the local fishing villages on the mainland shores, some 10 to 20 kilometers from the island.
Global warming and the pollution of ocean oceans with plastic particles are issues that are impacting our everyday lives, more and more every day. Slowly, many have worked in the issues into their daily routine, such as more conscious of household waste, like separating trash.
But what about while on vacation, when we feel more carefree and free than usual to do anything we want. Should we be concern also? More and more people on vacation, a tourist traveling think they should be more responsible, something along the line of ethical tourist.
With this growth, a new business has prospered. John Miller at mappingmegan.com has an interesting example of a business product that can help the environment.
By John Miller (source)
As global citizens, we are becoming more aware of our impact on the environment when traveling. With travel becoming more accessible we need to make sure our trips don’t have a negative impact on the places we visit and the environment.
As well as offsetting our carbon footprint we need to think about the things we bring along and what we leave behind. This means being careful about what you pack and purchase during your journey, and one way to reduce waste whilst traveling is to ditch the plastic packaging / bags.
Did you know that regular plastic bags can take up to 500 years to biodegrade? Although a lot is being done across the world to reduce plastic waste, as travelers we can do our small bit too – instead of using disposable plastic bags when packing, it’s far more environmentally friendly (and a lot easier to stay organized) to use packing cubes.
If the above sounds great, the following is more information on Ecotourism, Sustainable Tourism, and Ethical Tourism.
Ecotourism (source: wikipedia) is a form of tourism involving visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas, intended as a low-impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial mass tourism. It means responsible travel to natural areas conserving the environment and improving the well-being of the local people.[1] Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human rights. Since the 1980s, ecotourism has been considered a critical endeavor by environmentalists, so that future generations may experience destinations relatively untouched by human intervention.[2]:33 Several university programs use this description as the working definition of ecotourism.[3]
Sustainable tourism (source: wikipedia)is the concept of visiting a place as a tourist and trying to make only a positive impact on the environment, society, and economy.[1] Tourism can involve primary transportation to the general location, local transportation, accommodations, entertainment, recreation, nourishment, and shopping. It can be related to travel for leisure, business and what is called VFR (visiting friends and relatives).[2] There is now broad consensus that tourism development should be sustainable; however, the question of how to achieve this remains an object of debate.[3]
Ethical Tourism (source) Ethical tourism simply means tourism which benefits people and the environment in different destinations. It can offer a better income to families living in the area, by sourcing products and services locally.
A brand-new role for consumers in the tourism market has emerged from three trends: first, there is a thirst for different and more ‘exciting’ holidays; second, there is a growing realization of the negative impacts of tourism – its clod-hopping footprints in other people’s homes in the deserts, forests, seashores and mountains of the world; and, third, of course, is climate change.
Economic prosperity
Long term competitive and tourism businesses, who offer fair pay and conditions for all employees. There is maximum economic benefits to local communities when products and services for tourism are sourced locally. Sustainable tourism should be relevant to every holiday sold and should offer an opportunity to customers concerned about their travel making a difference.
Social equality
Sustainability offers great benefits to customers keeping destinations special, offering safe, and satisfying new experiences whilst having the opportunity to interact with happy locals, who are truly benefiting from their visit. More of you are concerned about sustainable travel and want to make a positive difference on holiday.
Environmental and cultural protection
It gives resources and incentive for destinations to conserve ancient culture and traditions, as well as wildlife and the natural environment. It helps reduce carbon emissions, by encouraging accommodation providers and holiday makers to conserve energy. Most importantly it helps ensure there will be great destinations for us all to visit for generations to come.
Keeping destinations special is important to everyone.
Terence Global News 