Afghan beauty spot dreams of tourism return
We use to think of Afghanistan as a war shaken country. But did you ever hear about Bamiyan valley?
What I like about this short film is that it helps to take a closer look at communities beyond our horizon.
Responsible Travel A-Z: English - German
Translating is discussing is interacting is understanding.
Thanks to Ron Mader’s Planeta website we have this wonderful Planeta Wiki which is an inexhaustible source for every enthusiast of responsible travel (or anyone who wants to get familiar with this complex subject). So I thought it could be helpful to use the Buzzword Bingo tool to find some German translations since this could help me (and perhaps others) to reflect upon the concept of making travel a meaningful event for both locals and visitors.
responsible travel, ein Album auf Flickr.
Just uploaded a poster celebrating Responsible Travel Week 2013. Asked my 6 year old boy to draw a world map for that purpose, and he did an excellent job, didn’t he?
Ever got a nicer invitation? So join Responsible Travel Week February 11-17 and get involved: http://planeta.wikispaces.com/rtweek2013.
And if you’re on Google+ don’t forget to visit the “Local Travel” community: https://plus.google.com/communities/111562381725373837263
Join Responsible Travel Week 2013, February 11-17: http://planeta.wikispaces.com/rtweek2013
It’s open to everyone and free of charge!
(Thanks to Aivar Ruukel via @Ruukel)
by Pete McBride on Yale Environment 360
A journey along a river once called the “American Nile”: running 1500 miles, draining seven states and supporting 30 million people - as far as the official data are concerned. The reality is: for 6 million years the Colorado ran to the sea. Since 1998, is has not.
Fall in love with responsible travel February 11-17 as Planeta.com hosts our annual Responsible Travel Week, a week-long unconference that kicks off 2013 in fine style. A great plus: admission is free and there’s no jet lag!
Tamarindo, Costa Rica: Die Auswirkungen des Tourismus aus der Sicht eines Local Guides
“Tamarindo ist ein Ort ohne Identität, ein Phantomdorf, das eigentlich gar nicht existiert. Es gibt keine Kultur, keine Universität, nicht mal Schulen. … Das kommt, weil das ganze Land verkauft wurde. … In Jaco ist es ähnlich, überhaupt in vielen Orten an der Küste.”
Quelle: iSeeiTravel is a media company dedicated to promoting conscious travel by means of a unique docu-marketing™ strategy.
(Quelle: iseeitravel.org)
“I want to tell the government… people have a problem of water.”
Water ist our treasure - How tourism is impacting community water access in Kiwengwa Zanzibar
(Quelle: tourismconcern.org.uk)
Wake up: Tourism is NOT per se a force for good!
“Nice try” is the best one can say about the UNWTO 1 billion campaign. “Window-dressing” would be more honest. Any tourist professional knows about the issues of mass tourism (CO2 emissions, waste production, environmental pollution in general, waste of resources, displacement of local communities, poverty and social deprivation, violation of human rights, child abuse and trafficking, to name only the most serious ones) each of which is bad enough in itself.
To raise awareness means more than politically correct appeals to reason or humanity. If our objective is to create better places for people to live in and to visit we have to abandon the concept of endless economic growth. As long as tourism keeps to be measured by industrial standards there will be no progress in sustainability.
We cannot prevent the people from traveling? So lets stop thinking about saving the climate, Ghislain Dubois, founder of L’Association pour l’innovation et la recherche au service du climat, sarcastically states. Who ever is able to read French should definitely have a look at his article “Réveillons nous!” (http://www.tourisme-durable.org/avis-experts/transport-et-climat/1628-ghislain-dubois-reveillons-nous-le-transport-aerien-est-une-bombe-a-retardement-climatique-.html - thanks to @G_Cromer for sharing).
There are lots of examples revealing a considerable, and sometimes even frightening gap between words that claim to be in line with sustainable tourism goals and actions to implement them (http://www.2server.de/TourBlog/WordPress/the-eco-tourism-industry/). So the UNWTO would be better off spending its funds to tell the often inconvenient truth and supporting local communities in their struggle to implement sustainable tourism offers than nurture a fleeting vision of romantic philanthropy.
(Quelle: 1billiontourists.unwto.org)
