What is green tourism? Why is it so important? Which are the key benefits of this type of tourism?
In an age where the impact of tourism is becoming visibly apparent, green tourism becomes extremely important.
Read on to find out more.
Definition and origins
Green tourism stands for small-scale tourism which involves visiting natural areas while minimising environmental impacts. In a nutshell, this type of tourism tries to both minimise and reverse the negative effects of travel. These include: overcrowding, the destruction of heritage and the environment, globalisation, detrimental social change and many others.
Thankfully, more and more tourism destinations and enterprises are focusing on becoming more sustainable and encouraging responsible tourism.
Green tourism has been used interchangeably with such concepts as ecotourism, nature tourism, responsible tourism and rural tourism. Moreover, international organizations have defined the notion in line with the concept of sustainable tourism, which also considers other dimensions than environmental protection.
Main benefits of green tourism
But why should you try to engage in green tourism?
Besides the fact that your actions will be contributing positively, there are some great benefits of sustainable tourism.
Firstly, green tourism supports local communities. Particularly, responsible tourism generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities, improves working conditions and access to the industry.
Secondly, sustainable tourism has a lower ecological impact.
On the one hand, part of green tourism is eating local produce and food from local businesses. On the other, importing food comes at a huge cost – economically and environmentally.
By eating locally, you not only save many emissions but you will also find that the food is better. In particular, the ingredients are fresher, the locals know how to prepare them, and you will probably get to taste something brand new that will intrigue you.
Thirdly, green tourism provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues.
Other benefits of green tourism
Additionally, responsible tourism helps travellers become conscious of their choices. If you aspire to be a sustainable tourist, you should educate yourself before you go on your vacation.
Are there certain locations that you should not visit if you want to keep them sustainable? What carbon footprint do you leave behind?
A responsible tourist will make decisions based on what is best for the local communities in the long term, making sure that the actions based on those decisions have a positive impact on those communities.
Finally, it is a way to open our minds to the world and the realisation that we are all different but we are also the same. And doing it responsibly gives us an opportunity to learn through meaningful connections with local people and to get a better understanding of local cultural, as well as social and environmental issues.
To sum up, travelling responsibly doesn’t only have a positive impact in the destinations and communities we visit, but it also provides us with enriching experiences that often stay with us and become the highlight in our memories.
And if you are looking for beautiful accommodation for your green travel vacation, check out our beautiful hotels.