What Is Ecotravel
What Is Ecotravel?
In today’s world, people are concerned about going green and doing things to preserve our earth. The world is slowly realizing that we have only one earth and once we destroy it, it is too late to fix. One way that people are trying to be green is in travel. Ecotravel is a byproduct of the go green movement.
History Of Ecotravel
Ecotravel became a buzzword in the early 1990s. Ecotravel is simply defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” The largest ecotourism or travel association is the International Ecotourism Society. This society was founded in 1990 and has strove to get the message about ecotravel out every since they began.
What It Is
This type of traveling is basically being environmentally aware with your travels. People who participate in ecotravel try to minimize their impact on the environment during their vacations and travels and also seek to open lines of communication and cultural awareness. An ecotravel vacation would include activities like hiking, kayaking, site-seeing, and hiking. As you can see, not all ecotravel is done in the great outdoors. People who espouse the ecotravel ideals believe that it is important not to ruin natural activities like hiking, but they also believe that it is important to work with what you already have. Site-seeing takes this belief into consideration as an ecotraveler’s vacation could include going to a major city and site seeing.
Ecotravel also includes trying to minimize the carbon footprint that a vacation leaves. Instead of flying by jet plane, a traveler might instead try to do something more local or use a different means of transportation that is not as bad for the environment. The same is true for transportation at the designated vacation spot (rent a bicycle instead of a car, for example).
What Else It Encompasses
Ecotravel is not simply traveling and having a good time site seeing or hiking. Ecotravelers take other things into consideration as well. Ecotravelers believe they should leave nothing but footprints and goodwill behind them in their travels, but they also believe that they should not encourage things that go against their beliefs. For example, a true ecotraveler would never give their tourism dollars to a country that does not give basic human rights to its citizens. They also consider what impact they will have on the local economy before purchasing tours or services, products, and souvenirs. Ecotravel means trying to put the money in the hands of locals instead of in the hands of the large corporations that exploit the locals.
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