Green, eco-friendly, sustainable, and numerous other terms are applied to hotels and travelers that have got their act together in an altruistic fashion that no longer trashes our fantastic world. International awards and accolades are strived for by hotels to show off their environmentally friendly practices; while today’s travelers are more willing to pay for sustainable accommodation with that eco-friendly moniker plastered over its website.
Humans are visual souls: we eat first with our eyes when that pretty plate of food is put in front of us or when we push our noses up against the glass window of a patisserie. It’s the same when we dream of far-flung holidays to escape a maybe humdrum 9 to 5 life. Those mind-blowing photographs of stunning hotels in impossible destinations tease and tempt travel lusting minds. It’s time to look behind the window-dressing if you want to be cast in the mold of sustainable travel.
Sustainable tourism is actually not the same as “ecotourism”. The UN World Tourism Organization states that sustainable tourism includes social and environmental impacts, economic repercussions, and host communities. Think along the lines of conserving natural heritage and biodiversity, respecting the cultural authenticity of local communities in which they are located and preserving the natural heritage of the area. Sustainable travel is a vast concept of conserving everything from big cities to rainforests, ancient ruins to wild animals.
Sustainable travel is only one bite of the “ecotourism” apple. Ecotourism melds together conservation, communities, and sustainable practices. Ecotourism is the whole package, from respecting and conserving the earth’s natural wonders to supporting its local inhabitants leading to responsible travel that won’t harm the environment and promotes education and interpretation.
As a member of the global village traipsing about the world, you get to choose where you put your head on a pillow at night. Don’t just hack into the pretty web faces of Airbnb, Trivago, Booking.com or other hotel search engines that don’t give you any real information apart from the usual blurb of selling a bed for a specific price. That is unless you are willing to take it one step further and google the hotel to check out their own website for the hotel’s eco-friendly factor.
Before clicking on the BOOK button, check that the hotel is au fait with the 3 intangible eco-friendly hotels rules of reuse, recycle and reduce.
When we talk about sustainability –
- Less is more
- Farm to plate food matters
- Rainwater is precious.
Here are some sustainable tourism practices what to look for when you are drooling over that luscious Instagram worthy hotel website:
Alternatively, jump onto one of the hotel booking websites below to maintain your sustainable travel integrity:
The power of the spending buck is in your fingertip.
The choice is yours to make on how you travel; whether it’s with the cloven hooves of a devilish who-cares attitude or that of an enlightened mind who wishes to leave no footprints, only pins on your world push pin map. Take a look at Pin Adventure travel maps with pins, get inspired on how to make your own unique map and start tracking the places you have been.