Growing demand for ethical holidays

Sunday, 21 Jan, 2002 0

There is a growing demand from the British public for holidays abroad to be more ethical, according to a report released on Saturday from Tearfund, the Christian relief and development agency.

Tearfund’s research* shows that more than half (52%) would be more likely to book a holiday with a tour company that has a written code guaranteeing good working conditions, protection of the environment and support for local charities in tourist destinations.**

Nearly two out of three people (65%) surveyed by Tearfund also said they wanted to know from travel agents and tour operators how to behave more responsibly when on holiday – by understanding local customs and politics, preserving the environment, supporting the economy and meeting local people.

The report, ‘Worlds Apart – a call to responsible global tourism’, states that British tourists have a right to know how their holidays affect people in destinations, especially in the developing world where many millions of people struggle for survival on less than a pound a day. Tearfund is calling for tour operators to take their corporate social responsibility more seriously and to start by writing a clear policy and appointing a responsible tourism staff member.

Graham Gordon, Tearfund’s Policy Officer (pictured), told TravelMole that tour operators also need to understand better the benefits of tourism in destinations. “Tour operators and their reps need to spend more time with local groups in the holiday destinations to work out how tourism can benefit the host communities – they must think more longer-term of the effect of tourism.”

Mr Gordon said: “Tourism is one of the largest industries on the planet. It can bring huge benefits to poor countries. But often those benefits simply bypass local poor people.”

“It is estimated that 60% of Thailand’s tourism revenues leave the country. While in the Gambia each British holidaymaker spends hundreds of pounds, but most of this stays in the all-inclusive hotels and doesn’t reach local people.”

“More of us are venturing further afield on our holidays to countries where people battle to feed their families and make a living. Our research indicates that we do not want our holidays to be at someone else’s expense.”

Worlds Apart also calls on tour operators to take their corporate social responsibility more seriously, by:

Putting money into developing local business partnerships in destinations.

Producing codes for responsible behaviour for holidaymakers when abroad.

Reporting back to investors and customers the steps taken to promote responsible tourism.

In a foreword to Worlds Apart, Anita Roddick OBE, founder of the Body Shop, declared: “Tourism cannot escape the ethical consumerism debate. In a world where more and more businesses are pursuing and reporting on ethical practices, the tourism industry has some way to go.” Anita Roddick also urged holidaymakers to ask tour operators for their responsible tourism policies before they travel, ahead of a ‘Right to Know Day’ of Action on January 26th when Tearfund supporters and others will be visiting travel agents to ask for ethical information on holidays to developing countries.

Ms Roddick said: “As consumers we have a right to know the impact that our money and holidays have on people in the destinations. Tour operators have a responsibility to supply us with information so that we can make informed choices.”

In a survey conducted by Tearfund last year into the responsible business practices of 65 UK-based operators, only half had responsible tourism policies, and many of those were so brief as to be “virtually meaningless”.

Graham Gordon concluded: “Responsible tourism initiatives are emerging from groups like the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) and Responsibletravel.com. But the challenge before the whole tourism industry is to be bold enough to adopt a long-term view and become leaders of socially responsible British business in the 21st Century.”

Click to download a PDF copy of:
The ‘Worlds Apart’ document, 81.2kb.
A colour graphic/map showing the top tourist destinations in the developing world, 864kb.

For more information, contact the Tearfund Press Office: Keith Ewing, Tearfund, tel: 020 8943 7779 or Graham Gordon, Policy Officer, tel: 020 8943 7863. Please mention that you were referred through TravelMole.

Notes:
* A nationally and regionally representative sample of 927 adults was interviewed in-home between 30 November and 10 December 2001.
** This finding is 7% higher than in 2000 when the question was last asked.

Tearfund is a Christian relief and development agency with over 600 projects in developing countries continents on four continents. It is a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee of leading UK aid agencies. Tearfund also supports the Jubilee Debt Campaign, which calls for the cancellation of the unpayable debts of the world’s poorest countries.