Interview with Awards supporter Simon Reeve

To celebrate the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2011, Simon Reeve, BBC presenter, globe trekker and supporter of the awards, gave an exclusive interview in the Metro to tell us why responsible travel could help the desperate marine world and those countries who are picking themselves up from recent revolutions.

Photo courtesy of Simon Reeve.

Interview

In the past I have stuck to learning about life on land

But my current project is all about life below the water and the challenges our seas face through over fishing and pollution. I have spent the past few months travelling all over the India Ocean. I’ve only got as far as the east coast of Africa so I have four more months of travelling to do before I complete my journey.

One of my favourite places I have visited this year is Chumbe Island, a coral park in the Zanzibar archipelago, just off the coast of Tanzania.

The founders of this island have recruited people from different communities to help maintain the park, turning the fisherman, the people who were catching and consuming the fish and marine life that live in the coral reef, into gamekeepers that protect the island. It is a fantastic project set in a beautiful location.

Authentic experiences generally cost more than a package holiday to a Costa del Sol hotel - but you get what you pay for.

So if you go a Responsible Tourism Award Winner like Chumbe Island you will contribute to the protection of the environment and the local community, but you probably won’t be able to sit around a pool in an air-conditioned complex drinking overpriced cocktails.

There have been some been some major knock-backs to tourism in the last year such as the Icelandic ash cloud, the chaos at Heathrow caused by the severe winter, and the recent revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa.

Some countries, such as Tunisia, were considered sunshine states for Western tourists, but travelling responsibly means taking the local situation into account. Always think about where you are going and be aware of the political situation. If we are going to holiday in countries that are fundamentally dictatorships, then we have to accept things can go wrong.

Countries that have just kicked out a dictator would probably appreciate our sterling now they have freed themselves of the shackles of military rule.

We don’t realise what we have as a traveller. We may have worked hard for our holiday cash but it is an absolute fortune for communities in the developing world. Spent wisely, it can have a positive, wonderful impact.

The craziness of the last year has definitely affected our confidence in travel.

We certainly wised up very quickly to the fact that nothing is guaranteed and all sorts of things can go wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if people choose to spend more time in Britain this year.

Previous Responsible Tourism Award winner Blue Ventures is a British organisation that runs adventurous volunteer projects and I recently visited its operation in Madagascar.

Staying with its coastal community I worked on its award-winning marine conservation project. It’s less of a holiday and more of a working vacation, but you will get lots more out of it. I was really impressed with the approach to the existing community on the island - they’re not just handing out food to the locals so rich pampered foreigners can stay there – as they educate and train them all. The project is absolutely dedicated to preserving the environment in what is one of the most beautiful parts of the world.

I have learned to scuba dive, allowing me to be a human in a totally different way.

To stay underwater for longer periods of time has transformed my world - in fact I don’t know why I didn’t learn before. I think i was overwhelmed with all the equipment. To be able to swim with sharks and all the amazing life that lives under the watery bits of our planet is such an experience.

This interview appeared exclusively in the Metro Newspaper on Friday 10 June 2011.

Read Simon Reeve's previous interview for the Awards, or check out our other celebrity supporters.