Travelling responsibly includes leaving no detrimental social, economic, or environmental repercussions on the places you visit. Responsible travel is extremely important in the travel and tourist sector since everyone has a role to play. Everyone, regardless of their role, can help to improve the environment.
Why responsible travel is important.
Responsible travel is vital nowadays because it contributes to a better living environment for biodiversity. It specifically addresses the most important areas of humans’ daily life, thereby improving their living conditions. Responsible travel considers the social, economic, environmental, and cultural elements of the communities where we reside. That is why all stakeholders must fully support it – it really benefits us. Here’s how responsible travel impacts our lives:
Cultural sensitivity:
Responsible travel contributes significantly to cultural enrichment. Responsible travelling protects local cultures and traditions. Locals and travellers would have an easy time exploiting valuable cultures, leaving nothing for future entrepreneurs. Safe travel encourages community involvement in all aspects of travel and tourism.
As a result, communities are becoming aware of the importance of tourism and determined to preserve their traditions. This cultural heritage preservation benefits not only the current generation, but also future generations. For example, careful travel has helped to conserve Batwa traditions in western Uganda. As a consequence, we need more of this from all players in the tourism business.
Environmental Impacts:
Travelling wisely helps to lessen the carbon footprint in the environment. This enhances the overall quality of the air we breathe. Therefore, stakeholders need to eliminate all sources of pollution to ensure that the carbon footprint is decreased. Hotels, tour operators, and travelers should constantly monitor their behavior to ensure that they are not harming the environment.
Environmentally friendly transportation. This includes everything related to the types of transportation that passengers select as well as their activities while in transit. While travelling, tourists shouldn’t leave behind trash or even worsen the environment. In national parks, for example, it’s crucial to stick to designated trails to avoid damaging or killing any wildlife that may have deposited eggs on the ground. The environment is improved in all respects by this.
Environmentally friendly pursuits. Activities that are environmentally friendly should be engaged in by tourists and other interested parties. Simply put, being environmentally conscious means visiting locations and making sure they are left in better shape than when you arrived. Degrading sites and littering are therefore better avoided. As part of eco-tours, tourists can also participate in place cleanup.
When visiting an environmentally conscious location like Kibale Forest National Park, for example, you might decide to pick up the bottles that have been thrown on the ground and place them in the trash cans. Such activities make the environment better.
Waste management and recycling. When stakeholders indulge in recycling and management of waste. It improves the environment. The destinations become more attractive and valuable to travelers. On the other hand, no tourist desires to spend time in a place where garbage is improperly managed.
Economic benefits:
Responsible travel involves supporting local businesses and economies at large. For instance, when travelers go gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, they should buy the necessities from the shops around the park. This support helps the locals value travel and tourism more. In the same spirit, when the game viewers that flock to Murchison Falls National Park buy snacks, fruits, and other equipment, it adds up to the economy.
Responsible travel also supports fair trade practices in businesses. This is because it ensures that every one involved in the chain benefits regardless of capacity. This is why it advocates for support of local economies to ensure that they too benefit.
Community development projects. Responsible travel advocates for the uplifting of local communities through various activities. In the name of corporate social responsibility, stakeholders can choose to uplift the societies in which they operate. For example, buying souvenirs from the local women in Queen Elizabeth National Park creates jobs. Such people have started to value travel and tourism even more.
Social responsibility:
Human rights and labor laws are some of the principles in line with responsible travel. For instance; responsible travel does not support child labor. Therefore travelers who value responsible travel may not deal with destinations where child labor is involved. Responsible travel helps in child protection and exploitation prevention. This helps stakeholders to reduce child labor which also helps the children stay in school and chase bigger dreams.
Accessible tourism and inclusivity are yet other social aspects that responsible travel upholds. Societies that have a share of the benefits of tourism find it easy to showcase their attractions as compared to others. Therefore stakeholders should incorporate responsible travel in their practices to make it easier to get more information and unbiased attention from the local communities.
Best Practices for Responsible Travel.
Reduce, Reuse Recycle. This is a very useful strategy in responsible travel. It urges travelers to be mindful of their waste, and make sure they make good use of the trash cans. Travelers should reuse some of the materials instead of throwing them away to litter the environment. These are things to do with mainly packaging.
Respect the local environment and wildlife. Travelers should respect the ecosystem. It is for all living things to enjoy and not just for humans. When people respect animals, they feel comfortable coexisting with them in their natural habitat. This reduces the charges they make towards visitors. A case in point is the chimpanzees and gorillas.
Learn about local cultures and customs. Travelers need to learn and understand the local cultures and traditions. When travelers know the significance of the traditions, they will respect them more and therefore preserve and value them more. Travelers should also endeavor to support local communities as it helps them to see the value of travel and tourism since they benefit directly from it.
This explains why the Kinyarwanda culture is flourishing at Iby’Iwachu Cultural Village in Rwanda. The Karamajong Culture in the outskirts of Kidepo Valley National Park are also a good example.
At Ibuth Safaris, we practice responsible travel. From the cars we use for transportation of our guests in our day-to-day tours to the destinations we visit in our eco tours, responsible travel is surely something we uphold. We always brief our travelers on how they can travel responsibly just before we set out to the destinations. Our choices of accommodations in the various destinations are also in line with responsible travel not forgetting the guides who preach the same message.
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