Image: istockphoto.com/Paige Falk
Another misnomer in the sustainable-travel industry is around adventure travel. Adventure implies a certain level of risk and uncertainty, but since this doesn’t appeal to everyone, the travel industry has divided it into “soft” or “hard” adventures. Soft adventures have few risks, more comfortable beds and are not physically rigorous. It’s often dubbed as lite ecotourism. Hard adventures are – well, harder, with a higher risk factor. Usually there is some form of unconventional transportation in the mix, like paddling a kayak through rapids or trekking through a cloud forest. There are plenty of places offering adventure tours that claim to be green, so approach them with caution. If your tour involves using at ATV, Jetski or helicopter, if it leaves behind garbage or disrupts the wildlife, it’s not an ecotour.
Green tourism, (sometimes dubbed sustainable or responsible tourism) shouldn’t reduce resources, prevent other people from enjoying the same experience, destroy the environment or upset the ecosystem.
An offshoot of sustainable travel is cultural tourism, where you interact and observe unique cultures and communities. But be careful here as well. Cultural tourism must have the core value of learning from another culture while supporting the community with your tourist dollars. Barging into a community to snap pictures of the “unusual” locals is not cultural tourism.
Even if you don’t intend to do an eco tour, you can still be a green traveller. Take or pick up only the brochures or maps that are absolutely necessary and return all others. Don’t buy products made from endangered species like tortoise shell, ivory or black coral. Take only photographs and leave only footprints when you visit nature reserves, biospheres or national parks. In fact, take it one step further and pick up any litter you find along the trails. Respect the flora, fauna and people where you visit and you are on your way to being an eco-traveller.
You can also check with your travel agent for green tour operators. When booking a tour, bring along a copy of the Ten Commandments on Eco-Tourism issued by The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) for its agents and tour operators. It offers some great guidelines.
Green Living Network
