"Far and away the best thing the casual tourist can do is to spend money
at a local level. Cut out the middleman travel-fixers, cut out the
international franchise resort hotels and familiar chain restaurants.
Patronize the mom-and-pop economy. Go slow. Respect people. Practice
humility, and don't condescend with your good intentions. Make friends.
Ask questions. Listen. Know that you are a visitor. Keep promises, even
if that just means mailing a photograph a few weeks later. Be a
personal ambassador of your home culture, and take your new
perspectives home so that you can share them with your neighbors."
—Professional vagabond Rolf Potts, when asked what a casual tourist can do to become an ethical traveler.
Read the rest of the World Hum interview here for Rolf's insights on ethical travel. Also, check out his recent blog post on bringing "vagabonding" back home or his "very subjective" IT guide to bookstores.
We're interested in hearing ways that you try to be a better tourist. Please let us know your tips in the comments below.
Photo: Rolf Potts
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Not only is working with local outfitters, shops, restaurants, etc. a great way of supporting the actual community you visit, it's often less expensive for the traveler. I recently interviewed someone for my Boston Globe "Where they Went" travel column who cycled in Vietnam on a tour through REI Adventures. As we know, REI is largely a retailer, not a tour operator, which means it partners with other adventure companies, which in turn likely contract with local services, in this case Vietnamese. All that contracting adds layers of charges. (Of course, it has its benefits too, in terms of planning, equipment, and comfort level.) So when you "go local" you do good, you save money, and you usually have a much more adventurous trip!
If we took a more responsible view to tourism, we could not only make a massive difference to the effects toursim has on global warming but we could also save a fortune. As in the post, it is about researching which educates the traveller and cares for the envirnoment and the destination at the same time.