October 2020

We no longer travel to faraway places only during the summer holidays, we travel whenever our time allows us to. But, this pleasure is harmful to the environment in many aspects, animals are abused for our entertainment and tourism is not always beneficial to all regions and their inhabitants. However, there are ways to travel more sustainably.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) declared in 1988 that sustainable tourism is “envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems.” (Responsible Travel)

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines ecotourism as: “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people.” (The International Ecotourism Society)

Tourism has seen consumer travel trends in favour of a rising awareness towards sustainability, including zero plastic and climate change.

To travel more sustainably, you could first of all decide to travel within your own country. Although going somewhere outside your home country often seems more exciting, we tend to forget that we have beautiful places within our country as well. Often, there are places and attractions offered in our own country or even city, which we haven’t seen yet and which are much closer and do not require travelling long distances. Studies have shown that 4 out of 5 tourists travel within their own region.

Deciding where, how and whether to travel can be a hard decision, as the offer out there is huge. Besides the fun and recreation factor, consider sustainability aspects before booking a holiday. In order to help you make the right and most sustainable choice, we have created a catalogue of questions, you could ask yourself before planning your trip.

• What is the purpose of my holiday, trip, travel?
  → If it is recreation, isn’t it more relaxing to go somewhere near?
  → If it is shopping, don’t I get those things also in a city nearby?
  → If it is culture, isn’t there may be a cultural ‘hotspot’ in my city as well?
  → If it is volunteering, can’t you volunteer at an organisation nearby?

• How can I get to my destination in a (more) sustainable way?

• Is there a destination closer to my city, which offers the same/similar landscape, culture, activities, etc.?

• Does it really make sense to travel that far for a short get-away?

There are many different types of holiday you can choose from. For instance, you might decide between going on a city or weekend trip within Europe, a backpacking tour overseas, interrailing through Europe or not travelling solely for leisure purposes, (for example volunteering with a social or environmental project or supporting other peers where help is needed).
To make a good decision on how to plan your holiday, it is important to first of all find out what you expect from your trip and what exactly you want to do on site.

Here are some useful links to help you get started to figure out which type of holidays you are aiming for.

• Work away

• Interrail

• Volunteer world

• Go overseas

“It sounds counterintuitive, but traveling for a vacation can come with a lot of stress, what with planning the trip, finding the money to pay for everything, and working through a vacation checklist. If life is truly getting out of control and money and/or vacation time is in short supply, a staycation might be the best option to unwind and reset.” (Real Simple)

Staycation does not mean to simply hide in your house/flat, but rather to discover your area or region. Ask yourself: “Do I really know the country I live in? Have I really seen everything there? Why not simply discover my region and my home country?”
Commit to unplugging, make sure everybody knows that you take a break from work, put an out of office notification into your calendar and finally grab your bike and explore your surroundings.

After you have decided on the purpose, and have chosen the type and destination of your holiday, the next step is booking the right services such as accommodation, transportation, tours etc. Before doing so, ask yourself:

• Are there local travel/tour operators at the destination?

• Is there an accommodation certified as sustainable or a family-owned hotel?

• Can I bring my own food on the trip to avoid single-use plastics?

• Can I manage to avoid taking the plane at least for short trips?

When booking a service, it is, first of all, always the best option to book directly with the service provider to avoid that part of your payment in form of a commission goes directly to large corporates and takes away potential earnings from the providers. Also, if you book directly, you can already create a personal contact with the provider and in the case of any incident can contact him or her directly without having to call an impersonal service hotline.

If you want to book through a service provider, you could consider these responsible travel websites:

• Bookdifferent

• The Greenwall

• Eco bnb

• Eco Hotels

• Travganic

• Good Wings

• Viabono (German only)

Travelling to another place outside your hometown often means that you need a place to stay overnight.

Maybe you are lucky and have friends, family or relatives living at the place you want to visit and can stay with them. If that is not the case, there are alternatives to support the local community, for example:

• Peer-to-peer sharing platforms:
  Check out platforms like Eco BnB for rental apartments or couchsurfing.
  Always consider to double check if this type of accommodation is not negatively impacting the housing rents in the city/region.

