Responsible Travel Tips: Experiences That Support the Places You Visit

Responsible travel comes down to small decisions: where you eat, who you book with and what you do when you arrive. Whether an experience gives back usually depends on three things: who owns it, who it employs or trains, and where the money goes. These five experiences show what that looks like, and the tips at the end cover any trip.

Owned by the community

Cenote Yokdzonot, Yucatan, Mexico. A cooperative of about 16 Maya women, Zaaz Koolen Haa, runs this cenote in the village of Yokdzonot. You can take a Yucatecan cooking class, make tortillas by hand and swim in the cenote. Profits are shared among the members and their families, so the money stays in the village.

Maasai Mara conservancies, Kenya. In the Maasai Mara, local families lease their land to form conservancies that the landowners manage themselves. Communities have created 24 conservancies covering about 180,000 hectares. Safari camps in a conservancy pay the leases, and tourism income also pays for the rangers who protect the wildlife.

Training and employment

Amal Women’s Training Centre, Marrakech, Morocco. This non-profit trains young Moroccan women in difficult circumstances, many of them orphans, single mothers, or divorced or widowed, for work in restaurants and hotels. It opened in 2013 and had trained more than 200 women by 2018. Eating at its café, where the meals are prepared as part of the training, supports the programme.

Fogo Island Inn, Newfoundland, Canada. Shorefast, a charity, owns the inn, and 100 percent of its operating surpluses go back to Shorefast to fund community development on the island. Most staff are from Fogo Island and the furnishings are made by local artisans. Guests can take boat cruises, go snowshoeing and pick berries.

Staying with your hosts

Lemanak Longhouse, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. A stay here is a visit to an Iban family home, not a hotel. You sleep on a mattress under a mosquito net in the communal area, share simple local meals and join in celebrations if the community is holding one. No more than ten other travellers stay at a time, and guests are asked to respect Iban customs.

Practical tips for any trip

Whichever trip you choose, the same three questions apply: who owns it, who works there, and where does the money go? These tips help on the rest.

• Choose local businesses. Eat and shop at community-run and locally owned places.
• Respect local customs. Learn a few words of the language and how people expect visitors to behave.
• Protect nature. Stick to marked paths and keep your distance from wildlife (see my article Rethinking Wildlife Tourism). Choose mineral sunscreen without oxybenzone or octinoxate, which Hawaii has banned.
• Reduce waste. Take a reusable bottle and bag, and take your rubbish with you.
• Travel off-peak. It eases pressure on resources and supports local jobs through the year.

My Responsible Travel page explains how I approach this on every trip.

Why book with me

A trip only gives back if it is planned that way. I ask what you want from it, then recommend experiences where the money reaches the community, and I explain why.

Call or WhatsApp 0117 452 1159 or email bridget@worldclassadventures.co.uk.