The early explorers mapped out the world and, when we’d done that, we turned our attention to space. In my view, it’s one of the best qualities mankind has, and one that is really important to helping further our understanding of our planet and its people.
But there’s no denying that when we travel, we have an impact. The headlines are filled with flight shaming and criticism of airline companies and the carbon footprint they create. We are seeing people’s opinions around flying change rapidly, with many starting to feel a sense of shame for the air travel choices they make.
While I fully support the movement for us all to take responsibility to reduce our personal footprint, and minimise our contribution to the climate biodiversity crisis, we have to remember that sustainability can mean many things. There are always two sides to a story and stopping flying is not the answer.
For the world’s 40 poorest countries, tourism is their main form of income after oil. If we all stopped flying, the effect on these in-need communities would be devastating.
Instead, we need to be changing how we travel and ensuring that, if we are going to fly, our travel is meaningful and has a genuine positive impact on the local people – from the hotels we stay in to the ground transport we use.
In my eyes, it’s simple. If you want to support local people, then travel local – stay in locally owned hotels, use a local guide, eat in local restaurants and use the local transport to make sure your money goes back into the hands of local people.
Go the extra mile if you can and see if there’s an experience that harnesses community tourism. Perhaps a local cooking class, or a city walk that helps to support local people.
We also need to consider reducing our plastic footprint. Something as simple as taking your own water bottle or avoiding hotel amenities can make a real difference.
Overtourism is another buzz word we see across the news pages. We can all play our part in combatting overcrowding by harnessing our inner explorer and searching for new alternatives. This might be opting to skip the streets of Bangkok for example, and instead heading north to trek with some of Thailand’s hill tribes, or avoiding the hot spots of Tokyo and visiting a rural agricultural town to stay with an elderly farmer.
These are moments that not only have a huge potential to empower and support at risk communities but, for me, are always the most memorable parts of a trip.
We can all make changes. We can look at our travel choices and who is actually benefiting from your travel experience. If the answer is just you, then that’s a problem.
Ultimately, there is a long, complicated road ahead of us but travel is an exchange, and giving back is part of the beauty of it. Because when we do it right, travel really does have the power to change lives.
Brian Young is managing director EMEA at G Adventures.