• Family-owned hotels

• Special local initiatives such as Austrian initiative: “Holidays on the Farm”

• Camping or glamping. Glamping is camping in comfortable tents or even bungalows, with some of the comforts and luxuries you usually find in hotels.

In addition, ask yourself:

• Is the accommodation eco-certified?

• Is the accommodation equipped with what I really need during my stay? Accommodations are often equipped with many facilities and extras, which are causing additional CO2 emission, but are actually not necessary.

How to spot sustainable & eco-friendly accommodations? Watch out for appropriate labelling.

The first environmental certification of tourism services began in Europe with the french-born Blue Flag campaign, which was presented to the Foundation for Environmental Education in 1987 and then launched in 10 European countries with the aid of the European Commission. The label is now available worldwide.
As of 2007, 80 certification programs exist or are under development, although many smaller programs have ceased to certify new businesses. Few programs operate worldwide, some are regional and most operate on a national or local scale. While most of the certification programs within the tourism sector concern accommodations, also whole destinations as well as tour operators, sports and leisure facilities, and transportation are certified.
However, certification is an often debated affair as not even 1% of the tourism industry suppliers worldwide are certified.

Besides the certificates listed in the below, you can find many more certifications and label using the catalogues provided by: Green Tourism, Eco Label Index or Sustainable Tourism.

Where do you find sustainable and eco-friendly destinations & accommodations? To help you get started, here are some providers that list sustainable and eco-friendly destinations or accommodations:

• Earth Check

• Green Destinations

• Gstcouncil

• Here you find the official tourist accommodation catalogue, provided by the European Union

When you then finally arranged everything and your travel date approaches slowly, you are ready to go! But, have you really packed everything you need for your trip and not forgotten something? Not only do you have to spend extra money for buying things you have forgotten to bring, but you also buy things you will probably only use during your trip that go into waste afterwards. In order to avoid this, we have put together a packing list, with all the main products, gadgets, etc. that you might need on your trip.
However, packing light also has an impact on the environment since less weight also means less energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

In case you don’t have the right luggage or maybe broke your old suitcase during your last trip, you are probably in need of a new one. Before buying something new, you can also ask your friends or family if they have a spare trolley you could borrow for your holiday. There are even some companies offering luggage for rent such as Koffermieten (German only), Erento, Rentluggage or other sharing platforms such as Fairleihen (German only).

However, if you want to purchase a new luggage, have a look at some great sustainable brands producing travel luggage. Below we list some brands to help you get started:

• Verena Bellutti

• Patagonia

• Ethnotek

• VAUDE

• Green Guru

• Duffel rePETe by Chicobag

• Upcycle Deluxe

• fair.reist by Milchmeer Ecobags (German only)

Here you find more Sustainable Accessory Brands →.

Bring your cosmetics in small, reusable containers. If you need to refill, consider to buy Sustainable Personal Care Products → to make sure your cosmetics were not tested on animals, do not contain any harmful substances and do not contribute extra waste.

The most sustainable clothing items are those that you already own. If you need to buy new ones, consider choosing sustainable brands. Here you find some brands to help you get started:

• Sustainable Fashion Brands →

• Sustainable Shoes Brands →

For sustainable swimwear check out brands like:

Already before you take off, consider downloading apps that help you to spot sustainable restaurants on the way to your destination and on site. Here are some apps to help you to get started How to Spot Sustainable Restaurants →.

Depending on where you travel, you will not always find the right food immediately. So it might be a good idea to bring some snacks, such as dried fruits, nuts and bars.

Make sure you always bring:

• a reusable drinking bottle

• a reusable container for food

• a reusable shopping bag

• a couple of recyclable litter bags

Bring your own containers for foods and liquids. Some food boxes can even be folded up and save space in your luggage. To help you get started, here is a list of some brands and shops offering sustainable water bottles, lunch boxes or containers:

• Avocadostore (German only)

• Earth hero

• The zero waste shop

• Plastic freedom

• Boobalou

• Monomeer (German only)

Remember to bring some disposal bags to collect your waste, in case there are no options to dispose of it or separate it. Or maybe you even have a Reusable Bag → that you could easily wash/rinse after use and reuse!?

