The Traveller’s Hack to Responsible & Sustainable Travel
You may have heard of numerous tourism terms under the umbrella of sustainable travel such as: sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, culture based tourism and ecotourism. Today, we want to define sustainable travel and cite examples, to help you make your next trip meaningful for you and the city you visit.
Many companies are now offering sustainable travel to meet the growing interest of conscious consumers. People are beginning to see the negative impact of tourism on the environment and communities across the globe. So, families, individuals, and businesses are becoming more socially conscious, seeking environmentally and culturally friendly travel experiences that give something back to local communities they visit and not deplete the resources.
Choosing sustainability can be a life-changing experience. It gives the traveller the chance to have a more rewarding holiday; connecting with locals, as well as having a more authentic cultural experiences off the beaten track.
So what is Sustainable Tourism?
According to our research, “sustainable” is synonymous with “conscious”. The next generation traveller make their choices in travel and tourism consciously. And it is not just about external impacts, but can also be a more philosophical approach relating to a human’s attitude and behaviour. Sustainable tourism is defined as ‘tourism’ that respects both local people and the traveller, cultural heritage and the environment. It seeks to provide people with an exciting and educational holiday that is also of benefit to the people of the host country.
Sustainable tourism is both ecological and cultural – while helping to generate income and employment, it aims a low impact on an environment, local culture and ecosystems.
According to the Word Tourism Organization, there are three main goals of sustainable tourism:
-Conserve environmental resources
-Respect and preserve the local cultural heritage
-Provide socio-economic benefits to everyone
So for the conscious traveller focus on these three pillars while traveling!
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental sustainability includes both the natural environment (such as beaches, forests, waterways) and the built environment (such as historic buildings and ruins). The menace and damage caused by excessive careless and needless use of nature resources for tourism has already caused a massive damage to the ecosystem. Most people practice environmental sustainability at home, that’s why majority of them know what travelers should or shouldn’t be doing when they hit the road.
Mumbai: City free of plastic
Mumbai is the largest Indian city to enforce the ban on non-biodegradable bags and bottles, meaning that will stop the plastic pollution. The numbers are frightening, with Mumbai alone generating 500 metric tons of plastic waste daily, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi even announced plans to eliminate all single-use plastics by 2022. Here’s how to support this initiative:
-Carry on reusable drink bottle;
-Give positive feedback to those businesses that are low-waste
-Do clean-ups, lend a hand to local projects and keep it clean and set an example for other tourists
-Bring your own headset, you don’t need to waste on another pair of headphones if you can have your own
-Recycle, simply make sure to throw away rubbish in the right bins
-Raise awareness when you can
Social Sustainability
Social sustainability encourages the cultural exchange while preserving traditions and beliefs and being careful about any cultural impact.
Cultural tourism is the key to Mumbai’s huge tourism potential
Mumbai is the melting pot of cultures, bringing together people from across India to celebrate and share their rich cultural heritage of storytelling, song and dance. Indian art has become a tourist attraction which, in turn, has given rise to folk-art based tourism enterprises. are gradually emerging as new tourism attractions to bring additional income opportunities to the so-far economically marginalized communities. A lot of travellers really want to get to know another culture,most of the time the encounters will be really interesting and allow you to get a broader view of the world. So get going and do just that:
-Indulge in the local street food
-Spend a day on a farm/ a village nearby
-Attend one of a traditional art and craft workshops
-Learn new culinary skills during an authentic cooking class or a home cooking session
-Explore one of Mumbai’s oldest neighborhoods on a walking tour
-Learn authentic yoga in Mumbai (and not the various forms like goat yoga and beer yoga!!)
Economic Sustainability
The tourism can boost the economy of a country, however if you want to support sustainable development, choose and support local business. By increasing the tourism in a region, economic development and growth can be spurred. More tourists means more demand, more jobs, and more revenue, including tax revenue for local and national governments.
Mumbai: Support locals
Mumbai’s total annual tourism revenue is predicted to grow to US$9 billion by 2026 (3.1% of GDP). And financially successful tourism businesses are able to grasp the opportunities provided by the other elements of sustainability. They are experiencing sustainable growth through ongoing profitability, innovation, quality improvement and investment. Want to be a part of this movement?
-Choose experiential tours that retain the community character and educate travellers about the communities.
-Choose local tour operators and understand how they hire and retain local staff.
-Book yourself into a local-run hotel;
-Meet community run initiatives by social entrepreneurs and non-profits
-Visit the countryside or a local market;
-Support social infrastructure through responsible consumption;
Ask questions whenever you travel on how the company is being run!
A lot of travellers really want to help countries they are visiting, but forget that it is a really complex process. It is important to understand the culture, heritage and going through a well respected organisation always makes it easy.
Help TribesForGOOD in spreading the word about sustainable travel to the general public.
Join a community of conscious changemakers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Discover and share stories about social impact journeys with like-minded people, while also inviting others to see what responsible traveling is all about.
