Sustainable tourism - a war with words

‘Choose your battles’ is always good advice and the war of words that we have seen evolve over the last twenty years around sustainable tourism is definitely one that I like to stay clear of. I did my Masters in Responsible Tourism in London in 2006 and, at the time, I remember feeling self-conscious about the term when people asked me what that was about. It felt a bit waffly, non-academic. I recall one person even saying, mockingly, ‘Is that a Masters in learning how to pick your litter up in the rainforest as you go?’ I paused for thought and then chose, on this occasion, to enter into battle and defend my cause.

This Masters Degree appealed to me because it seemed to turn the world of travel upside down and inside out. I loved, love (will love again) to travel, but I had never really picked it apart to analyze the positive and negative impacts of this thing I just thought of as a vacation. The course leaders had chosen the word ‘responsible’ because it was one that could, and should be applied to every person involved in tourism. From tourism ministers to hotel managers, safari or ski guides, guests or hosts, we are all responsible for looking after the places the industry calls destinations and residents call home.

Definitions of sustainable tourism - the ongoing tiffs

As I went on to write about this specialist area in the press and in online content, I often found myself ensconced in terminology tiffs, more often than not at travel conferences and seminars. At first I enjoyed the challenge of getting to grips with the semantics behind sustainability, green, eco, conscious, transformative, regenerative, responsible and so on. 

However, I quickly realised that the definition debate was being used as a way for some of the big players in tourism to avoid taking action. They could keep turning a blind eye to the fact that they had five swimming pools but the villagers just a mile away had no drinking water. Or that all their management was male, white and brought in from abroad. They didn’t need to address the fact that no food was being sourced locally or that they were in contravention of basic human rights if they could just say, “we haven’t decided if we need to have a responsible, sustainable or transformative tourism strategy moving forward. We need to gain a greater understanding of which term works for us before we act.” Tick, tock went the terminology clock, and meanwhile no action was taken.

Juggling jargon 

In my experience, not only do definitions cause delay at senior management level but also at grassroots level. If a small tourism business needs funding for a biodiversity, renewable energy or adventure tourism project because they know that this works for sustainability reasons, they might not get it until the powers that be sign, seal and send off press releases about their new sustainable, responsible, transformative or regenerative policy. As they juggle jargon, that small business has lost a vital tourist season and income to survive. 

The pioneers of tourism products and destinations that are about passion over profit, many of whom I have had the honor of writing about, don’t usually have time for definitions. They inherently understand and want to improve the economic, environmental, social and cultural impacts of tourism. Without any greenwashing. Rarely do I chat with them about whether they liked to be seen as a trailblazer in all things transformative. Or if they are catering for conscious consumers. What we do discuss is that their business is sustaining five families on a small island, people who would otherwise be forced to move away. Or that their sea kayaking holidays are led by marine biology experts who are strict Leave No Trace leaders. They pride themselves on having planted a full-on forest in a region that had been stripped of trees by landowners centuries ago, creating a biodiverse space where guests can now stay in an off-grid accommodation. They celebrate community involvement at all levels of their supply chain. They use words like fair and right, green and good, natural and nurture.

Being respectful 

When someone asks me which term I recommend as a way to summarize the movement I support, I take a breath and decide whether to enter battle. What I tend to say is just be respectful when you travel, and be equally respectful when you create a travel business. Respect the landscapes, the people who live there, future generations, the culture, the farmers, the conservationists, the wildlife and you’ll be on track. With respect comes a deeper understanding of the bigger picture and the systems that are there to support us. 

Equally I respect that terminology exists and that it is necessary to formalize tourism policies, create certification schemes and so on. I’m not suggesting that words be banned, I am just more interested in the stories and actors who are doing the right thing.

Definition or brand

The other issue around terminology is that of branding. Some tourism practitioners promote a particular term because it is central to their brand and because, by pushing that term out there, the Google gods will reward. Creating debate around one term over another might be an interesting exercise in semantics, but when it is used merely as a way to promote a brand, or increase Google presence, buyers should beware. The fact is that anyone marketing a sustainable tourism business, and we at GLP are part of that movement, has to do the Google game to some degree. It’s part of modern marketing. But let’s be transparent about the fact that terminology to drive traffic is exactly that. And as sustainable brands grow in number, which can only be a good thing because the message is getting out there, then new names for doing the right thing will keep popping up, with each brand defending nuances of this new definition.

The floodgates will open

The pandemic has decimated travel and, for those businesses that have fought tooth and nail to survive, the waiting game is hopefully nearly over. When we are all ready and able to travel again there will undoubtedly be a flood after the freeze. Tourism businesses will need to make up for financial losses, endeavor to rehire the people they lost, and readjust to having people, and all their baggage, coming into their home countries again. There won’t be time to dither over doctrines and the last thing we need is another deluge of definitions. 

The focus will need to be on putting down the sandbags that best protect their landscapes, building up defences against destructive tourism and generating strong policies and practices that mitigate against future disasters. And many of the good players will succeed. Not because they have nailed the right definition of what they are doing, but because, as our #TourismStrong film series demonstrated, they are just getting it, and getting on with doing it