See Sustainable travel for the ecological and appropriate technology dimension of travel sustainability.

A growing number of travelers want their journeys to be less invasive and more beneficial to the local community. They want to better understand the culture of the people they meet in the places they visit. Visitors should be mindful that we are entering a place that is someone else's home. Sounds complicated? Try this — imagine what irresponsible tourism looks like and then imagine its opposite.

What exactly is responsible travel?

Responsible tourism has several goals: sustainability, environmental integrity, social justice and maximum local economic benefit. Responsible tourism asks individuals, organizations, governments and businesses to take responsibility for their actions and the effects of their actions. Everyone involved must be responsible for sustainability.

Most principles of responsible tourism were put forth in the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations (Responsible organization).

See also sustainable travel, volunteer, leave-no-trace camping, and the do instead section of our article on begging.

Events

There is an annual Responsible Travel conference, held in a different country each year.

World Responsible Day is celebrated in Europe on June 2.

Responsible Tourism Day is held on November 7.

Economic impact

There are concerns that tourists in authoritarian countries support and legitimize government oppression. Others make the argument that tourism requires the government to uphold some level of openness and rule of law. In the end, the choice of whether to visit an authoritarian country falls on the traveller's own judgment. These countries might restrict visitors' freedom of movement, and their opportunities to fraternize with locals.

Community-based tourism

Community-based tourism (CBT) is a form of sustainable development where small, rural communities set up accommodation & activities to generate tourism. CBT allows travelers to experience life in such communities—taking part in language or cooking lessons, eating freshly-prepared meals, experiencing local music and dance, and venturing with a local guide to nearby nature/landscape attractions—while the community gains much-needed revenue. NGOs and aid organizations (like the U.S. Peace Corps) help villages establish CBT facilities, organize appropriate activities, and establish governance of the project to ensure that revenue is shared with the community. Local villagers earn money for providing homestay accommodation, becoming guides, providing lessons, growing extra produce, and creating art/crafts for sale, while a portion of revenue (20-50%) is typically reserved in a community fund that can be used to improve the CBT experience or be used for development purposes. The number of CBT projects is growing. CBT is established in Central America, Central Asia, & many countries in Africa; countries with well-established CBT projects are Guatemala, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Ghana, & Uganda.

Travelers who participate in CBT will typically book a package online for a stay of one day to one week. Bookings are handled by someone in the community, not a commercial tour operator. Accommodation is simple but sufficient by Western standards, with a private room, bed, telephone access, and a private bathroom (don't expect a toilet & shower, but at least an enclosed room with a hole in the ground and water...you should not be left to do your business outdoors or in a grotesque community toilet). Food will consist of local snacks, lunches, and at least one meal will be a smorgasbord of local dishes to taste (a dozen or so dishes are prepared, but it's there for everyone to share). Travelers can take lessons from locals in activities such as cooking, drumming, singing, dancing, body-painting, hunting/fishing (traditional methods), native medicines, or playing a traditional game with some of the village children or elders. A local guide will be able to take you to nearby attractions, like waterfalls or rainforest, or walk along trails or ride horseback. In some communities and especially during longer stays, travelers may have the opportunity to volunteer on development projects.

Cultural impact

Indigenous Tourism

In the development of many tourism projects, indigenous people have not been considered as valued stakeholders from the start. In the worst cases, they are not listened to in the development of 'charitable' projects. Adequate consultation is a must.

Indigenous peoples manage more than 40% of all IUCN-recognized protected areas in the world, and many of them - if not most - use tourism as a complement their economic benefits from these areas. Yet the challenge for travelers is finding which communities wish to be visited and with which protocols. In 2012 the Global Workshop for Indigenous and Local Communities: Biodiversity, Tourism and the Social Web took place at the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Environmental impact

See also: Sustainable travel

Carbon Emissions Per Passenger

Climate change

By plane

Greenhouses gasses emitted at the altitude of aircraft are more potent than an equivalent amount emitted on the ground.

While nearly all forms of transport a traveler uses will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, aircraft are especially notorious offenders and the aviation industry is the fastest-growing contributor to the acceleration of climate change. This is not just due to the vast distances traveled, but because they release greenhouse gases high in the atmosphere where their effects are more potent. On long-haul flights, the amount of carbon dioxide released is roughly equivalent to a car traveling the same distance with one passenger. A flight from London, UK to Perth, Australia releases the equivalent of 4.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide, or about half the average yearly emissions of a person in the U.K. Shorter flights have higher emissions than longer ones per km traveled due to the amount of fuel used taxiing, and during take off. (See: Environmental impact of aviation on Wikipedia). When travelling by air, flights flown by turboprop aircraft tend to be slightly slower and more noisy in the cabin than turbofan or jet aircraft but turboprops are more fuel efficient, emit less greenhouse gas and less noise pollution on the ground. Newer aircraft are also more fuel efficient and less noisy. Also, aircraft produced by Western manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing tend to have higher fuel efficiencies than formerly-Soviet (e.g. Tupolev, Sukhoi) or Chinese (e.g. Comac, Xian) manufacturers.

The benefits of travel in increasing an individual's cultural awareness and knowledge are immeasurable. Despite its effects, air travel is essential to the modern world and traveling. There are ways in which individuals wanting to travel responsibly can offset their impact on the environment. For example, they can use an airline that has been rated more environmentally aware or they can use carbon offset schemes. These schemes collect money which is transferred to projects, like installing renewable energy or planting trees, which generate zero/low-carbon energy or reduce levels of greenhouse gasses. By purchasing carbon offset "credits" through these schemes, travelers are investing in portions of projects which, over their lifespan, will reduce/eliminate carbon emissions (through the burning of fossil fuels) equivalent to the amount emitted on their flight. Reputable carbon offset schemes are independently verified and adhere to an international standard for measuring offset emissions.

In places where high-speed rail is common such as Western Europe and East Asia, that will be a more environmentally friendly way to travel long distances quickly. Especially for cities within 1000 km from each other, after the time taken to get to the airport check-in, go through security, and board the plane is taken into consideration, it may even work out to not be that much slower than flying.

Carbon offset can be calculated & purchased by individuals, through an agency like ClimateCare, or through your carrier. Airlines offering carbon offset programs for their passengers include: British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, easyJet, Lufthansa, Qantas, & United Airlines.

By boat/ferry

Royal Clipper Karibik can use sail power, which reduces pollution – but that doesn't in itself make it responsible

While boating is rarely in the climate change spotlight, it should be, because cruise ships are the dirtiest of the major travel industry sectors, polluting at roughly double the per passenger per mile rate of airlines (they are much heavier per passenger, and to reach many ports in a short time, they cruise too fast to be fuel-efficient). According to Marine Insight, "A medium-sized cruise ship uses about 150 tonnes of fuel daily, emitting as much particulate as one million cars." Emissions aren't the only problem though, cruise ships damage the environment by dumping trash, discharging sewage, and physically destroying natural resources.

Emissions are the environmental factor most travelers are aware of. Cruise ships burn bunker fuel and a ship's exhaust can accelerate the warming of cold environment in the form of black carbon. Black carbon is the result of incomplete combustion after the engine consumed the fuel. With large quantities of the microscopic black carbon exhaust falling to the ground, they increase the warming rate of ice and snow by decreasing the amount of sunlight reflected back into the sky. To minimize the impact, choose a less destructive type of vacation or look for ships that use fuel with low sulfur content and those that installed exhaust scrubbers.

By car

Mass Transit is often more responsible and practical than taking a personal car.

Automobiles are suitable for travelling short to medium distance. However, it often contributes to traffic congestion (especially in the core of major cities) because most cars are single occupant. Instead, consider travelling by public transit (bus, train, subway, ferry). Not only is the carbon emission per capita lower because the emission is divided among all riders, you can also read a book, browse on the internet or take a nap while the driver navigates through the city. Without worrying about traffic jams or learning the local driving habits, you are less stressed when you arrive at your destination. Cities often encourage public transit usage by offering incentives (such as dedicated lane to cut commute time or bypass high traffic areas) or disincentives for automobile usage (e.g. tolls, congestion charge in London, restricted access, high parking fee or lack of parking spots).

If you are travelling with coworkers or friends, consider booking as a group for public transit. Some companies offer group discount. If your destination cannot be reached by public transit, consider meeting up at a designated location and carpool to the final destination to cut down on fuel cost of having everyone drive their own car to the final destination and pay parking fee for each car.

See also

• Air pollution
• Animal ethics