World's 10 best ethical travel destinations revealed

Are you the kind of traveler who wants to have a great time AND feel good about where your travel budget is going? Ethical Traveler's new report, "The World's Best Ethical Destinations" identifies the 10 countries in the developing world that are best protecting their natural environments, promoting responsible travel, and building a tourism industry which provides real benefits to local communities.

“There’s no doubt that worldwide interest in mindful, responsible travel is growing -- not only among travelers, but within the countries that host us," says Jeff Greenwald, executive director of Ethical Traveler and coauthor of the report. "Now is the perfect time for savvy travelers and well-intentioned governments to evolve together, each encouraging the other. This is especially true in the developing world, where travel and tourism can be developed as lucrative, low-impact alternatives to forestry, mining, and the destruction of ocean habitats.”

In alphabetical order, the best ethical travel destinations for 2010 are:

• Argentina

• Belize

• Chile

• Ghana

• Lithuania

• Namibia

• Poland

• Seychelles

• South Africa

• Suriname

“In drafting our report, we use scores of information sources -- including publicly available data -- to rate each country's genuine commitment to environmental protection, social welfare and human rights.” says Christy Hoover, coauthor of the report. “Data sources include the United Nations Development Program, Human Rights Watch, Columbia University, Reporters Without Borders, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and many others. Private interviews with NGO leaders are part of the process, as well.” The full report can be viewed at www.ethicaltraveler.org/destinations.

Ethical Traveler is an international alliance of travelers who believe that travel is a powerful tool for international goodwill and cultural understanding. The group seeks to harness the political and economic clout of tourism to support human rights and the environment. Ethical Traveler is a project of the Earth Island Institute.

Photo credits: Jaguar in Belize by CTO-Demian Solano (top); Kalahari dunes by Namibia Tourism (bottom) 

2009 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Award winners announced

The 2009 winners of the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards were announced this morning in London as part of the celebration of World Travel Market's third annual WTM World Responsible Tourism Day. Sponsored by Virgin Holidays, the awards are organized by responsibletravel.com together with partners The Daily Telegraph, WTM, and Geographical Magazine.

This year's overall winner was New Zealand-based Whale Watch Kaikoura. Announcing the reason for their selection, the panel of judges said: "Rarely do we see a tourism initiative developed from the ground up by a local community to such a successful and grand scale – growing from modest beginnings to securing in a joint venture with Sea World on the Gold Coast of Australia to provide their whale watching. Whale Watch Kaikoura provides consistently responsible whale watching tours with minimal impacts. The founding of the enterprise by four Maori families has demonstrated that the local Maori community can not only grow a considerable tourism business, but, more significantly, use that business to buy back their ancestral land for the benefit of the indigenous people and their cultural identity."

Read more at Seattle International Travel Examiner

Introducing Ethical Traveler

Today is World Responsible Tourism Day, so how appropriate that it’s also my first day as News Editor for Ethical Traveler, a Berkeley, California-based nonprofit organization that seeks to make travel a force for positive change.

Ethical Traveler is the first grass-roots alliance uniting adventurers, tourists, travel agencies, and outfitters — everyone who loves to travel, and sees travel as a positive force in the world. We feel that all travelers are, in effect, freelance ambassadors. We also believe that we have the ability to join our voices, and to use our economic power to strengthen human rights and protect the environment.

I’ll be taking charge of the news team, which delivers original stories about responsible travel developments and issues, as well as links to related content from other trusted providers.

Check out www.ethicaltraveler.org for tips on how to be a responsible traveler, to join the Ethical Traveler network, or to sign up for the monthly newsletter.

World Responsible Tourism Day is an initiative of World Travel Market, with support from the United Nations World Tourism Organization and leading travel industry associations. It was first celebrated in 2007.

Adventure travel industry highlights sustainability at recent World Summit

Last month I had the pleasure of attending the Adventure Travel World Summit in the Charlevoix region of Quebec. It was exciting to meet with tour operators and other travel specialists from around the world, including places as far afield as Patagonia, China, Ethiopia, and Iran.

Particularly gratifying was the emphasis placed on sustainable and responsible tourism. Among the issues discussed were sustainable tourism in emerging destinations, climate change and its effect on tourism, voluntourism and community-based development, and the role of tourism in conservation. Specific topics of presentations included employing indigenous people in rainforest tourism in Guyana, creating a transfrontier network of peace parks in southern Africa, protecting the rivers of Fiji through a tourism and conservation partnership, preserving the cultural heritage of Kurdistan as the region establishes itself as a tourist destination, and creating voluntourism programs driven by local community needs rather than traveler desires.

During one of the sessions, a prominent sustainable tourism expert said, "We are well past the question of does sustainable tourism work. The question perhaps is how far we can take it." Judging by the ongoing projects discussed at the Summit, the possibilities for responsible tourism development are far from exhausted.

Over the next several months, Crossing Time Zones will feature reports about issues and participants from the Summit, including news about ongoing developments as well as interviews with travel experts and responsible tour operators.

