Ditch ‘bucket lists’ in 2018, says Responsible Travel
Responsible Travel is calling for an end to ‘bucket list’ tourism in 2018, saying travellers need to a ‘total change of mindset’.
The travel company says that, as UN’s Year of Sustainable Tourism draws to a close, 2017 has been dominated by stories of ‘over tourism’.
"If we are to do better in 2018, Responsible Travel believes we need to empty our ‘bucket lists’, move on from the habit of ticking off popular experiences and seek out brave, alternative adventures," it says.
CEO Justin Francis said: "2017 marked a turning point in tourism, with local communities and tourists complaining about the negative impacts of too many tourists. Dubbed ‘over tourism’, this irresponsible tourism has become an issue in the Orkneys, Venice and at least 20 other reported destinations.
"It is up to all of us as travellers, travel companies, destination managers, writers and travel lovers worldwide to help carve out a new destiny for tourism by listening to local people.
"This is about a total change of mindset for all of us. We need to free ourselves from the restraints of crowd-following and bravely seek out our own alternative adventures. We have seen an increase in this type of travel at Responsible Travel. Ultimately, this is where the magic of travel really lies.
"I hope the holiday stories we hear next summer are not riddled with incensed locals, intrusive tourists and indifferent governments but instead, stories of local people feeling a genuine sense of benefit and of travellers feeling enriched and inspired by the adventures and encounters they’ve had."
Among changes Responsible Travel would like to see are more people booking cruises on small ships rather than the giant vessels which it says ‘glide across the world’s oceans leaving destruction in their wake at sea, on land and even on board’.
It also wants an end to ‘exploitative tourism and staged experiences; wants skiers to wise up to the fact that some resorts ‘are increasingly dependent on artificial snow’; encourage more people to see dolphins and whales in the wild and take a walking safari to get ‘up close to Africa on its own terms’.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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