As a rule of thumb:

• Pack light. Extra weight causes airplanes and cars to lose efficiency and use more fuel to travel. Leave the kitchen sink at home.” (Earth Share)

• Consider to “take a “staycation”. Opt to visit local sights instead of jetting halfway around the world and you’ll not only use less energy, but save money and time too. Here are some staycation ideas.” (Earth Share)

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations (namely carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) that are generated by our actions. Fuel causes carbon dioxide emissions.

So if we want to travel as environmentally friendly as possible, we should use as little fuel as possible. To find out how much fuel you will use for our planned trip, make use of a so-called carbon footprint calculator.

Below we list some to help you get started:

However, you can “compensate your CO2-emissions and offset what you can’t avoid. Inexpensive carbon offsets help mitigate the impact of your air or car travel.” (Earth Share)

“Through associations specialized in carbon offset, you can buy the equivalent of carbon credits in donations. (...) Let’s say you travel to Nice with a direct flight from Amsterdam. Your carbon emissions will be about 0.35 tonnes. The site GreenSeat will suggest you to give € 3.5 to offset for this trip. These € 3.5 will go to verified and certified projects (VGS or VCS) which have a positive carbon footprint.” (Green Pick)

“You’re effectively paying money into something that seeks to save energy and emissions elsewhere.” (Gössling, Linnaeus University)

“A trustworthy certificate for such projects is the seal “The Gold Standard”. The aim of the Gold Standard is to ensure that compensation projects actually lead to a reduction in greenhouse gases. In addition, the extent to which these projects contribute to the sustainable development of the respective countries is examined.”

• When going by car, avoid peak travel times. Traveling on off-peak days can prevent you hitting congested highways.

• To overcome longer distances, strap your bike on the roof of your car. Or even better, take the train to cover longer distances faster and make smaller bike tours on the spot.

• Offer your ride as a carpool.

Here are some aspects to take into consideration, when travelling by plane:

• Ask yourself: “Do I really need to go by plane?” Reduce and avoid flying, especially on short distances.

• Choose dayflights. “The pollution emitted on night flights has a more detrimental impact on the climate.” (Adam, 2006)

Consider traveling with “eco friendly” airlines or airlines which at least “claim” to care for the environment. Check out Glooby to find more sustainable flights.

“The optimal length of a flight is 3,000 miles, so basically across the United States. That's because really long-haul flights, such as from San Francisco to Beijing, require planes to carry extra fuel, making them heavier and less efficient.” (Rutherford, International Council on Clean Transportation)

“Flying nonstop is much more energy efficient than flying multiple hops. That’s because takeoffs and ascent require significantly more energy than cruising at altitude – as much as 75 percent of fuel usage on a flight of 430 miles.” (Rutherford, International Council on Clean Transportation) So, the fewer times you have to take off per trip, the better.

“From a scientific viewpoint, everything that’s below 600 miles, taking a train, a bus or driving is much more efficient, especially if you've got more than one person in the car.“ (Gössling, Linnaeus University)

One option is taking one long vacation rather than two short ones, or flying to one destination and staying.

“The amount of energy required to fly a plane is divided among the people being flown. The more people, the more energy efficient. Business class and first-class seat fewer people, so they’re less efficient.” (Weise, 2019)

“Depending on the size of the area for each seat, business class is usually between two or three times as energy intensive as economy class. First class, especially when it includes lie-flat beds, can be as much as four times as energy intensive.” (Gössling, Linnaeus University)

“And it doesn’t get you off the hook to simply say the seats would be there whether you sit in them or not. Buying business class seats encourages airlines to create more in their planes, making them overall less efficient per passenger.” (Weise, 2019)

Cheap tickets, WiFi and mobile booking apps (for example, as Busbud or Too Many Adapters) make transportation by bus attractive.

