Responsible travel? What's it all about?

So this is a blog focused upon our #responsible and #educational #family #travel #adventures. But what is #responsible #travel? and can travel be responsible? What does it involve? and what doesn't it involve? I'm purposively avoiding the phrase #sustainable #tourism because a) I have a great dislike of the term b) it isn't the same thing and c) in avoidance of boring you with a load of academic gumpf .... its a concept fraught with difficulties....Responsible tourism is more about how travel can be made #sustainable....

This is not an #academic blog although I am an academic, so neither am I going to throw loads of academic definitions of the term at you. I don't imagine you would care for that very much.

This blog is designed for those engaging in #family travel (and particularly #single parent travel - I'll explain why that is important in a different posting) who want to make responsible decisions. You may know what it means to make responsible travel #decisions already, or you may not have a clue. The blog recognises that in everything there are #extremes; there may be those who, without fail always make responsible travel decisions, those who sometimes do, those who intend to, but for myriad reasons do not or cannot. Or, there may be those who, like me, sometimes do and sometimes don't but always do their best and know that there is room for improvement.

From sharing our various adventures with you that take place near and far, I'm hoping we might inspire some #conscious, #proactive but also #dynamic travel choices and decisions, tweaks to our #behaviour that ultimately seek to #maximise the #positive consequences of tourism and #minimise the #negatives.

So I find the easiest place to start is to acknowledge what the #impacts of tourism might be and who is affected by any form of impact. This means that we have to recognise that the travel industry has an incredibly complex network of #stakeholders who can be affected by or have an interest in the impact of your decisions and choices.

Reducing things down to a very simple idea, responsible travel can be seen as making choices and engaging in travel activities that will result in lower negative impacts and higher positive impacts. Impacts are normally understood in terms of those which are positive or negative within the dimensions of socio-cultural, environmental and economic.... some would add political and technological to that list. Within the concept is the notion of making tourism #accessible, making benefits and decision making #involved and #equitable. #Communities who are the #host to tourism are a focal point with an interest in taking actions that will improve their #qualityoflife whilst providing visitors with #enriching experiences.

The idea may be simple but realising it is harder. Clearly we could give ourselves quite a headache trying to consider the impact of our choices and behaviours upon all stakeholders and many would argue that it's simply not possible. Add that to all of the other tensions and anxieties associated planning travel that involves children. So perhaps what we can do, is focus on the little things we can influence, such as the decision over how you travel, where you stay, where you eat etc. To simplify things further and reduce the complexities of travel decision making, invest trust in a responsible travel #company who can make these assurances for you. Some examples of #family-friendly Responsible Travel Operators include notably Responsible Travel , and a list of nine featured in this great Green Matters article.

There is a school of thought that I think is worth acknowledging, that believes, if we are to be truly responsible, then we should not travel at all. I don't buy that, and the economic #significance of the tourism industry (pre-Covid of course!) globally bears testament to that. There is also an argument that traditional forms of tourism such as beach based tourism is not aligned with responsible travel principles. Again, I would disagree and would go as far as to say that most forms of travel can be undertaken responsibly through the combined efforts of the travel industry and those traveling, such as a road trip in a micro-camper to #Norfolk, a week on the beautiful island of #ibiza or a VFR (visiting friends and relatives) trip to #Ireland!

So, I hope this has given you some steer. I'd be keen to hear your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please share it with other people who might also enjoy it and continue to follow our adventures via this blog and our instagram (https://www.instagram.com/justhe2ofuss/) for #responsible and #educational #singleparent #travel inspiration.

One further thing, there are practical, no-nonsense resources that can help you to make informed choices such as Rough Guide the blog of Dan Flying Solo, the UNWTO Tips for a Responsible Tourist or Broghan Abroad.

To explore the topic further and really get to grips with the principles of Responsible Tourism, why not visit the Responsible Tourism Partnership or UNWTO's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.

Happy responsible travels!

Faye and August x