Sustainable travel can be budget-friendly

© Robert Collins

‘When you think of sustainable travel, what comes to mind? Gorilla trekking in Uganda, perhaps, or a sojourn in a remote yet well-appointed eco-lodge in the forests of Costa Rica […]. If these high-cost trips are what pop into your head, your picture of what qualifies as sustainable tourism is not necessarily wrong – it’s just incomplete,’ says Lucas Peterson, a columnist for The New York Times.

‘The term sustainable travel has been inextricably tied to opulent eco-travel. Fueled by a desire for guiltless extravagance and increasing attention paid to climate change, sustainability became a misused, industrywide buzzword associated with far-flung, expensive trips.’

‘But sustainable tourism doesn’t have to be expensive. Not only that, “it should actually be cheaper,” said Kelly Bricker, vice-chair of the board of directors of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council […]. “There should be cost savings for doing the right thing. If you’re sourcing locally, reinvesting back into the community, it should be cheaper than if you’re importing from all over the world to create your product.” Not only should traveling sustainably not break the bank – it’s frequently a better, more enjoyable product than its nonsustainable counterpart. […].’

So, what exactly is sustainable travel?

‘The first challenge facing travelers is defining what sustainable travel actually is – and distinguishing it from the many varieties of travel that advocates and marketers have tried to label as sustainable. “When people think of sustainable tourism, they think of small eco-huts,” said David Picard, a former professor of anthropology of tourism at the University of Lausanne and an author of a Unesco study on sustainable development. […]. “But [eco-tourism is] just a tiny element.” While those businesses certainly have their place, he said, a small lodge built in a remote location is unlikely to have a significant impact on local and national development.’

‘“You don’t create enough jobs or income,” he said. “You don’t create enough capacity. Paradoxically, what we recommend is [working with big hotel brands,] because they have a huge professional capacity. They’ll train an entire hotel – 300 or 500 people – and what we saw is that these staff, once they’re trained, [will] start opening smaller hotels.” […]. “That’s the definition of sustainability – it’s preserving resources for future generations.” […].’

© Isaiah Rustad

So, how come sustainable travel practices aren’t accepted more widely?

‘[…]. Travelers “think sustainable travel is either too expensive or outside of what they want to do when they travel. More often than not, this is not the case,” said Kelley Louise, executive director of Travel+SocialGood, a sustainable tourism advocacy group. “It can apply to any kind of travel […]. When it becomes more applicable, it becomes more powerful to be used as a force for good.”’

‘What, then, has prevented sustainable travel from gaining broader acceptance? It might be a branding issue. “The word sustainable is not very digestible,” said Ana Duék, editor of Viajar Verde, a news site about sustainable travel. “The idea is to communicate it in a more attractive way to travelers, using words like ‘authenticity’ and ‘experience.’”’

So, how do we travel more sustainably (and budget-friendly)?

‘[There are many organizations that curate] different local travel experiences […] in the name of social good. Sustainability, the idea goes, is not always something quantifiable like a certain number of trees planted or an amount of food waste reduced – it can also be about cultural exchange. An experience at the League of Kitchens, in which people can sign up to cook in home kitchens around New York City, demonstrates that sustainable travel need not necessitate leaving the country.’

‘The immersive cooking workshops […] aim to empower immigrant and refugee women. “It’s not about visitors sharing their skills with the locals,” Michal Alter, a [travel entrepreneur], said. “It’s about the community sharing their experiences and history with the visitors.”’

‘Generally speaking, sustainable travel simply means being open to other cultures. “Dare to talk to someone you usually wouldn’t talk to,” said Mr. Glaesser of the World Tourism Organization. “Leave a positive footprint, whether it’s a local purchase or a kind of respectful economic or cultural input.”’

Words: Lucas Peterson, The New York Times (click for full article)