Journeys Within makes a difference in typhoon-ravaged Southeast Asia

A post today on Condé Nast Traveler's Daily Traveler blog reinforced my belief that travel companies can make a difference in the lives of the communities in which they operate. In this case, the company in question is Journeys Within, a small tour company in Siem Reap, Cambodia, that is helping communities recover after the recent typhoon that devastated the region.

Typhoon Ketsana seriously damaged the local communities in Journeys Within's area. The company's nonprofit arm, Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), immediately leaped into action. Clean drinking water was the most critical concern. In the days following the typhoon, JWOC has distributed nearly 5,400 gallons of fresh drinking water to the villages of Taksen Tboung and Veal, and has also provided mosquito nets to more than 600 households to reduce the risk of malaria, dengue fever, and other mosquito-born diseases exacerbated by the flood waters. The organization has also distributed vital supplies in a third village, Sala Kansang. Click here to see images of the flooding and JWOC's relief efforts.

Journeys Within is run by Andrea and Brandon Ross, British and American expats, who are dedicated to giving back to the local community. Through JWOC, they work to improve living conditions for people in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. According to the organization's website, JWOC operates under the following philosophy: "By working at the local level and focusing on basic needs such as clean water, education, health, emergency relief and other community based issues, JWOC helps to develop projects that start small, but with outside support, gain momentum and change lives."

Founded in 2005, JWOC has raised over $30,000 for Myanmar communities destroyed in Cyclone Nargis in 2007; provided scholarships for more than 70 students in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar to attend university; opened three JWOC Free Schools in Cambodia and Laos; built 300 wells in the Siem Reap area; provided more than 200 micro loans to poor families; and established the JWOC Village School Sponsorship program for school children in villages in Laos.

JWOC needs donations to support its continuing typhoon relief and community development efforts.
Click here for options on how to contribute

Green Living Project: Documenting sustainability around the world

Last night I headed over to the Seattle REI store for a presentation by Rob Holmes, founder of the Green Living Project. GLP documents sustainability in various parts of the world with the goal of supporting and promoting successful projects. GLP seeks out compelling sustainable and community-centered development projects and tells their stories through short documentary films, blog dispatches, and presentation across the United States.

In 2008, they traveled to east and southern Africa, where - among other projects - they visited a rhinoceros sanctuary in Uganda; a cultural village tourism enterprise in Zambia; a coffee co-op project in Rwanda; a new multi-day, locally guided hiking trail in South Africa; and a bicycle distribution program in Namibia.

Yesterday's presentation, entitled "Sustainability Across South America," focused on GLP's recent expedition to Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador, where they documented eight projects. For each project, Holmes spoke about the GLP crew's experiences and then showed the final video they produced in each place. The projects are:

Cristalino Jungle Lodge, near Alta Floresta, Brazil. A sustainable tourism project at the southern end of the Amazon basin, Cristalino offers simple but comfortable accommodations and plenty of ecotourism activities for visitors. They also focus on rainforest research activities and environmental education programs for local schools. The Cristalino area is home to roughly one-third of Brazil's 1,800 bird species.

Mountain Lodges of Peru, near Cuzco, Peru. This tourism company has developed a series of alpine lodges for trekkers along the Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu. They work with the Peruvian nonprofit organization Yanapana on social and ecological development projects to raise incomes in the communities along the route. They also work with the Frankfurt Zoological Society on research and species conservation.

Amazon Conservation Association Brazil Nut Program, near Puerto Maldonado, Peru. This program focuses on income generation through the harvesting and sale of Brazil nuts, a renewable rainforest resource. The region is coming under increasing pressure due to the construction of a new highway through the rainforest, and the Brazil nut program provides an incentive for the preservation of a healthy forest.

Maquipucuna Foundation, near Quito, Ecuador. Maquipucuna established one of the first eco-lodges in the cloud forest region northwest of Quito. The foundation operates a small lodge in the heart of one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world (home to nearly 400 bird species and more than 1,900 types of plants). Maquipucuna's programs include organic farming, tree planting (getting rid of introduced species and restoring native ones), shade-grown coffee plantings in previously deforested areas, an orchid seed project that grows orchids for sale to reduce the harvesting of wild plants, and biological research. The foundation has been very influential in getting other communities involved in ecotourism and conservation activities, and many of their efforts are being replicated elsewhere in Ecuador.

Yachana Foundation, Amazon Region, Ecuador. The Yachana Foundation focuses on community development in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They operate an eco-lodge, Yachana Lodge, in a private reserve along the Napo River, as well as a technical high school that trains local students in subjects such as ecotourism, sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, and sustainable microenterprise development. Yachana's focus is on giving local people the tools they need to make educated decisions on how they use natural resources and improve their standard of living. The foundation is also working with Global Vision International to document the biological diversity of the Yachana reserve in the hopes of obtaining national protected status.

