Green travel, Eco-friendly travel, sustainable tourism, responsible tourism

Green Travel

Tips for Eco-Friendly Travel

Like you, we all at The Travel Doctor-TMVC are looking to help to make a greener, happier, & healthier world in which we travel.

We believe it is important that we assist in helping to ensure that international travel is done in such a way that the smallest adverse environmental impact is made, while the greatest benefits can be obtained for the environment & its animal & plant populations, & the human populations of the destinations.
The Travel Doctor-TMVC is committed to ensuring that our own company’s environmental impact is minimised, that we support viable initiatives in sustainable & responsible tourism, & that we continue to be a partner in the emergent eco-tourism movement.

Treading Softly

By supporting the principles of sustainable & responsible tourism, The Travel Doctor-TMVC believe that we can help create a travel industry that actually nurtures the natural environment by generating resources directed at conservation of biodiversity, preserves cultural & economic community foundations, & creates technologies that conserve resources.

Underlying this will be a personal commitment on behalf of each individual traveller, that they will “Tread Softly” on this planet, & in being aware of their own presence, try to minimise the adverse impact. Below we direct travellers to a range of tips & options to assist in “Treading Softly”

What is Sustainable & Responsible Tourism?

A recent WTO definition of sustainable tourism is "Sustainable tourism is envisaged as (tourism) leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social & aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity & life support systems."
While that is a bit of a mouthful, it simply means that tourism should be able to fully sustain itself, without damaging our planet.

“Responsible tourism” therefore flows from this idea, so that where we can right now, we try to ensure that tourism activities are minimising the impacts on our world. Features of “responsible” tourism are:

• minimises negative economic, environmental & social impacts
• generates greater economic benefits for local people & enhances the well being of host communities
• improves working conditions & access to the industry
• involves local people in decisions that affect their lives & life chances
• makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural & cultural heritage embracing diversity
• provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local
people, & a greater understanding of local cultural, social & environmental issues
• provides access for physically challenged people
• is culturally sensitive, encourages respect between tourists & hosts, & builds local pride & confidence.

The Sustainability Survey, 2009

More than 1,600 experts were surveyed in March 2009 by GlobeScan and SustainAbility on a range of topics related to sustainability. Respondents are drawn from corporate, government, NGO, academic, research, and service organizations, and span more than 90 countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand. The Sustainability Survey is the largest global poll of the views of sustainability experts. The inaugural survey found corporate leadership on sustainability to be far behind that of NGOs and social entrepreneurs, and only slightly better than governments in pushing the sustainability agenda forward. But a new generation of corporate leaders driving change may be starting to emerge.

Sustainable tourist management
Emblematic of this approach are Interface’s Mission Zero, Marks & Spencer’s Plan A, GE’s Ecomagination and more recently, IBM’s Smarter Planet, which all allow for the connecting of the company’s brand with its sustainability commitments.Grupo PUNTACANA is a pioneer in sustainable tourism management with nearly three decades of innovative work in the Dominican Republic.In creating the Puntacana Ecological Foundation, they expanded their vision to include protecting and restoring the natural resources in the Punta Cana region and contributing to the sustainable development of the Dominican Republic. The foundation has created a 1,500-acre private nature reserve, contributes to coral reef conservation and supports sustainable development initiatives.

"Green Hotels"
The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria list was recently launched by the United Nations Foundation, United Nations Environmental Program, UN World Tourism Organization, and the Rainforest Alliance and outlines internationally recognized criteria for sustainable development practices in tourism. Examples of this way of thinking are Washington DC's Willard InterContinental Hotel, which reports among many ways of conserving energy and water100% wind energy to power the hotel,decreased electricity consumption by 12%, towel/ sheet re-use savings from which were used to build two water wells in South Africa and South Dakota, and many other 'green' procedures;.London's biggest ever hotel in a generation the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London due to open in 2010 already has several innovative energy- and water-saving efforts underway in its endeavour to be ‘SuperGreen’; Dubai’s hotels will have to sign up for a carbon emission reduction programme as the emirate aims for a 20 per cent reduction in the hospitality sector’s carbon footprint by 2011 under an initiative launched by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. Here Jinan Hotels and Resorts plans to save 25 to 30 per cent in operational costs for water and energy through its planned efficiency measures in two "Green" hotels to be opened shortly

Grassroots Network
Catering to independent and experiential travellers headed off the beaten path, whl.travel is a network of grassroots tourism professionals who own and operate booking sites for accommodations and tours in their local markets.It began in 2002 as a pilot project incubated by the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) to develop a new model for providing market access for small- and medium-sized accommodation and tour providers. The idea was to leave control of the business with local people who know and support the development of their destination best, but to couple them with a low cost world-class web based IT solution and global distribution platform. In contrast to the tales of hardship emerging from other sectors of the tourism industry, whl.travel is all about growth, very busy moving from strength to strength.Worthy of note is the strong emphasis whl.travel places on responsible tourism, concentrating on travel experiences that enhance the character of a visited destination through local food, aesthetics, culture, heritage and the environment. One of whl.travel’s active visions is to locate and promote as many operators as possible undertaking responsible travel initiatives with the conviction that over time support by travellers for these initiatives will help to shape the destination as a whole. Doing good will be seen as good business.

Ecotourism is defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment & improves the well-being of local people.
Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, & sustainable travel. This means that those who implement & participate in ecotourism activities should follow the following ecotourism principles:

• minimize impact
• build environmental & cultural awareness & respect
• provide positive experiences for both visitors & hosts
• provide direct financial benefits for conservation
• provide financial benefits & empowerment for local people
• raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, & social climate

There are a host of things that a traveller can do to minimise their environmental impact. Making choices about how we travel, what we carry, what we eat & drink, what we do at our destination, what we buy, & what we leave behind, can all change the impact we have.

Choosing to travel on an organised tour that involves volunteer community/environmental work can be a very tangible way to lessen impact. Carbon-offset arrangements are available for various travel styles.
A range of simple individual behaviours can also reduce the toll on our planet.

A range of tips for individual travellers & for groups can be found among quality travel providers. To read more on these tips for travellers, see the following websites: