What is Sustainable Travel and why we are not there-Part II Affordable Responsibility

Eco-tourism provides an easy target for what is wrong with sustainable travel, as it largely caters to the top end traveler looking for a guilt free adventure. Remote lodges maybe environmentally sound yet they contribute little to the sustainability due to high cost. This misses one of the central tenets of sustainabiliy, shop local. Budget travel that evolved from the early 1960's broke ground on two fronts, developing local tourism economies and affordability to students and young adults. In the mid 70's, the Wheelers of Lonely Planet Publishing, wrote their first Asia on a Shoestring that followed in the shadow of Arthur Frommer's post WWII travel guide, Europe on $5 a Day. This period amounts to the Golden Age of Budget Travel, as people set out to remote corners of the globe once considered inaccessible before air travel evolved into a form of mass transit.

The second wave of travel growth occurred in the Adventure Travel sector which brought all manner of activities to trips. These trips offered a range of affordability with Everest and the South Pole on the high end of expense of the commercially possible. Now Eco-Tourism offers remote adventure destinations at luxurious standards and prices. This again will not promote growth needed to make the greening of travel more affordable.

Traveling will continue to require some offsets until airlines work out different fuels, at least the Boeing 787 will be more fuel efficient due to it's carbon fiber frame and composite exterior. There are other alternatives to help clean up the rest of your trip. As for specific destinations, that will come in a later post, right now I am covering ways to travel sustainably that are achievable:

• Unless the international hotel chain is the only option, book a local hotel, that addresses putting your money directly into the local economy.
• Ask the locals for their food and site recommendations, this builds language skills, relationships through appreciative inquiry and gives you a sense of self discovery and insight into the local culture.
• Take local transportation, preferably trains if you can, rather than private cars.
• Go to the local tourism offices to find and use local tour agencies and other services. You can compare them to your guide book: often the office has more current information and gives you a better range of options.
• Go to the local markets and bargain if just for the conversation. It is a chance to immerse yourself in the culture. 

This list covers ways to make a positive impact via local economic stimulation and cultural interaction. The environmental portion of the triple bottom line does not need LEED certification to be effective. By engaging in the local economy you already gain efficiencies by sharing transportation and other parts of the local infrastructure, reducing the impact created by the larger footprint of the Inclusive Compounds. These resorts often operate to meet the global standards which exceeds the neighboring community's daily use of energy and cleaning supplies,  thus heightening their impact while keeping money out of the local economy except at select gift stores and tourist attractions.

The green resorts will eventually make their way to a mainstream audience once energy efficiencies catch up and surpass the initial costs. The remote luxury lodge will remain in the repertoire of the Eco-chic, with growth occuring in more rustic cabins that cater to a greater range of people and activities. We will look at some examples of the rustic versus luxurious lodges next, bon voyage!