Tierra del Volcán, near Mt. Cotopaxi, Ecuador. Tierra del Volcán operates three eco-lodges in the region surrounding Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world. They offer adventure activities such as trekking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and ziplining. They have established agreements with local landowners in which the landowners promise to use their land sustainably in exchange for revenues from tourism activities on their property. Tierra del Volcán also works with the nonprofit organization Fundación Páramo on conservation projects and environmental education in local schools.

Equilibrio Azul, Puerto López, Ecuador. Located in a fishing community on Ecuador's Pacific coast, Equilibrio Azul is a startup nonprofit organization dedicated to marine conservation. The three critical issues that they have identified are overharvesting, garbage and other pollution in the oceans, and marine habitat destruction. The organization is working with local fishermen to try to find a balance between harvesting and conservation of marine resources. They are also conducting research and data collection that they hope will lead to additional incentives for conservation, at both the local and government levels. In an effort to change the attitudes of future generations, Equilibrio Azul also runs an after-school eco-club for local children.

The Green Living Project's "Sustainability Across South America" presentation will be visiting several other cities across the U.S. this fall. Check their events schedule for dates and locations. If you missed their previous presentations on projects in Africa, you can find the videos on the Green Living Project website under "Projects."

GLP is currently documenting sustainable development projects in the United States and planning future expeditions to Central America and other parts of the world. More information is available on the GLP website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Information on how individuals can support the projects documented by GLP - whether through donations or as volunteers or simply by visiting or purchasing local products - is posted on the project pages on the GLP website and made available at presentations.

The International Ecotourism Society publishes 2009 Travel Green Guide

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) has released its 2009 Travel Green Guide, a terrific resource that explains the ins and outs of ecotourism, beginning with what ecotourism is and why it's important. TIES defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." The guide also includes a list of Dos and Don'ts While Traveling and advice for avoiding tourism businesses that are engaging in greenwashing rather than true ecotourism.

Most of the guide is a directory listing members of TIES around the world, including ecotourism associations; universities and colleges with sustainable tourism programs; institutions (including convention and visitors bureaus, destination marketing organizations, education and research organizations, government organizations, industry associations, and tourism offices); nongovernmental organizations; lodging facilities; tour operators; and other ecotourism-affiliated businesses and professionals.

Here's the TIES mission statement, from the organization's website, www.ecotourism.org:

Founded in 1990, TIES is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the principles of ecotourism. As the world’s largest and oldest ecotourism association, TIES works with its members and partners in over 90 countries to put sustainability at the top of the global tourism industry agenda.

The Travel Green Guide is a great starting point for both ecotourism professionals seeking partnerships and travelers looking for hotels, tour operators, and other travel suppliers who adhere to the principles of responsible travel. Check out the full guide by clicking on the image below or download a PDF version here (registration required).

Responsible Hotels of the World website lists environmentally and socially responsible lodging

Thanks to a blog post at Green Lodging News, I recently came across a website called "Responsible Hotels of the World." Though the site was just launched in July, and information is still being added, it looks like a great new resource for anyone looking for hotels that truly demonstrate their commitment to environmentally and socially conscious development.

The website is run by the same folks who operate responsibletravel.com, a well-established online travel agency focusing on - you guessed it - responsible travel.

According to the Responsible Hotels website, "the essence of a responsible holiday is having an experience that encapsulates the destination you are in. One which is true to its culture; which embraces and engages local people and food; which is dedicated to preserving the indigenous natural world for future generations." The hotels included are ones that "[offer] not just the highest standards of responsible practice, but [give] you a more truly distinctive and authentic holiday."

The website guarantees that all listed hotels have been carefully screened to make sure they meet established responsible travel criteria. The site currently includes properties in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, and the Indian Ocean, with other regions presumably to be added in the future.

Beyond ecotourism: How to travel responsibly

What is responsible travel? The question has been frequently discussed and sometimes hotly debated. According to one way of thinking, we should all just stay home in order to minimize our use of resources. Yet there are a lot of compelling reasons why people will - and should - continue to roam the globe. Travel opens minds and connects people, and in today's chaotic world, that can only be a good thing. How then, do we make sure that our travel is as responsible as possible?

According to the 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations, responsible travel has the following key characteristics:

• Minimizes negative economic, environmental and social impacts
• Generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities, improves working conditions and access to the industry
• Involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances
• Makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world's diversity
• Provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues
• Provides access for physically challenged people
• Is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence

Read the rest of this article at Seattle International Travel Examiner

Travel Responsibly with Crooked Trails

Eco-travel, sustainable tourism, responsible travel. There’s a lot of talk these days about what constitutes “good” tourism, but what does it all really mean? Crooked Trails, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that operates trips in South America, Africa, and Asia, believes it has the answer.

“Responsible travel is about being aware of the environmental, cultural, and economic impacts of our travel,” says Executive Director Christine Mackay. Nothing new there, perhaps, but what makes Crooked Trails unusual is its emphasis on creating deep and egalitarian relationships with indigenous communities.

Read the rest of this article at Seattle International Travel Examiner