Our views on responsible tourism issues

We are proud of the responsible holidays we offer, the wonderful holiday companies that we represent, but we are also proud of the stance we take on certain issues. We work closely with our partners and friends to take a public stance on many issues, from the welfare of animals to the mistreatment of people, such as mountain porters. Read more on our views below. And please keep reading, as our activism is proactive with new issues coming to the fore all the time.

Our views

Responsible Travel as a company started in 2001, and from the start we’ve offered great holidays that are better for being responsible. You don’t build a company like ours without having opinions, and over the past 25 years we’ve been proud to take a strong stance on important issues in tourism. The trips on our site all meet our policies on various issues – from the welfare of animals to the treatment of people – as well as encouraging travellers to think about these when they travel. We have taken those views into the wider world, into newspapers, on to TV and radio, and across social media. Why? Our aim has always been to be more than a travel company, but to change the expectations of what tourism can and can’t do for people and the planet.

You can read our opinions on various responsible tourism topics below, and click on the links for more in-depth articles on each issue. You can also read our Impact Report, which documents progress on some of the themes included here.
We can tell you about our vision for a fairer, more responsible travel industry, but what does irresponsible travel look like? We have assembled a list of the worst offenders here.

Nature positive tourism & wildlife

Wildlife is often the main tourist draw in a destination – from the plains of the Serengeti to the Amazon rainforest and the icy landscapes of Antarctica. Yet despite the huge importance of the animals’ presence, many are at great risk – from poaching, climate change, habitat loss and capture. Read our stance on protecting wildlife to find out more about the issues; we have included our main stances below.

Biodiversity – the variety and range of natural species supported by Earth – is a key indicator of the planet's health, and its restoration can help mitigate many of the effects of climate change. Responsible Travel aims to contribute to a nature positive world by 2030, meaning the holidays available on our site will actively protect and support nature. View our living map to discover how tourism is actively restoring, protecting and fighting for nature, and learn more about nature positive tourism here.

Captive animals

There are genuine sanctuaries, which rescue and rehabilitate orphaned and injured animals as well as those rescued from the illegal pet trade, but there are many tourist attractions masquerading as sanctuaries, while having no conservation value at all. We believe sanctuaries should discourage contact with humans (other than what is necessary for the animals' wellbeing), as well as releasing animals into the wild where possible.

In 2017, we became the first travel company to stop promoting holidays that included a visit to a zoo. Even the best zoos keep animals in environments far removed from their natural territories; studies continuously prove that captive wild animals are stressed animals. We think wildlife experiences should only take place in the wild on a responsible wildlife tour or at ethical sanctuaries if there’s no chance for animals to be released. It’s better for the animals and more satisfying for wildlife watchers. We also believe that captive breeding is only justifiable when a species has been listed as endangered or critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Read more about our stance on captive animals.

Elephant tourism

Responsible Travel does not promote elephant trekking or elephant riding trips. We also do not promote any trip that visits establishments to see trained elephants perform for the public. The opportunity to abuse the public interest in elephant safaris means that we will also refuse to promote elephant safaris in and around national parks. We will continue to support sanctuaries that are recognised as providing support and rehabilitation to elephants. You can read more about our stance in our elephant conservation guide.

Flying, carbon offsets & air passenger duty

We do not support carbon offsets. They don’t work, even high-profile carbon offset schemes have been found to have had little to no impact; they perpetuate the idea that there is nothing we can do about highly polluting aviation; and they move the moral responsibility for carbon reduction away from airlines. Read more here: Carbon offsetting flights. A dangerous distraction.

In 2019 we took the lead on lobbying for a Green Flying Duty. Unlike petrol for cars, international aviation fuel is exempt from tax and VAT. This constitutes a tax break of around £10bn annually in the UK. Economists from the IMF and World Bank believe it is time to address this issue. The Green Flying Duty would be a new global tax on aviation that will be ring-fenced for Research and Development (R&D) in electric aviation and to improve railway connectivity.

With carbon levels to blame for rising temperatures and erratic weather patterns, we've written a series of articles on how climate change will change the way we travel. Read them all in our Climate Change hub.

Overtourism

In 2018 we made Crowded Out, the first documentary about overtourism. Featuring interviews with residents and tourism experts, it has now been viewed more than 500,000 times across different platforms. Today, overtourism is increasingly in the news, as greater numbers of tourists visit popular cities and iconic sites, often at the expense of communities, the site itself, and the visitor experience. The causes of overtourism can be linked to everything from giant cruise ships and Airbnb to a lack of government planning. However, we believe that the real cause of overtourism is the collusion between governments, airlines and cruise ships keeping travel artificially cheap – with tax-exempt aviation fuel being one of the main culprits.
Read our thoughts on the causes of overtourism, and about how it has affected cities like Venice, Edinburgh and Dubrovnik, in our overtourism hub, and on the role of tourist taxes in the debate.

Politics & boycotts

As a general rule, we don’t believe that boycotting entire countries is an effective means of campaigning for change. The only country we have ever boycotted is Burma – read more about this here. However, we do often get asked about our stance on boycotting countries for a wide number of reasons, from human rights to animal welfare. Read more about our stance on boycotts and tourism – and find out when we believe boycotting tourist attractions can work.

Local people & porters

Responsible Travel believes that responsible holidays should benefit local people – by providing employment and training opportunities, showing appreciation and respect for traditional cultures and/or improving working conditions for porters. We support local business owners such as restaurant and accommodation providers, and believe that a truly ethical holiday can be as beneficial, if not more so, as volunteering in a community setting. Some of our holidays visit and work with Indigenous Peoples. On these holidays we ensure that there is a clear benefit to your hosts – and that the power is with them to shape the direction they’d like tourism to take. Read more about how we support communities here.  

Volunteering abroad

Volunteering may seem like the ultimate responsible way to travel, but it really needs to be very well managed in order to be of genuine benefit to wildlife and communities. If volunteers are not well matched to a project, they risk being of no use, or worse – causing more harm than good. Additionally, volunteer work should be carried out alongside local workers to ensure their jobs are being supported – not replaced.

Read more about how to ensure your volunteering holiday is beneficial to both you and the destinations you are visiting in our guide to volunteering abroad, and learn about the issues specific to volunteer teaching placements here.

Day visits to schools

Some operators include the option to visit a local school for a day in their itineraries. Please note that we do not promote day volunteering trips and will only promote a day visit to a school which takes place during term time if there is clear benefit to the children in terms of education and resources, and where disruption to class time is kept to an absolute minimum.

We would expect that visits of this nature should not occur more frequently than once a month, especially for smaller schools with fewer separate classes. Where schools are larger with more classes, we would expect them to be visited on rotation to avoid repeat visits to any one class more than the minimum of once a month.

Tourists must be accompanied at all times by a teacher or representative of the school and we would expect any gifts to be approved by the school and tour company prior to arrival.

Sustainable Tourism Accreditation schemes

We think that there are very few, if any, genuine sustainable tourism accreditation schemes. There are 100 or more so called schemes currently on the market but we think they are business management tools rather than proper accreditation schemes. Read more about our concerns.

Accessible travel

The travel industry needs to make huge improvements in the provision of accessible holidays. Despite demand – just under a quarter of the UK population has some form of disability, long-standing illness or impairment – travel websites do not currently offer enough accessible product, nor are the websites themselves designed in an accessible way. We believe that, as minimum, all travel companies should publish information on what trips are accessible and for who. Read more about the changes needed in our Accessible Tourism Manifesto.