Nowadays, it is easy to find good transport connections to most European big cities, thanks to low-cost bus services, such as FlixBus. Of course, travelling by bus takes time, but it is often the perfect solution for young people or in general for those who cannot afford or prefer to not take planes due to climate change concerns.
If you are fast and do the booking early you can get cheap tickets and special offers - for around 50 Euros, you could travel  from Milan to Berlin or from Paris to Copenhagen, for instance.

Bicycling does not emit CO2, you do something good for your health and it can have a decelerating effect, because you set the pace.
“People in the Netherlands are by far the most likely to use a bicycle, followed by Nordic countries such as Denmark. Although these countries are relatively small, their cycling habits make them interesting target markets for cycling tourism.

Due to a report of the European Commission, as most people (56%–71%) in the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland cycle several times per week, these countries are especially interesting source markets for occasional or frequent cyclists’ holidays. In Hungary, Germany, Sweden and Poland, 43%–45% of people also cycle more than once a week.” (Center for promotion of imports from developing countries (CBI))

Even in countries such as Spain, Portugal and Greece, where most people never use a bicycle, cycling trips are popular with infrequent leisure cyclists as well.

Browse the web for great picks of pedal-powered tours for riders of all abilities and let them lead you to “some of the continent’s best scenery, from Sweden’s forests to the lagoons of the eastern Algarve – and Provence’s iconic climb.” (The Guardian)

Here are some tour providers and organisations to help you get started.

Bike Tours
Europe Bike Tours
German Cycling Club (German only)

Consider trying an e-bike, to make a wider range of destinations accessible by bike. Electric bicycles, or e-bikes, use rechargeable batteries to assist cyclists with a small electric motor. E-bikes are particularly suitable for holidays, as they allow people who do not share the same level of fitness to enjoy cycling activities together. Just consider that they help us ride longer distances per day trip, and navigate routes with uphill sections more easily.

We hold it with the Chinese philosopher Confucius, who said: "The way is the goal.” Do you really have to travel somewhere first to start your holiday there? Maybe you can start directly from home?

Here you find everything you need to know about Sustainable Hiking →

Congrats, you’ve finally reached your destination in (hopefully) the best sustainable way. But sustainable optimised behaviour doesn’t stop as soon as you get to your destination. There’s much more to consider when you are on holiday and while travelling.
For example, if you did not book an accommodation in advance and would like to find a sustainable place to stay. Or if you are already on the go and would like to go for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Despite eating and sleeping, there are also so many sustainable activities you can take part during your holidays.

Jump into our Sustainable Accommodation → paragraph to learn about some simple rules of thumb to take into consideration, when choosing an accommodation.

Consider avoiding Food Waste → and packaging waste  during your trip.
Also consider animal-welfare, when Choosing Dishes → and opt for vegetarian and vegan choices.

Here are some rules of thumb to remember, when eating out:

• Go for local restaurants.

• Prefer local dishes.

• Prefer vegetarian or vegan restaurants/dishes.

Here you can learn How to Spot Sustainable Restaurants →

When shopping for souvenirs make sure the items are not mass produced for example in China.
Go for local handcrafts instead and prefer Sustainable Gifts →.

To get started, think about how you have bought souvenirs so far. Green Groundswell has compiled a list that we find very helpful:

• What did you buy for yourself and why?

• Did you buy gifts for people back home and if so what and why?

• Was most of your shopping for souvenirs or non-souvenirs (for example art, books, wine)?

• How much time did you spend shopping?

• Did you spend more money than you felt comfortable spending?

• Are you wearing, using, or otherwise enjoying the items you bought?

• Which items, if any, ended up in the trash, back of a closet, or in a charity box?

• Did you eat and drink the edible products you purchased and brought home?

• Were your travelling companions enthusiastic about shopping?

• What actions, if any, do you plan to take to curtail souvenirs and vacation shopping on your next trip?

From now on, ask yourself the following questions, when it comes to buying souvenirs:

• Did the items cause harm to the environment in their manufacture?
  → Opt for things that are natural, organic, zero or low carbon, from sustainable and non-polluting sources.

