In the last few years, so-called “responsible tourists” tried to make an effort to conserve both the cultural and environmental aspect of our travelling spots. Still, some argue that there is no such thing as a “responsible tourist.” How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

In the last few years, so-called “responsible tourists” tried to make an effort to conserve both the cultural and environmental aspect of our travelling spots. Still, some argue that there is no such thing as a “responsible tourist.” How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

Responsible tourism has grown in popularity over the last few decades as more and more travelers have become acutely aware of the environmental and cultural destruction that unmitigated travel can wreak on host destinations. Some may argue that responsible tourism is one dimension of the unachievable, and whilst I fundamentally disagree with this position on a personal basis. I think that so long as perfect responsibility is destined to remain an unattainable ideal, I truly believe meaningful and impactful responsible tourism is both possible AND increasingly practised all over the world.

Critics of responsible tourism often point out several valid concerns which leads them to reject the practice entirely. Katy EvansTravel in itself is, of course, an environmental cost. Even the most conscientious traveller cannot fully offset the environmental impact of their air travel, and commercial aviation alone accounts for nearly 3% of global carbon pollution as of October 2023. Moreover, even the presence of a visitor at any given destination — despite careful consideration being woven into the package — brings outside forces that change local culture and economy and often ecosystems to some degree. The idea of a tourist who leaves no trace is thus almost oxymoronic when seen in this light.

Moreover, sceptics point out that responsible tourism is often more aspiration than a reality. This is despite the fact that numerous travellers proudly wearing the green consumer badge still frequent large global hotel chains with disbursed returns, base their meals around imported foods rather than locally produced goods and engage with superficially commercialised cultural experiences devoid of authenticity. This discrepancy between intention and behaviour has lead critics to describe the responsible tourist label as little more than a gesture.

But all these thoughtful arguments confuse imperfection — with impossibility, a fundamentally wrong equivalence. Responsible tourism seeks not zero impact on the environment but requires mindful, continual effort to reduce harm and increase benefit to host communities and ecosystems. Even if this footprint cannot be fully eliminated, tourists who stay at locally owned accommodation, recruit community guides, explore and respect cultural customs as well as sacred sites and carbon offset are genuinely doing something about sustainable tourism.

The collective impact of tourists being responsible can also be shown to be impactful. Some places — Costa Rica and Bhutan, for various reasons — have actively developed sustainable tourism models in order to ensure visitor spending translates into conservation projects, greater support for indigenous livelihoods and more encouragement from residents to protect natural areas that might otherwise be lost to more extractive forms of economic development. The argument that responsible tourism has no real-world results is refuted by these examples.

Pre-travel decisions are your responsibility too. There is plenty of responsibility that each tourist can take on themselves: traveling when the places are least crowded, opting for overland transport if possible, checking to see who the tour operator is and if they have any ethics in place before booking.

To sum up, while no tourist will ever be completely environmentally or culturally neutral – this does not make responsible tourism impossible. Tourists can and do make a difference for the better by choosing wisely, behaving tolerantly and being truly committed to reducing harm and helping local communities. Even better — well, at least less bad — than giving up is the exploration of responsible tourism.