The Principle of Responsible Tourism
Responsible Tourism can simply be described as “making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit” Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations (2002)
Tourism is a very board sector of commerce which involves the supply chain, the destination, the community and the visitor. Responsible Tourism is a campaign which is focusing on minimising the negative impacts and maximise the positive impacts from tourism. This requires responsible application of sustainable actions on known impacts.
Responsible Tourism is not an alternative form of tourism. The ethic of responsibility can be applied to all forms of tourism whether in the city, in rural or natural environments.
But this does not mean a single scheme. The world is a rich and diverse biosphere. The ethos of Responsible Tourism does not apply a “one size fits all” approach. Instead it crafts a strategy to reflect a locality’s diversity, to promote its richness, to conserve resources for the benefit of future generations and the ecology. It ensures the community maximises tourism’s economic benefits for the betterment of local business and residents. It seeks to empower the poor and build cultural pride. By so doing, Responsible Tourism creates an authentic experience which can deliver high customer satisfaction, a richer experience. For business, responsible actions can build trust in a tourism name, a core value of a brand.