What makes our holidays better?

We are often asked how ‘responsible’ holidays stand apart from normal holidays. Well, in a nutshell, these are more authentic holidays that offer experiences that - contrary to the sometimes artificial confinements of mass tourism - respectfully explore the natural environment and local culture of a destination.

This not only offers economic opportunities for local people (culture and landscapes are often the biggest assets for poor communities), but also provides the traveller with a genuine insight into a different way of life and environment.

Responsible holidays come in lots of different shapes and forms and can provide something for everyone but the imperative factor is that they are carried out in a more socially and environmentally responsible way. However, some responsibility aspects may be less obvious to the naked eye, and that’s why you sometimes need to ask your operator or guide to point them out.

All operators and accommodation owners on our site have been screened by us on their environmental, social and economic responsibility policies and they have demonstrated how they meet our responsible travel criteria.

In practice, this often translates as the following;
A higher percentage of the income remains in country of destination. In conventional or ‘package’ tourism, up to 90 percent of the cost of your holiday may leave the destination. With responsible tourism, up to 70% of the cost of your holiday excluding flights (and 100% from community based tourism initiatives) remains in the destination.

This means that local communities can achieve the same economic and social benefits with far less visitors and therefore environmental impact on their resources.

More local people are employed. We all know the image of resorts staffed by holiday reps from the UK. Responsible operators, on the other hand try to employ local staff and guides wherever they can.  You'll get a greater insight into local cultures this way.  

This also increases local employment and provides the local community with an alternative or supplement to other, sometimes less sustainable activities.  Creating jobs and income also adds economic value to local cultural and natural heritage, and more reasons for local people to be able to conserve them.   

Operators often support local projects or charities. Responsible tour operators and accommodation owners often support local projects and charities in the destination, or donate a percentage of their funds to charity. Similarly, for every holiday booked through responsibletravel.com, we donate £1 to charity. You can read about the projects we have supported here

Minimising impact on the environment. This can be in many different ways; some holidays have very progressive technology, solar panels etc, some back to basic accommodations naturally have a small ecological footprint and work with nature, and some simply minimise the impact by using local transport, recycling waste etc.

All responsible tour companies should inform you what you, as a traveller, can do to minimise your environmental, and cultural impact.

Respecting local cultures. Responsible holidays are designed to maximise local benefits and minimise the negative impact, and cultural impact is a part of that. Groups are kept small and advice is provided to travellers on respecting the local culture and customs.

The points above are just the fundamental benefits of responsible tourism - the list goes on and is growing. As the concept of responsible tourism develops and becomes more widely acknowledged, operators and accommodation owners become more innovative and experienced in maximising the positive, and minimising the negative aspects of tourism. They are constantly finding new ways to improve their operations.

What about flying?
It is virtually impossible to avoid the current high profile debate in the media about whether we should be flying. At responsibletravel.com we believe that we should all be flying considerably less.  We believe that we are the first travel agent to say this, and are lobbying Government about the best way to achieve this. Tourists can cut back on short breaks and business trips, and take fewer, but longer and more responsible holidays that create a greater benefit for the local community.

We do feel that a responsible holiday can have significant local benefits such as poverty reduction, landscape and wildlife protection and (as for example in volunteering holidays) environmental conservation that go a little way to balancing the negative impact of the flight. 

It is also important to consider flying less as one element of a low carbon lifestyle. Contrary to popular belief, air travel currently only contributes less than 5% of emissions, and there are many other ways in which we can also reduce emissions from turning down the heating to cycling to work rather than taking the car (read more here). Furthermore, there is the possibility of off-setting the emissions from the flight. You can read more about our stance on flying here.

Things you can do as a traveller
Ask your operator how your holiday helps the local community and minimises impact on the environment – if they don’t have a clear answer, they probably don’t take it very seriously so consider booking elsewhere, and tell the operator why you are not booking. Consumer demand is a great force for change in the tourism industry.

During the trip, ask the guide to explain or demonstrate how your visit helps local people. If you have any concerns do not feel inhibited to raise them with your guide or tour leader. The sooner issues are raised, the more likely either something is done about it – or your mind put at ease. If neither happens, contact your operator upon your return home and raise the issues with them so that they can take it on board and rectify them on future trips if necessary.

Always try and minimise your own footprint, you can read some tips on how to do that here . If you feel an operator can do more to help local communities or the environment, then tell them. They should welcome your suggestions.

Finally, if you have any ideas on how we at responsibletravel.com can improve our business, we’d love to hear from you too!