• Has producing the items exploited workers, or put them in harm's way?
  → Opt for purchases that funnel back the earnings, to improve the lives of local people and community.

• Have the items been harmful to wildlife or other animals or are they derived from endangered species? For example items that include tortoise-shell, ivory, coral, rosewood and seashell products.
  → Opt for items that instead support local wildlife and ecosystems.

• Is the item derived from cultural non renewable sources? Always avoid artifacts or stones from Greek archeological marvels, pieces of the Berlin Wall or any other artifacts from similarly solemn sites. 
  → Take pictures and don’t leave traces, instead.  

• Is the item made from materials that do not pose a waste problem at the end of their (ideally) useful lives?
  → Opt for items that you/the donee really needs/wants.

What to shop for? Only choose things that the recipient/the presentee really needs or that can be consumed, like food or drinks. Here are some examples from Global Heritage Travel to help you get started: 

• Natural and organic honeys, preserves, wines and other food and drink items.

• Natural and organic plant fiber clothing/textiles.

• Woven baskets and other similar craft items.

• Items crafted using traditional skills.

• Hand-crafted jewelry (especially ones which uses natural or reclaimed materials).

• Hand-made pottery, ceramic items or wooden items.

• Upcycled items that use materials that would otherwise have been thrown away.

In case you are in doubt, if the souvenir of your choice was really made locally, send a postcard. Browse the web and check online providers, to upload your own photos and send them as a greeting card. There is hardly anyone who is not happy about receiving personal greetings.

Especially when choosing your activities you should take care to choose only serious, considerate and environmentally friendly offers. Here are a few aspects to take into consideration when choosing leisure activities.

Choose to book your activity with local tour operators. Local operators know the location and can show you places and features that nobody else knows.

Here are a few thoughts on how you could sustainably move around on site.

• Take a walk. You have time to realise and enjoy your environment - consider to make the way your destination.

• Bring your own bike. If you are travelling from further away, then strap it onto the roof of the car. Many trains offer extra compartments to transport your bike. You are not going to bring your own bike? Browse the web and check if you can rent a bike on site.

• What about public transport? Is there a subway, tram or bus system?

• Car sharing is also an option. 

• Are you in a larger group? Then rent a car and make sure that it has low fuel consumption.

When going on a camping trip, the first thing to consider is the destination. Choosing a destination close to your home, already minimizes CO2 emissions.

Consider camping at a camping site or try to find a place in the woods where you do not disturb wildlife. Also make sure to check in advance, if there are special regulations or restrictions in your country for camping in the woods/wild.
Browse the web to find providers that offer eco-camps in Europe. Here is a list to help you get started:

• Eco bnb

• Camping

• Ecocamping

Before leaving your camping site, make sure to clean up after you (see leave no trace) and dispose of your waste correctly. Further information can be found here:

• Irietoaurora

• Camping

• Rei

• Eco age

• Veggie vagabonds

When packing your bags, bring only the necessary things and try to pack light. Bring Eco-Friendly Personal Hygiene Products →.

Furthermore, try to bring as many things as possible on your trip and plan meals in advance in order to avoid additional packaging and reduce food waste. It is also a great idea to bring cups and food containers, which you can refill and reuse. On your trip you might also come along local stores and farmers’ markets, which are a great place to shop Local Produce → and Organic Groceries →.

In case you do not have the whole equipment you need for camping, ask your friends or family if you can borrow the missing items. You can also check out online shops and stores, which are renting out their camping equipment as well as second hand platforms, where you can find used equipment too. This way, you can not only save some money, but also avoid buying something new. 

Here are some platforms to rent, to help you get started. (Also consider to check second hand platforms):

• Vaude.com/en

• Basecamp europe

• Rent a tent

• Outdoorhire

• Rent your camp (German only)

• Zeltstadt (German only)

• Outdoorverleih (German only)

Besides food waste and general waste, human waste also needs to be considered when going camping. Make sure you use bathroom facilities if available or bring a portable toilet or bury your waste.

