If seeing the world is important to you (and we hope it is!), then taking care of the world ensures there will be places to explore in years and decades to come.
According to Alexis Brown, Co-Founder at Elsewhere, “As an industry, tourism has been celebrated for uplifting developing nations by providing jobs and contributing to local economies, promoting environmental conservation, and encouraging cross-cultural awareness.
“But travel doesn’t always have a positive impact. The travel industry is a major contributor to the climate crisis, those who work in travel can be among the lowest paid in the world, and in many places, your tourism dollars don’t actually support local economies.” As Brown points out,
• 80% of low-income countries focus on tourism as a means of improving their economic situation, but shockingly, as little as 10% of money spent on a typical vacation is actually invested back into those local economies.
• Despite the fact that tourism creates 1 out of every 10 jobs globally, the majority don’t meet the basic requirements of fair pay, safe working conditions, or access to equal opportunities.
• The ecological effects from tourism are immeasurable and over-tourism remains one of the biggest issues in the industry. A mind-blowing 80% of all travelers visit the same 5 to 10 spots in every country. During peak season alone, the worst-hit cities experience a population increase of +700%, damaging everything from infrastructure to local culture and environment.
Brown goes on to make these recommendations for travelers (and companies like As You Like It Tours):
Make sure your money is actually going into the local economy. Over 90% of the accommodations AYLIT books and nearly 100% of the restaurants we patronize on our trips are locally owned. In addition, we actively support local shops (aka “retail therapy”) and hire only local guides and drivers. This assures that more of our tourism dollars “go into the local economy and not to big corporations.”
Choose your local service providers wisely. Brown says, “Ask about social responsibility policies at the businesses you patronize. What percentage of their staff is local people and women? Do they pay fair wages and have safe working conditions? You can ask directly or book with a values-driven company who will do this kind of vetting of all the vendors they work with.”
The vendors we work with in England, Scotland, and Normandy are local, hire local, and are committed to providing a living wage for their employees.
Consider the environmental effects of overtourism.“You can mitigate the effects of overtourism by turning stopovers into meaningful longer discoveries, straying off the well-worn tourist circuit, and visiting the most popular places during off-peak season or hours,” says Brown.
As You Like It Tours is proud to go “off the beaten path” in our explorations of Cornwall, Scotland, and Normandy. We work with local guides who revel in taking us to places known only to locals and that support their livelihood. For example—a private dinner at a stately home in Bayeux, a private tour and lunch at a working farm in the Highlands, a concierge driver and guide who takes us WAY off the beaten path to enjoy charming local pubs in Cornwall.
Brown concludes, “As travelers, you have the power to right some of these wrongs. Demand practices that are better for the environment and better for the places you visit and the people who live there. Support companies that are focused on doing good. Your purchasing power is your vote. Help us make things a little brighter.”