The news that First Choice is to become 100% all-inclusive has recently divided the travel industry. Justin Francis, founder of responsibletravel.com does not believe that all all-inclusives are inherently bad, despite what he describes as some ‘well-deserved negative press’ surrounding them. When done well such resorts can offer sustainable solutions for high density tourism. The problem is, not many are being ‘done well’.
A local hotel worker in the Caribbean once told me that the jobs provided for the local community by all-inclusive hotels were “the best jobs we’ve ever had.” Unfortunately, this is often far from the truth in the majority of cases. All-inclusive resorts have picked up some well-deserved bad press over the years for exploiting local labour and giving little back to communities in the way of economic benefits. They’ve often been viewed as an eye-sore on local environments and their self-contained nature has meant that any visitor with the slightest sense of curiosity for what lays behind those four walls has little chance of venturing out anyway. In fact, in recent years the all-inclusive has almost become synonymous with ‘irresponsibility’ - hence the recent debate.
However, despite their poor reputation, all-inclusives are not inherently doomed from a sustainability perspective. In my view there is nothing that prevents all-inclusive resorts being operated in a responsible way. An impressive all-inclusive resort can provide employment for local people with a genuine chance of progression - with the right support and training - into managerial roles that are better paid. Indeed, an all-inclusive resort in a developing country could employ far more people locally than several eco lodges ever could.
Notorious for not sourcing locally, there is no reason why a responsible, sustainable all-inclusive resort cannot support an ‘adopt a farmer’ scheme, or similar – sourcing delicious, fresh, quality produce for its catering needs at a local level.
All-inclusive resorts have economies of scale on their side where water and energy resources, as well as waste management are concerned. Although they often host a higher number of visitors than your average eco lodge, from a per capita perspective it is far more environmentally friendly to manage the impact of tourists in one place using appropriate systems and technology than it is if visitors are dispersed throughout a destination in little pockets of temporary luxury living.
Lastly, if planned sensitively, excursions that utilise locally owned, managed and run transport and tourism services (guides, restaurants, craft markets, heritage attractions) can provide opportunities for others to access the tourist market and reap the economic benefits that tourism can bring to an area.
In many destinations – the Dominican Republic for example, the tourism marker relies upon a high volume of visitors to survive. There are parts of DR that are well-suited to all-inclusives – in other words they have the necessary infrastructure in place to make it work. Other destinations however, are more fragile. It’s vital that as tourism planners, we match the characteristics of a destination to the type of tourism that can be sustained there.
The temptation with the current debate around all-inclusives is to polarise, to denounce them as irrevocable serial offenders against communities and environments. As Harold Goodwin said in a recent blog post, “we need to move beyond the stereotypical generalisations which currently characterise the debate.” I see why that temptation exists – in responsible tourism we often crave these catch-all solutions, whether it be with carbon offsets or global sustainable tourism criteria. In truth, the issues around all-inclusives are always destination-specific. There is a place for them in tourism alongside other smaller-scale tourism experiences, and it is our challenge to ensure we develop them in the right places, and in ways that push responsible tourism practices forward.
Building a loyal and skilled local workforce, reducing energy costs and waste, sourcing fresh local produce, and offering an exciting range of sensitively planned excursions are all good for business, as well as destinations and local people. First Choice has a progressive reputation in responsible tourism and this is the challenge they'll now be taking on across their business.
Justin Francis, founder and MD, responsibletravel.com
This article originally appeared exclusively in Travel Trade Gazette on Friday 6th May
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