| Jenny Lama A holiday should be much more than an occasion to snap trophy photos and go home and boast your friends. A holiday should be an enlightening cultural experience from which you learn a little of the countries, people, cultures and structure of a country. Now days it is not just enough to book a holiday through an agent, get on a plane and tour around some exotic location.
We have to think about how our holiday impacts the places and people we are visiting, not only how it impacts them, but how it can benefit them. Too many people these days just book a holiday out of a glossy brochure or over a flashy website, but we put little though into who is running our holiday, where the money is going and who is benefiting.
It may be unknown by the traveler who is forking out big bucks for a holiday that as little as 30% of that money stays in the country they are visiting. Tourism is a cut through competitive industry and the people that bear the brunt of pricing wars is the local communities, the local guide that works so hard to make your expensive holiday a success, that little bent dude that hauls your baggage on a trek, or that chain smoking wrinkly old driver that works a night time job as well to feed his seven children.
With "responsible tourism" being a boom marketing tool in the travel industry, it's important that you, the traveler makes sure you are getting what you pay for and the company that is running your trip is delivering their promise to be a " responsible tour operator"
Before you book -
Who will my guide be? Will they be local or western? How much do the guides get paid per day? What hotels will we be staying in, are they locally owned? Do you support any local projects? If so what are they and what is your commitment to them?
While on your holiday -
Get to know your guide Ask to visit the tour companies "local projects". Check them out and make sure they are legitimate. In a lot of cases money just gets thrown into projects and not much of it actually does any good.
What about women and ethnic minority groups, are they given equal rights for employment in the tourism industry. How much of your tour is actually unique and hands on and how much of it just follows the trodden tourist trails. When visiting villages, home stays, local projects and remote regions, is consideration given to the local people. Do they benefit from your visit at all? Have a chat with them and see what their views are about tourists visiting them.
Transport used.
Is it locally/independently owned or part of a large franchise company? Is it safe and in good working order. Make sure it's not chugging out black polluting smoke!
Another thing to consider when booking a holiday is the price, It's a common trend for people to look for the cheapest holiday on offer, thinking they are getting better value for money. In most cases holidays are not cheaper because the agent is taking a cut in profit, but because they are cutting corners o n the ground. Maybe increasing groups sizes, not operating safely or to the best standard, underpaying local staff etc. Cheap is not always best. If a travel agent is real about their claim to be responsible, then they will be paying guides, contract operators and local staff better wages, will be supporting local projects etc, so a cut price holiday is NEVER going to be a socially responsible one!
If you want a cheaper holiday, my best advice is forgoing the travel agent and browse the net. Go local, find a locally owned company that operate in the country you are visiting. The internet is a wonderful place to do this, with nowadays social networking it should be easy to check company and traveller reviews and feedback and find a reputable company that will deliver what you are looking for. The best thing, 100% of the money you pay for that trip will stay in the country and benefit it, not stay in an international travel agents pocket! Not only will your holiday be cheaper I guarantee it will be a ten times better experience.
So next time you book a holiday that pledges to be "the trip of a life time" do a little research and planning and in may not only be the trip of YOUR life time, but of somebody else's to. Never ever forget that we are all just tourists in somebody else back yards and a little bit of respect, consideration and kindness goes a very long way to finding us the ultimate local experience, perhaps one that could even change our lives!
And don't forget if you are genuinely satisfied and impressed with your social and environmentally responsible tour operator, make sure you let them and other people know, and equally if you are unimpressed let them know too. After all its all of our jobs to ensure that the little people don't get bitten by global business and that the wonderful, magical places of this world are not ruined by thoughtless tourists and greedy travel agents.
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For a responsible operator in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and India http://www.dtoursoriginal.com A sustainable social tourism project in Nepal supported by D'Tours http://www.asimplething.org |
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