Hiking trips bring you close to nature and help you get to know the holiday region particularly well at low travel speeds. It's worth it. Many countries and regions have developed an elaborate network of paths, the routes are marked and sorted by degree of difficulty.

Go check out your home country for hiking paths and options. Take your bike, the train or bus to the destination of your choice and experience your surroundings. Here is a list with some blogs to help you finding some first inspiration: 

• Earth Trekkers 

• Hiking Europe

• Eurohike

• Wanderbares Deutschland (German only)

When choosing your hiking destination, consider not following the mass as some hiking paths already suffer from mass tourism. Instead, do your own research and you will probably find even more beautiful hiking trails. However, always stick to the trail in order to respect privately-owned grounds and do not disturb wildlife. 

Here is a list of some sustainable hiking paths to help you get started: 

• European Best Destinations

• Book You Trail

• Trail Dino

In case you decide to do a guided tour, watch out for sustainable and local tour operators and book directly.

In case you do not have hiking equipment, consider borrowing it from friends or renting it before buying something new.

On your hike, bring a refillable water bottle and try to avoid packaged food. Instead you can already prepare a meal for your hike and bring it in a reusable container. Also make sure you do not leave any trash along the way. Consider bringing a degradable bag in which you can collect your waste and dispose of it correctly once you’ve finished your hike or reached your destination. 

Here are some blogs to help you ensuring a truly sustainable hiking trip:

• Lonely Planet

• Veggie Vagabonds

• A Woman A Foot

• Experiencing The Globe

While hiking, ensure that the experience of nature does not become a destruction of nature - do not leave anything lying around, stay on the marked hiking trails, and no wild Camping →.

“One of the worlds largest and most complicated industries is the tourism industry. This is mostly due to the in-depth link of tourism with both social, cultural, political and environmental issues.” (Flunking Monkey)

Travelling to other places, other countries and even other continents has become extremely popular in the last few decades, also due to the extremely cheap prices for flight tickets. While in the past, it was mostly high-income classes that could afford to travel or people who had to travel for business, now more people travel for leisure purposes and traveling has become part of our day-to-day consumption. Although expenses for food and clothes were higher back then, already in 1995, travel was outlined as a basic need and assumed to become commonplace - making travelling a basic need for large parts of the world’s population.

Studies in Germany, for example, have shown that the majority of Germans travel at least twice a year, while nearly 20 % even travel three times a year. Another study indicates that 58 % of Germans have been on holidays for at least 5 days in 2017, while the number within the younger generation is even higher.

In 2019, a total number of 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals has been recorded, while tourism has seen continued growth over time. Compared to 50 % of leisure travel in 2000, the share has grown to 56 % in 2018, showing a constantly increasing interest in travel for leisure purposes.

According to ICAO’s (International Civil Aviation Organization) preliminary compilation of annual global statistics, the total number of air-plane passengers carried on scheduled services rose to 4.3 billion in 2018, which is 6.4 percent higher than the previous year, while the number of departures reached 37.8 million in 2018, a 3.5 percent increase.

Passenger traffic (total scheduled revenue passenger-kilometres performed (RPKs)) Total increase: 7.1 per cent, equating to 8 258 billion RPKs.

Change by region

• Europe: 26.3 per cent of world traffic, posting growth of 7.2 per cent

• Africa: 2.1 per cent of world traffic, posting growth of 7.5 per cent​

• Middle East: ​9.2 per cent of world traffic, posting growth of 3.9 per cent

• Asia and Pacific: 34.8 per cent of world traffic, posting growth of 9.5 per cent​

• North America:​ 22.4 per cent of world traffic, posting growth of 4.7 per cent

• Latin America and Caribbean: 5.1 per cent of world traffic, posting growth of 7.7 per cent​

Concerning tourism, air traffic has seen a significant and constant growth through time as well, particularly due to affordable low-cost flights. “At the beginning of 2018, low-cost carriers had a share of roughly 30% in overall air travel in Europe, up from 24% at the beginning of 2011”. (Deutsche Bank)

For tourism to be really sustainable, it has to take into account not only the natural environment, but also the social environment.

