WHAT RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL DOESN’T

PROMOTE & WHY

At Responsible Travel, there are some types of holidays that we do not offer based on our
environment or social beliefs – please see below. We also screen every holiday against our
criteria for responsible travel.

There are some attractions – such as captive dolphin shows – that we have never promoted, and
others that we have removed from our site following discussions with our members and NGOs.
Other activities – such as elephant trekking – were real ethical minefields, but again, we spoke
with local experts, animal welfare charities and travel companies to help us decide on our stance.

Large group sizes & mass tourism

We typically do not promote group tours with more than 25 people. We believe small group sizes
are not only more enjoyable for the traveller, but kinder to local communities and nature.

We do not promote tour operators that leave as little money in the destination as possible. This
can include large cruise ships, where all drinks, meals, entertainment and transport are provided
through the cruise company, as well as all-inclusive resorts which do not encourage guests to
spend money in local restaurants or cafés, hire local guides or pay for taxis or public transport.

This creates a one-way system where tourists are taking from the destination without giving
anything back, which does nothing for local livelihoods or environmental protection. In addition,
it does nothing for the image of tourists overseas, and does not encourage people to learn
anything about the destination they are visiting. This is the opposite of responsible tourism.

Carbon offsetting
We were one of the first travel companies to adopt a carbon offsetting scheme back in 2002. In
2009, we became the first to part ways with it, recognising it was becoming a dangerous
distraction to behaviour change.

Over 10 years on, reports have shown that even the top carbon offset schemes have not worked,
yet they are still being widely used. We would like to get people talking about carbon reduction
rather than offsetting and we therefore do not promote carbon offset schemes anywhere on our
site.

Large cruise ships (250+ passengers)

Plenty of laws exist around the world controlling air and water pollution, how waste is disposed
of, and how employees are treated. Unfortunately, many of these laws do not exist once you
travel far enough away from the shore, which leaves many cruise ships to sail off into a
regulation-free sunset.

There are many reasons why we do not promote large cruise ships. For example, a
3,000-passenger cruise ship generates 150,000 gallons of sewage per week, which can be
dumped in the ocean untreated if more than three nautical miles from shore. And the lack of
applicable employment laws mean that some workers can be forced to work long days on low
salaries. Add to this the coral reefs dredged up by anchors, the mangroves destroyed to build
immense ports, congestion and overtourism, and the lack of money put back into the
destinations, and it all starts to look rather unethical.

Read more here.

Snow cannons
The peak times for ski resorts are during the Christmas and Easter breaks. However, these fall at
either end of the snow season in many resorts, especially those at lower altitudes.

With climate change kicking in, the snow season is shorter than ever. Many resorts now use
snow cannons to guarantee powder throughout the holidays, but this is environmentally very
damaging, particularly due to the vast quantities of water used. Consequently, we only promote
resorts that have snow cannons if they can offer other activities in the absence of natural snow.

We prefer to sell tours at a time of year when snowfall is most likely, and to focus on activities
such as snow shoeing and cross country skiing that take place in natural environments, with real
snow and minimal environmental impact.

Read more here.

Orphanage tourism
Quite simply, we don’t believe that children should ever be treated as tourist attractions – and
especially not in the case of vulnerable children, such as orphans.

There are many issues with allowing tourists into orphanages. Most people, when at home,
would not dream of taking a photo of an unknown child, and certainly not posting it online – this
happens all the time in overseas orphanages. Tourists are not CRB checked, but there may be
opportunities for them to be alone with children. These vulnerable children are encouraged to
form attachments to people and are then abandoned repeatedly.
And finally, the money from tourism – whether volunteers or day visitors – means children have
become a lucrative commodity in some parts of the world (Siem Reap, a town of 100,000 people,
has 35 orphanages). Consequently, many of the children are not orphans; rather, their parents
have been coerced into giving them up for a “better life”.

