Responsible tourism and travel is any form of travel and tourism that can be experienced keeping in mind its impact on the community and environment. It mainly focuses on minimizing the negative impacts on social, economic, and environmental aspects of travel and tourism destinations.
Unlike tour operators that are directly in contact with the communities around travel destinations, not many tourism peripheral businesses participate directly in responsible travel and tourism thus a deliberate need and effort to contribute to the well-being of the people living in the travel destination as well as the country at large.
Many at times; measures are undertaken pivotal on the people in the nearby hosting communities forgetting that the free migration from any part of the country is always stimulated to destinations that have better health care services, security, and education. If only other communities around the country are also put into consideration, it will prevent this foreseen danger of people from other parts of the country migrating to travel destinations when the standards of living are improved in those places.
All players in the travel industry must be equally responsible for contributing to the well-being of the people in the hosting communities to ensure sustainable tourism and travel. With this in mind, there are roles the tourists, tour operators, and peripheral businesses have to play to ensure sustainable tourism.
Tour Operator and Peripheral Tourism Businesses
- Tour operators in the different parts of the country should put aside a budget to contribute to the welfare in the community where their offices are based. This is to top up on medical, educational, and recreational ventures
- Tour operators should also put up symposiums for non-tour operators educating them on how they can contribute and be part of the industry.
- Car hire companies should also draft ventures on how to contribute to the growth of the communities where they are located.
Education Institutions
- Education institutions should also partner with stakeholders in the leisure, tours, and hospitality industry to see how best to improve the services in the market through equipping the students with necessary skills and knowledge.
- Education institutions should work on research inspired by problems identified by the stakeholders; no research should be carried out without the endorsement of stakeholders.
- Institutions should also foster online platforms where research can be carried out. This can also be achieved through partnerships with online researchers such as “Premise”
Tourists
- Tourists should be specific when acquiring services. They should find out about the corporate social responsibility of a company before acquiring services from the company.