A frequent problem is overtourism. Overtourism is basically when too many tourists visit a geographically limited area at a certain time. Overtoursim deteriorates the life quality for the inhabitants, due to for example increasing noise, littering and growing security problems.

Let us take Palma de Mallorca as an example. The place is “known to many as a party island. Just under a quarter of all property purchases on the island is registered as secondary residences. Due to this effect, rents increase by up to 50% and purchase prices by up to 20%. The problems are particularly noticeable during the summer months of June, July and August when more than half of the 12 million annual tourists visit the island.” (Rate Board, 2020)

“Venice is visited by about 30 million people every year - compared to the 50,000 locals in the historic center, there are about two tourists per day for every inhabitant. Day tourists represent the greatest challenge for the Italian port city; they do not generate overnight stays, often spend only a few hours at the city’s hotspots and hardly generate any added value.” (Rate Board, 2020)

Socially unsustainable tourism sees the exploitation or other negative impacts of the traditional and indigenous peoples of the area.

“Examples of the negative impacts of tourism on indigenous peoples are numerous throughout history and continue largely unabated today.

• Beach hotels have displaced the fishing communities that once lined the coasts of Penang, Malaysia and Phuket, Thailand.

• A Mohawk uprising in Canada was triggered by plans to extend a golf course on to Mohawk burial grounds. Indigenous burial sites have been desecrated by resorts in Hawai’i and Bali

• In the tropical jungles of the Amazon insensitive tourism operators have disrupted religious ceremonies, and even brought diseases like tuberculosis into indigenous communities

• In the Black Hills, the native Sioux work as low-wage laborers in a white-owned tourism industry that promotes their culture and lands

• In Thailand, Hill Tracts people are viewed much like human zoo specimens by drug and adventure-seeking trekkers

• Around the world there is a plundering of archaeological sites and illegal trade in wildlife and cultural artifacts

• For workers who once owned and worked the land, the hotels now barely pay them a living wage. Some are forced into labor, as in Burma, to build hotel accommodations by a government well known for its abuse of human rights

• Indigenous women, men, and children worldwide are exploited by the growing sex tourism industry

• Tourism produces foreign domination and dependency, polarization, environmental destruction, cultural alienation, and the loss of social control and identity among host communities” (Cultural Survival)

It is important that tourists are aware of these problems and choose places and activities that are not detrimental to the local communities. In general, it is important to not interfere with the life of indigenous communities in a way that can impact their cultural, social and human survival. If you are curious about indigenous life, check out and support companies that are directly run by them. World Travel Guide compiled a list with does and don’ts when travelling to indigenous lands.

“This exploitation of environmental resources have led to huge increases in land degradation and pollution. The demand and increase in tourism and recreational facilities has seen the destruction of forest, wetlands and wildlife habitats worldwide.” (Flunking Monkey) For instance, in Latin America, tropical and subtropical coasts have been strongly impacted by tourism development. The development of tourist attractions, accommodations and activities in many areas has led to the reduction and degradation of mangroves, beach forests, etc. This negative environmental impact affects both the local wildlife and the coastal communities, leading to a decreased climate change resilience (e.g. increased floods due to the reduction of mangroves).

Go, take a look at The World Counts counters, to gasp an idea how our travelling behaviour affects our planet.

“Thanks to ever cheaper flights and zero tax on aviation fuel, the holiday business is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries and accounts for more than 10% of global gross domestic product (GDP).“ (Watts, 2019)

The strong demand for air travel makes it the main type of transportation (58%). Air travel contributes about 1 gigaton of CO2 to the Earth’s atmosphere each year. Humans added 32.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere in 2017, according to the International Energy Agency.

According to the David Suzuki Foundation, the aviation industry “accounts for 4%-9% of the total climate change impact of human activity”. Additionally, aircraft contribute approximately 2% of the world’s greenhouse emissions.

“With regards to just air pollution, one study has estimated that a single transatlantic return flight emits almost half the CO2 emissions produced by all other sources (lighting, heating, car use, etc.) consumed by an average person yearly.” (Mayer and Hillman, 1996)

However, CO2 emissions caused by the increasing airplane traffic are not the only issue.

Traveling on a cruise ship might seem like a smart way to visit different places in a relatively short time. However, it is one of the most unsustainable travelling options. In fact, every year, the cruise industry is responsible for the consumption of millions of tons of fuel and the production of almost a billion tons of sewage, which can pollute and tragically endanger the oceans and the wildlife if not properly treated.

“Studies have shown that the air on cruise ships is so polluted it rivals some of the most polluted cities on the planet, Shanghai included. And as the number of individuals taking cruises increases, so does the problem.” (The Green Medium)

“A passenger’s carbon footprint triples in size when taking a cruise and the emissions produced can contribute to serious health issues. On top of the pollution caused by their exhaust fumes, cruise ships have been caught discarding trash, fuel, and sewage directly into the ocean”. (Forbes, 2019)

Cruises have a negative impact not only when sailing, but also at port. In Europe alone there are several examples of cities where the presence of cruises contributes to the city’s pollution (e.g. in Barcelona), garbage (e.g. in Santorini) and to exceptionally high tourism pressure, thus endangering the cultural identity of the city itself (e.g. in Venice).

Already while travelling we generate a huge amount of waste. Practices on aircraft for example - just think about the amount of people on a plane and how many plastic cups, containers, etc. are used, you can imagine the impact.

And also on site we produce an enormous amount of waste. “At areas with high concentration of tourist activity, the improper disposal of waste is a major problem. For example Caribbean cruise ships are estimated to produce over 70,000 tons of waste each year. Mountainous areas in remote regions of the Peruvian Andes and in Nepal have had trails nicknamed “Coca-Cola trail” and “Toilet paper trail” due to the large quantities of waste trekking tourists generate.” (The Green Medium)

“Tourism places direct pressure on local resources, which often are already in short supply. Here are some examples to help you get an idea of our impact.” (Flunking Monkey)

Tourism is responsible for deforestation and the destruction of the soils’ vegetation cover in the Alpine region, in order to expand skiing resorts. Just consider space-intensive buildings and infrastructure, such as large parking lots and the creation of ski slopes.

Another environmental issue are snow cannons. “They are not only problematic because of the technical installations that have to be built along the slopes. The artificial reservoirs also interfere with the sensitive alpine nature, retaining water in summer and winter and disturbing the natural water balance. Added to this is the high energy requirement of the snow-making systems, which is further increased when the water has to be pumped up from lower-lying reservoirs. And finally, the higher density of artificial snow makes it heavier than natural snow, can damage the underlying vegetation (lack of oxygen, snow mold infestation and rot processes) and can lead to landslides.” (Bund Naturschutz)

“Freshwater is a factor often overlooked by the modern traveller. Freshwater (Not Salt Water) is actually a critical natural resource. In dryer regions, i.e. the Mediterranean, water scarcity can be a particularly important factor. Tourists as a whole can consume more than 440 litres a day almost doubling what the locals would use in an average city for example in Spain.” (Flunking Monkey)

For example think of golfing holidays in tropical countries. “They have a larger impact than we might think. An average golf course in a tropical country such as Thailand needs 1500kg of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides per year and uses as much water as 60,000 rural villagers. “ (Flunking Monkey)

Tourism can in some instances also pose a significant threat to animal welfare. In particular, tourist attractions that showcase captive animals, such as captive animal facilities (zoos, wildlife animal rides, wildlife animals performances, etc.) or captive animal shows (orcas and dolphins entertainment, elephant trekking, etc.), should be avoided.

Learn more about how to design your trip animal considerate and check out our section Wildlife Tourism →.

LEARN MORE

Animal-considerate holidays: Wildlife Tourism →
Check your Carbon Footprint →
Equally entertaining: Animal-Considerate Entertainment →

Check our sources: Bibliography →

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