What Is Sustainable Travel?
What Harm Does Tourism Cause?
According to The World Counts, there are over 1.4 billion tourists arriving at a new destination every year, with 45 arrivals per second. The tourism industry is without a doubt a major, global industry.
While we at The Navigating Mom LOVE to focus on the benefits of travel and will without a doubt encourage you to travel every chance you get, we also cannot undermine the importance of eco-friendly travel and incorporating eco-friendly travel principles into every aspect of your home and travel life. Tourism, although often times unintentional, can lead to harm to the environment, destinations, and local culture.
The negative impacts of tourism include:
- Stress and overuse of local resources
- Overuse of water
- Soil erosion
- Pollution
- Natural habitat loss
- Stress on local wildlife and endangered species
- Increase in greenhouse gas emissions (mainly from transportation)
So what is eco-tourism? What is sustainable travel? And most importantly, what can you do to contribute to reducing the harmful effects of everyday activities and tourism on the environment and local culture of the destinations you visit?
What Is Eco-Tourism?
“Respect Nature, Foster Cultural Understanding, and Conserve the Environment”
Ecotourism is a form of tourism centered around preserving ecosystems and cultural traditions. Ecotourism generally involves nature-based destinations and focuses on the preservation of local flora, fauna, cultural traditions, and the entire environment of those destinations. Ecotourism focuses on ensuring travel to a destination is ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable while minimizing harmful effects on the local culture and environment.
According to the International Ecotourism Society, ecotourism is defined as “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education.”
Eco-tourism is:
- Travel focused on experiencing and learning about nature
- Travel that is low-impact with minimal impact on the environment
- Travel that is locally oriented and focused on preserving and benefiting the local area and culture
What Is Sustainable Tourism?
Sustainable travel takes it a step further to include almost any destination around the globe that you can think of and how each traveler can implement simple measures to preserve and protect!
- Takes into account visitors, the host community, and the environment
- Considers the environmental, economic, social, and cultural components of tourism to an area
- Applies to any destination you may visit and what you can do to reduce the harmful impacts on the environment and local culture
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council has established four main pillars of sustainable travel:
- Sustainable Management
- Socioeconomic Impacts
- Cultural Impacts
- Environmental Impacts Education
Be Sure to Follow the Leave No Trace Principles, as described by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics!
Education
A main goal of ecotourism is education! Education on what ecotourism and sustainable travel is, why it is important, and what each and every traveler can do to practice sustainability in their everyday life and while traveling!
You can find educational opportunities for the family during your travels, such as the Junior Ranger programs at national parks, or use online resources to provide education, support, and resources to show you how you can protect the destinations you are so excited to see!
