Responsible Travel is an online travel agency offering over 5,000 responsible holidays from over 900 holiday providers around the world. It is one of the world's largest green travel companies and an ABTA member. The company sells holidays designed to maximise the benefit and minimise the harm involved in tourism and was the first of its kind in the world. Holidays are screened for their compliance with environmental, social and economic criteria with an emphasis on grassroot initiatives and local providers. The company asks travellers to leave reviews, rating their holidays and the social and environmental credentials from 5 to 1.
Responsible Travel was founded in 2001 by Justin Francis and Professor Harold Goodwin, Director at The International Centre for Responsible Tourism.
Anita Roddick of The Body Shop was one of the first investors, believing that: "Responsible travellers want experiences rather than packages, authenticity rather than superficial exoticism and holidays that put a little bit back into local communities and conservation. This is the future of tourism." The company introduces travellers directly to responsible travel and tourism options including accommodation owners and holiday providers. There are several membership models for holiday companies, ranging from full service commission through to free listings for smaller scale responsible tourism businesses.
According to Simon Calder, Travel Editor at The Independent, "the ResponsibleTravel business model overturned conventional travel thinking. Instead of intervening between the travel enterprise and the tourist, as most agents do, Francis urges them to talk directly." The company has sold over $100 million worth of holidays. In 2010 www.responsiblevacation.com was launched in the US. The company is based in Brighton, East Sussex UK. As of November 2016 there were 23 employees.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Responsible travel and tourism
Responsible Travel was the "first online guide to responsible international travel". Responsible travel and tourism is about making better places for people to live in and to visit. One of the founding principles of Responsible Travel was to help create this new sector of the travel and tourism industry and to firmly root it in ethical values.
Activities
World Responsible Tourism Awards
In 2004, Justin Francis founded The Responsible Tourism Awards, which are organised by Responsible Travel and hosted by World Travel Market as part of World Responsible Tourism Day. Professor Harold Goodwin of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism is Chair of the Judges. The Awards aim to inspire change in the tourism industry by celebrating those organisations, destinations and individuals working innovatively with local cultures, communities and biodiversity - at the forefront of responsible tourism.
Awards supporter, Michael Palin said: "Getting to know more about each other remains one of the most important hopes for the peaceful future of the planet. If we are really to understand each other better, then we need to be reminded to travel carefully and thoughtfully, listening to people along the way and respecting the world we are privileged to travel through. The Responsible Tourism Awards are one of the most important ways in which we can understand how to travel better." In 2013, the 10th anniversary year, the Awards were renamed The World Responsible Tourism Awards to reflect the global reach of the scheme.
Elephants and tourism
After consulting with local suppliers, NGOs and animal welfare experts, in 2014 Responsible Travel published a detailed guide on elephants in tourism, including the rights and wrongs of elephant trekking. The company also changed its own policy and removed elephant trekking and elephant performance trips from its collection.
Whales and dolphins in captivity
In April 2014 the company launched a public petition to urge travel companies to stop selling tickets to establishments keeping whales and dolphins (collectively known as cetaceans) for public entertainment purposes. They also released a poll, along with The Born Free Foundation, demonstrating that 86% of the public no longer wished to see cetaceans in captivity.
Orphanage volunteering
In July 2013, Responsible Travel temporarily suspended 10 trips that involved volunteering at orphanages around the world for ethical reasons. The company was concerned that well-intentioned volunteers were fuelling a demand for 'fake orphans' - and children were being separated from their families and communities as a result, causing long term psychological and emotional developmental problems.
After formulating a working group which included ECPAT, Save the Children, Friends International, People & Places, Professor Harold Goodwin and Daniela Papi, an international advocate for responsible volunteering, the company published new guidelines for partner organisations wishing to promote any trip that involved volunteering with vulnerable children. As a result, 43 trips were removed from the website in total.
Carbon offsetting
In 2002 Responsible Travel became one of the first companies to offer carbon offsets. In October 2009, Responsible Travel stopped offering carbon offsetting claiming that people were using the offset as an excuse to pollute more. Responsible Travel founder, Justin Francis told The New York Times that offsets had become a "magic pill, a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card," distracting people from making more significant behavioral changes, like flying less.
Had Enough
In 2004 the company launched a campaign urging three of the UK's largest travel companies - Thomas Cook, Thomson and MyTravel, to implement responsible tourism policies. The 'Had Enough' petition was launched after research showed widespread dissatisfaction with mass tourism among ordinary travellers. A year later, all three had published their first Responsible Business policies.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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