Our decision not to promote orphanage tourism came following discussions with volunteering
organisations, child protection charities and tour operators; we followed this up with an
orphanage volunteering campaign to raise awareness of these issues.

Note: Some holiday itineraries include a day/short visit to an orphanage/children’s

home/community or family setting/youth or drop-in centre. We will only promote these if the
children are NOT present or involved in the visit, due to the reasons above.

Animal welfare & wildlife tourism

Wildlife is the highlight of many holidays, and we place huge importance on animal welfare
where any wildlife is concerned. We continuously conduct research and update our policies and
recommendations accordingly. You can access more information on all wildlife issues, together
with our up-to-date policies here, and read more below.

Captive animal facilities

In 2017, we drew up new guidelines on captive wildlife facilities, which have been endorsed by
the Born Free Foundation. We do not promote zoos or animal parks where the main function is
as a tourist attraction, even for volunteer placements which have the aim of improving the
welfare animal in these facilities.

We don’t promote anywhere which breeds non-endangered species, which captures animals from
the wild, or which buys/trades animals from other zoos, and we don’t promote anywhere which
offers animal performances or rides (with the exception of domesticated animals). This also
includes places in which visitors can cuddle or take photos with the animals – with the exception
of very few sanctuaries where human contact is required as part of the creatures’ on-going care.

We continue to promote genuine wildlife sanctuaries, rescue centres and rehab/release facilities,
and places which breed species classified as endangered, even if these are not able to be released.
Our trips may also visit aquariums which do not contain large species such as sea turtles,
penguins, sea lions, sharks and cetaceans.

For more information and advice on what we do and don't promote where captive animal
facilities are concerned, please see here.
Elephant riding, performances & some sanctuaries
In 2014, we removed elephant rides from our site after learning about the brutal “breaking in”
process required to subdue the elephants, as well as the fact that the wild capture of Asian
elephants to be used in tourism means they are now classified as endangered throughout their
range. We also do not promote any sanctuaries or campswhere elephants are made to perform.

Read more about which elephant sanctuaries we do and don’t support here.

Captive orcas & dolphins

This is another issue which has hit the limelight, largely following the release of the film
Blackfish and the worldwide campaigns that followed, including our own, to shut down captive
orca and dolphin facilities.

SeaWorld has since promised to stop breeding orcas and its share value has fallen dramatically as
a result of the negative publicity. It is only a matter of time before smaller venues follow suit.
One way to speed this process up is for tour operators and travel agents to stop selling tickets to
dolphinariums and orca shows – something which we believe will soon be viewed as tasteless as
animal performances in circuses.

Walking with lions & interacting with lion or tiger cubs

Another activity sought out by well-meaning volunteers, feeding, cuddling and playing with lion
and tiger cubs which have supposedly been rescued is usually a ploy of the canned hunting
industry.

Habituated lions are unlikely ever to be released – instead they are sold to canned hunting
facilities where they can be shot by trophy hunters for a high fee. Worse, the volunteers have
virtually cuddled their fear of humans out of them, making them an even easier target. And tiger
cubs in Africa should ring alarm bells regardless: they are not native to any African country.

Sea turtle hatcheries with tanks

Sea turtle hatcheries can play an important role in the conservation of sea turtles, of which six
out of the seven species are vulnerable or endangered. However, we do not promote any sea
turtle hatcheries which use tanks.

Some hatcheries put the hatchlings in these for a couple of days – or considerably longer – as
they claim it makes them stronger before they reach the sea. We have not found any evidence to
support this and have in fact discovered that it can weaken the hatchlings, encouraging the spread
of diseases and bacteria, and is more often used as a way to draw paying tourists to the site, as
they can handle and take photos with the turtles.

Other activities that we do not promote

Ostrich riding
Rodeos & stampedes

Activities that we promote under certain circumstances

Golf, if the course has been GEO Certified™ with the Golf Environment Organization
Downhill skiing

Read more on our views about other tourism issues here.