The Benefits of Responsible Tourism

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Chris Haslam is an award-winning journalist, and currently the Chief Travel Writer at the Sunday Times. This article originally appeared in an Exodus brochure. 

There's a school of thought that suggests we should be taking fewer flights, travelling less and spending our holidays at home. Its proponents say that travel for its own sake is both selfish and self-destructive, but there's a counter-argument.

Why Responsible Tourism is Important

Responsible tourism is an overwhelming force for good for the planet, and I've seen the effects, first hand. On an Exodus trip to India dedicated conservationist Raj Sharma told me that without the tourists, the value of the tiger would be merely the sum of its parts - coat, teeth and whiskers, worth a couple of grand to a Moghiya poacher.

Then he took me down the road to the village school - where a cricket team comprised of smiling 14-year-olds humiliates an Exodus eleven - and said: "this too would disappear."

Bandhavgarh School, India

Bengal Tiger

On another trip, this time to Kenya, a Masai teacher showed me the school, the standpipe, the books and uniforms funded by donations from Exodus clients.

In Peru a porter said that regular work on the trekking trails meant he could pay for his wife's medical treatment and send his daughters to school, giving them the opportunity to break the bonds of poverty.

Masai village 

I've heard similar tales from Ovahimba in Namibia, Bedouin in Jordan and Sherpas in Nepal, but it's not just the locals who benefit. I've watched Englishmen weep when confronted by the overpowering beauty of an Antarctic iceberg and others fall into an awestruck silence before Svalbard's shrinking glaciers. All came home as ambassadors for these vulnerable wildernesses.

Whales and Icebergs, Antarctica 

I could have used this foreword to enthuse over Exodus' itineraries, to describe the passion of its guides or even to go into detail over some of its more interesting hotel choices, but I think there's a more important message. It's this: don't stop flying. Don't stop visiting the far-flung and exotic. Don't stop taking your hard-earned to people whose lives and futures depend upon it and don't stop getting out there and bearing witness to the changes our planet is going through.

Just make sure the tour operator you're travelling with cares as much about the world as you do. I can vouch for this one because it does.  - Chris Haslam

Take a look at some trips below where Exodus has made a positive impact through responsible travel.