What is responsible travel?
Today, tourism and travel is the world largest growing industry and has no signs of slowing down in the many years to come. This industry is helping developing countries meet the needs of foreign currencies. Jobs created by the tourism and travel industry are growing one-and-half faster than any sector. The travel and tourism industry is also labor intensive and it employs around 200 million worldwide.
However, tourism money seems to 'leaks' - it means that it tends to benefit the large number of owners of tourist facilities or provide the food and materials imported for the resort. These are usually located outside the destination country so the bulk of the money - more than half, according to the World Bank - doesn't make its way into local economies and residents.
In fact, in some cases people are even worse off because of tourism development. It's good if they have a job, but those who don't often find food and lodging prices skyrocket. People are also relocated to make way for new tourism developments so they may lose their ancestral homes, often for little or no compensation. Protected areas are destroyed, decimating communities' natural heritage and undermining potential for ecotourism.
Thus, how can travel and tourism developments better contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of local people? In response to this question, in recent years, lots of scholars and researchers have been recommending a new type of travel and tourism – travel and tourism for the poor worldwide.
Responsible tourism is a type of tourism that is aimed at improving the local economy for local people. It enhances the linkages between tourism businesses and poor people in such a way that poverty is reduced and poor people are able to participate more effectively in tourism development. The aims of responsible ranges from increasing local employment to involving local people in the decision making process.
Why responsible travel?
What can we do?
It has always on the top agenda of Aurora Travel that not to overuse of local natural environment and cultural identities. We are committed to respecting indigenous cultures, protecting the common environment and ultimately contributing to enhance the living conditions of the locals, especially the poverty-stricken ones. It’s our obligations to ensure that our tours are: