ENVIRONMENT: Ask Before You Bask

By Sanjay Suri Reprint | | Print |

Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Dec 27 2002 (IPS) - A major British non-governmental organisation is asking holidaymakers heading for sun and sand to "ask before you bask".

The campaign by Tearfund over the Christmas and New Year holidays comes in the wake of a growing number of holidays to developing countries from which those countries "reap little or no benefit."

Tearfund, a Christian relief and development agency working with Christian agencies and churches around the world to tackle poverty, is asking the growing number of tourists headed for destinations in Africa, Latin America and Asia to ask if tour operators they use have a responsible tourism policy.

The results are not dramatic but changes are visible. "A lot of tour operators are beginning to work towards responsible tourism," Abby King who is managing the campaign for Tearfund told IPS. "We saw a growing response to these moves at the World Travel Market held in London recently."

Tearfund has now tied up with the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) to produce a guide for responsible tourism, which has been circulated among travel agents and tour operators. "Consumer pressure and NGO (non-governmental organisation) pressure is beginning to work," she says. The trend towards more corporate social responsibility is also beginning to have an impact in the tourism business, she says.

"Tourism has become a highly lucrative industry that offers huge benefits to poor countries," says Graham Gordon, Tearfund’s Ethical Tourism Advisor. "However all too frequently these benefits simply bypass the destination."

With January and February coming up as the peak holiday booking period, Tearfund has put together some guidelines to help holidaymakers make an informed decision. It advises holidaymakers to ask tour operators and travel agents the following questions:

– Social impact: does the tour operator recruit local residents – including for management positions – and does it pay their local staff fair wages?

– Environmental impact: does the tour operator take steps to reduce its negative impact on the local environment, such as reducing energy consumption and waste, and protecting reefs and beaches?

– Local economy: does the tour operator support local business, such as providing local guides, using food grown locally, promoting locally owned businesses such as restaurants and craftsmen?

– Company donations: does the tour operator give money to local community development projects – such as hospitals and schools – and do they encourage tourists to do the same?

– Advice on responsible behaviour: what advice does the tour operator give about travelling responsibly – like how to respect the local culture, how to have a positive impact on the local economy and how to protect the environment?

One in 10 holidays booked in Britain last year was to a developing nation, Tearfund says. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing industries on the planet, with a record number of 58.3 million overseas visits from the UK alone last year, three times more than 20 years ago, it says.

"People are getting increasingly adventurous as travel to exotic locations becomes more affordable," says Gordon. "However, the more exotic destinations tend to be in the world’s poorest countries – where millions of people struggle to survive on less than a dollar a day – and more needs to be done to ensure that this tourism benefits to those who actually live there."

On the contrary, he says, "all too often there is a negative impact." Irresponsible tourism can put pressure on scarce local resources such as water, damage the local environment, and any potential income may never reach the local economy."

Recent research by Tearfund conducted with some tour operators claims a benefit for tour operators if they invest in responsible tourism. More than half of Britons would be more likely to book a holiday with a tour operator that has a written code guaranteeing good working conditions, protection of the environment and support for the local communities, the survey shows.

The research also revealed that many holidaymakers would be willing to pay more for their holiday if it came with assurances that the local community would directly benefit, the survey indicated.

If a holiday has been booked already, there are still many things that holidaymakers can do to ensure that everyone benefits from their holiday, Tearfund says. This includes steps such as conserving local resources by using water sparingly or turning off heating or air-conditioning when not required; asking permission before taking photographs of people; and asking about appropriate forms of behaviour, dress codes, haggling and how much to tip.

The move towards more responsible tourism has been gaining ground in Britain over recent years. A new website that came up last year (www.responsibletravel.com) has been providing detailed information with many do’s and don’ts of responsible tourism.

"We provide links to responsible tour operators," a spokesman for the website told IPS. "We can point to small and niche tour operators who might not otherwise be easy to find, and we are finding the response very encouraging."

There has also been a rise in eco-tourism, which promotes respect for ecology and the environment, and often a study of these. Tour operators also report a slight growth in cultural tourism to destinations in developing countries.

The United Nations had declared 2002 as the international year of ecotourism. A world summit held in Quebec in Canada earlier this year proposed several advantages to tourists and tour operators from ecotourism.

There were an estimated 625 million international tourist arrivals in 1998, projected to reach 1.3 billion in 2015. According to statistics from the tourism industry, in 1997 British tourists spent as much money holidaying in developing countries as Britain’s entire aid budget.