The Vademecum of Responsible Tourist

How to be a responsible tourist? Let's see the guidelines suggested in the vademecum of responsible tourist by European Alliance for Responsible Tourism and Hospitality

Leggi in italiano

You know that on this blog monthly we talk about responsible tourism. If you are like me, you surely want to make your part in being a responsible traveller. So, surely you’ve read about what you can do and how to do it, but do you know that there’s a vademecum to be a responsible tourist? So, here we are to learn the guidelines to be a responsible tourist properly.

The organisation

Being a good traveller and a responsible tourist means to behave like that from the first moments of the travel, that is to say from organisation. So, you need to do two fundamental things during the step of the organisation:

1.     Get information. Look for information as much as possible about the place you are going to visit. Know more about its history, its culture, its folklore, its food, its nature and don’t forget to learn some expressions in local language.

2.    Choose a tour operator and receiving services that are involved in responsible tourism, so that they respect the hosting community and the environment.

During your travel

After having organised the travel, here the favourite moment of each traveller: enjoying it! Here what you can do to have all the benefits from it in a responsible way:

1.   Dive in local culture. The travel, like also a holiday, is a moment that promotes the encounter between different cultures. When you are a guest in a destination, try to adapt to local customs and traditions. Your experience will be more authentic!

2.    Respect the rules of the place. Being on holiday doesn’t justify having offensive or haughty behaviours. Each place has its own rules and it’s right to respect them. For example, get information about the tip practice: each place manages it in a different way. The same is for almsgiving.

3.     Don’t wear inappropriate clothing. Adapt to the place your wardrobe, too. Being showy or flaunting your wealth won’t be of any use on holiday, in particular if you want to visit places of worship.

4.  Support local economy buying “real” souvenirs of local craftsmanship. Again, get information about haggling and its limits.

5.      Build true relationships with locals. As already said, a travel is an encounter and what you can learn from this encounter is the real added value of the experience.

6.  Use services managed by local population. You’ll promote local economy and will understand better the country you’re visiting.

7.    Don’t leave traces of your left. Don’t make anything that may spoil or damage the place you’re visiting. Be content with what you can get without taking away from the population and from the nature their own richness. So, no to garbage, no to souvenirs coming from natural environment or archaeological sites or made of plants and animals at risk of extinction.

8.     Follow the paths in natural environments. Contemplating nature is wonderful and one of the activities that are good for mental and physical health, but not when it means to disturb plants and animals that live there. It’s better to visit these places in small groups together with an expert guide.

9.     Avoid wastes. As you avoid to waste resources at home, it’s wise to do it on holiday, too. Turn off the water, when you don’t need it; turn off air conditioning if the temperature is good and turn off the light when you go out of the room.

10.  Ask if you can take photos, in particular when you want to take photos of people. Not everyone likes to be photographed, much less by strangers. It’s better to ask permission first.

11.   Taste local food. When will you come back in the place you’re visiting? Maybe not anytime soon or maybe never. Take the chance and enjoy the delicacies of the place.

12.    Remember that no people is naturally orientated to prostitution and being consenting is irrelevant. It’s bad that we need to remind it, but sexual tourism is an abomination that unfortunately exists.

When you come back home

Now that you’re back home, you’ve lived a rich, authentic and unforgettable experience. Do you think you’re done? Almost. Now it’s time to reflect about what you’ve seen and who you’ve met. 

If you’ve made any commitments with some locals, honour them. Leave feedbacks on specialised sites, based on what was promised and what you’ve received.     

For further information about responsible tourism, I suggest you to visit the website of the European Alliance for Responsible Tourism and Hospitality (earthresponsible.wordpress.com)