Responsible tourism means to eliminate or minimize all the negative impacts that can be caused on the environment, society and people. In simple terms, responsible tourism is the same context of sustainable tourism which you might have been hearing or reading lately a lot. Tourism is now a trillion-dollar industry and holds 10% of GDP around the world which makes it so important for our economy. But this industry has caused a lot of positive and negative impacts. Not only on people but on the environment too.
This topic takes us back to 2015 when this whole program of sustainable tourism started on an international level. Due to the heart-breaking environmental issues, even some of the travelers now rely on the motto of Go Green. That’s why they pick options of tourism that won’t affect the nature and other people.
Responsible tourism can also be characterized by:
- Minimizing the negative impacts on all the social, economic and environmental issues.
- Generating excellent economic conditions without spoiling the working places of the host.
- Respecting the other communities, culture, and environment by being responsible as a tourist during your stay.
- Contribute as much as you can to preserve the natural and cultural heritage around the world.
- Provide meaningful and safe access to people who are disabled.
- Letting the local people be proud of their culture and make them the confidence of the tourism service they try to provide.
- Behaving yourself and providing a good image of being a tourist etc.
When the idea of responsible tourism started?
This great idea of responsible tourism started because of different events happening around the world. Such events similar to a recent one when a video came on the internet of turtle in so much pain and was bleeding due to some simple plastic straws. The plastic straws we use to drink and throw them on the Daytona Beach Timeshare or sea because it seems nothing. But this act is now today causing a lot of pain to sea life. We are somehow responsible for these emerging issues related to the environment.
Most problems of the environment are caused by air travel. There is a huge amount of greenhouse gases pumping in the air because of 100,000 flights flying on a daily basis. This means that the aviation industry is responsible for 2.5% of carbon emissions and it could increase to 15% in 2050. With the rise of tourism, more problems are arising. The increase of roads and airports is causing a lot of pollution and making the atmosphere harmful. These things are harmful both for land and water.
For these reasons, we need to identify ways by which we can solve these problems. All the local people and government need to be together as only the government cannot undone these things. We all are responsible for whatever happening and we can clear this thing by influencing and adopting responsible tourism. Not tomorrow, start being a response tourist today and enjoy and preserve the beautiful world around you.
Do you think our generations will be able to enjoy what we did?
