Sustainability and Responsible Tourism: What can we do?
Although travel tends to be very romanticized, it is also an area that receives a lot of criticism because of its repercussion on the environment.
The truth, however, is that travel can make a positive impact. Even now, with a pandemic and a climate emergency, it’s possible to travel in a sustainable and responsible way. The big question is, what steps can we take to reduce the effect of travel on the environment and benefit the local communities that travelers come across with?
Responsible tourism is one of those concepts that have been under the spotlight for a few years now. But its definition is not always clear.
The Cape Town Declaration, agreed upon in the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and adopted by the World Travel Market, states that responsible tourism is about “making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit.”
The Declaration defends that responsible tourism implies several aspects, being defined by an approach to travel and tourism that:
1. has the least possible negative economic, environmental, and social impacts;
2. includes local people in decisions that affect their lives;
3. creates greater economic benefits for local people and improves the well-being of host communities, while also improving working conditions and access to the industry;
4. gives access for people with disabilities and the disadvantaged;
5. contributes in a positive way to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, as well as to the maintenance of the world’s diversity;
6. presents more enjoyable experiences for tourists by encouraging meaningful connections with local people, and a more comprehensive perception of local cultural, social, and environmental issues;
7. is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, building local pride and confidence.
Responsible tourism means that operators, hoteliers, governments, local people, and travelers alike take active, responsible steps in making tourism more sustainable.
The world is undergoing great change and so are travelers.
Over the last few years, there has been an increased interest in sustainable travel. In fact, a study by Booking points out that for 83 percent of global travelers sustainable travel is of vital importance.
We should also bear in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought social priorities, like the wellbeing of local communities, to the consumer’s attention. These are now perceived as being just as important and urgent as other concerns, with climate change and single-use plastics being two major examples. Travelers everywhere are now paying closer attention to social impact and most are actually looking for immersive local community experiences. Adventure travelers, in particular, have a greater awareness of this issue.
Sustainability in the tourism sector is a very complex matter and the truth is, to properly address it, you have to include sustainable principles in each and every one of the direct and indirect steps involved in it. Mobility in the tourism sector is a good example of this. Transportation represents about three quarters of the carbon footprint related to the tourism sector, so to fight against its negative effects on the environment companies need to combine several, real efforts in their solutions.
At Portugal Green Walks we are aware of the difficulties around sustainability and responsible tourism. That is why we do our part.
Travel should be a safe and rewarding experience for all those involved in it, including the destinations that you visit and the people you meet: this is something we strongly believe in.
Our tours are carefully designed to both respect the way of life of local populations and the environment, and to provide our clients with a genuine experience that leads to meaningful interactions with a culture that’s different from theirs. In addition to that, we make sure that money stays within the small local communities that they spend time in.
ARE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT REAL STEPS WE TAKE TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY AND RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL? COME WITH US ON A VIRTUAL TOUR!
Supporting local economies
Our programs
The nature of our self-guided programs allows us to work in very quiet villages with small locally-owned, family-run hotels, cottages, guesthouses, and restaurants. Besides, walking and cycling (two activities that are often part of our programs) are a privileged way of coming into close contact with local communities.
Rural areas in the north of Portugal, in specific, are often included in our programs – this is a region that suffers from depopulation as young people tend to head to the cities for work. With that in mind, we make sure our programs not only bring money into these communities, they also make local people feel appreciated and motivated.
While they’re staying in the various villages, we encourage our clients to observe, sample, and if possible, purchase traditional crafts and quality produce. This helps local traditions stay alive, and helps older residents feel valued as well as supplement their income.
Our packed lunches and picnic baskets are also sourced from local suppliers and we suggest that our guests try traditional Portuguese dishes at family-run restaurants – as a rule, these are made from fresh, locally-sourced ingredients and offer an insight into local culture, as well as support the local economy.
Our people
The Portugal Green Walks management and admin team consists of locally-employed specialists, most of whom grew up in the town/area where the office is based and have strong ties to the local and wider communities throughout the Northern Portugal region. Our guides, who are a fundamental part of our team, also live in the areas in which they work and know them like the back of their hands.
We meticulously screen all of the service providers that we work with, ensuring that they operate in a professional, reliable manner and also that they have a certain distinctive authenticity and a genuine desire to share their enthusiasm with our visitors in a way that fits with our responsible travel policy.
Protecting the environment
Our programs
We take into consideration environmental issues when planning new programs within northern Portugal and design them to have a negligible harmful impact.
To achieve this, we follow the guidelines laid out by the Portuguese Nature Conservation and Forestry Institute (ICNF), which protect and preserve the areas of natural beauty and environmental significance in which we operate.
We also provide our self-guided clients with a full briefing and detailed instructions of their route, which includes a traveler’s code of conduct. This includes guidelines for avoiding damage to the landscape and advice on minimizing waste.
On our guided programs, all of our guides are local and trained to be environmentally aware to ensure that both they and our clients respect and protect the environment.
Our preferred accommodation and catering partners are those who make effective use of eco-friendly practices to save water, utilize solar power, and promote recycling. The use of transport on our walking programs is kept to the bare minimum – walking circular routes or village-to-village is the standard. When taxis are required, we use local drivers so as to reduce carbon emissions.
We provide an app for clients to use during their tours with us in order to reduce the need for printing information such as roadbooks.
Our office
In our office, we recycle as much as possible and we do our best to minimize printing and waste in general.
At Portugal Green Walks we take these matters of sustainability and responsible tourism very seriously and, as much as possible, we take matters into our own hands. Why not let us guide you on your next responsible travel experience?
