Ethical Travel
Ethical and responsible travel, otherwise known as 'sustainable tourism', refers to tourists travelling to another destination and making a conscious effort to impact the local environment, society, and economy positively.
These efforts often involve local transportation, accommodation, entertainment, recreation, food, and shopping.
Tips for Responsible Travel
Examples of Irresponsible Tourism
Irresponsible tourism refers to travel behaviours and practices that harm the environment, local communities, and cultural heritage. This includes actions like disturbing wildlife, disrespecting local customs, overusing natural resources, and contributing to overcrowding at popular destinations. Irresponsible tourism can lead to environmental degradation, loss of cultural identity, and economic imbalances in host communities.
To combat these negative effects, tourists should prioritise sustainable practices, such as respecting local cultures, minimising waste, supporting local businesses, and choosing eco-friendly accommodations and activities. By doing so, travellers can help preserve destinations for future generations.
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​By highlighting these specific examples, it's clear that irresponsible tourism can have a range of negative impacts on both the environment and local communities. Encouraging travellers to make informed, respectful, and sustainable choices is essential to protecting these destinations for the future.
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Cruise Ship Tourism
Cruise Ship Tourism is a perfect example of irresponsible travel.​​ Often the destination of cruise ship itineraries involves small island nations of which a majority are experiencing underdevelopment.​ Whilst tourism may be a major income for these small communities, the volume to which tourists come and go, is not sustainable or beneficial.
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Cruise ships bring people in the masses to these small islands, and with masses, come demands. With demands, come the loss of culture but also overconsumption, commercialisation, and disregard to the people living within these communities.
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Tourists leave just as fast as they come to these islands, leaving their environmental footprint behind, as well as other significant development impacts. ​People cannot fully immerse themselves into a culture in the small amount of time that a cruise itinerary allows. With a lack of awareness and understanding, brings along many other detrimental issues and impacts to these vulnerable communities.
Mass Tourism in Fragile Ecosystems
Popular snorkelling and diving sites, like the Great Barrier Reef, suffer from irresponsible tourism practices, such as touching or standing on coral, littering, and pollution from sunscreen and boats, which can damage delicate marine ecosystems.
Areas like the Himalayas and Mount Everest face issues with overcrowding, waste left by trekkers and climbers, and the degradation of trails and natural landscapes due to high tourist traffic.
Wildlife Tourism
In places like Thailand and Indonesia, tourists often take selfies with wild animals or participate in activities like riding elephants. These practices can be harmful as they often involve capturing animals from the wild, improper care, or cruel training methods.
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Other examples include shark diving. While some shark diving tours are managed responsibly, others use bait to attract sharks, which can alter their natural behavior and disrupt marine ecosystems.
Voluntourism
The concept of voluntourism attempts to combine volunteering, international travel, cultural exchange and learning objectives. The modern concept is advertised as having the power to educate, transform and make a difference to both volunteers and the communities who host them.​ A 'mutual exchange' with 'mutual benefits'
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Most accessible voluntourism programs involve untrained tourists volunteering for a few days or weeks, often in sensitive environments like orphanages or wildlife sanctuaries. This can disrupt local communities, provide little benefit, and sometimes even cause harm, such as creating emotional distress for children who form attachments with short-term volunteers.
Voluntourism can sometimes prioritise the experience of the volunteer over the needs of the local community, leading to resources being diverted to accommodate volunteers rather than addressing local issues effectively.
Examples of
Responsible Tourism Companies
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