Travel is important and existed long before the steam engine was invented never mind the gas turbine. It will always be a key part of the future of the human race. Talking about the issue, setting up Responsible Tourism companies and the example of people who have chosen a more sustainable travel path are an inspiration to us all.

I do get upset when companies jump on a “green” or “eco” or “responsible” bandwagon and use it as an excuse to create more wasteful consumption. This is an area that I have an interest in researching.

I wish offsetting were the answer, but my extensive research has lead me to believe that it is just a distraction to carry on with business as usual.

I like Hugh’s suggestion and enjoy extended travel, albeit as a ski bum so I actually create more damage through increased heating and lighting as well as possible damage from water / pollution issues with manmade snow and damage to the flora and fauna. As a Libran I’d love to know how my passion balances out.

Anna’s response is excellent. Bowled over by her site at first glance. I will be back.
She does mention the doubling of travel between 2010 and 2020 though. Interesting to see if there will be enough resources to sustain that and of course that will have a direct link with the economy. If the resources aren’t cheap enough, the present economic model collapses into depression. A topic close to my heart and the reason my blog is called TravelCrunch.

You even mention sponsored climbs and the like to raise money for charity, sounds like you have an opinion on that, or you wouldn’t have mentioned it. It is a massive debate. Why should someone’s friends and work colleagues be pestered for money when they are effectively doing something they would like to do.
I was once hired out by my company to deliver training lectures at £400 per day, not at all my favourite work, but I am competent at it. My company also said they would match any money raised for their nominated charity, which just happened to be mine also. Now the company hiring the lecturers were also paying independent trainers. I had 5 days holiday…now how do I raise a load of money for my favourite charity without preying on my friends?

Thank you for having the debate and for all of the commenters on here. I will relish looking up your site.

Despite my very real concern regarding the future of tourism as currently practiced, I don’t advocate that we all stop flying. In my case that would be highly hypocritical! But I do think we each need to become more aware of the implications of our travel choices – hence my use of the term “conscious” which means to be awake, aware and alert, as opposed to acting in some kind of oblivious trance. Nor do I feel that guilt is a particularly useful motivator – it just makes some of us miserable, others smugly superior, and a few downright angry.

While I recognize the power of consumers to affect change through their purchase decisions, I don’t think we should assume that they are the only party who should act responsibly. If tourism is paddling up a dead-end creek , it is because many providers have not been acting responsibly and because many agencies (Destination Marketing Organisations, sector associations and governments at all levels) have not been honest with themselves. Tourism can do as much harm as good – it all depends on how it is developed, at what pace, and to what extent.

If all tourism providers had to pay the full and future cost of development and operations (i.e., if the externalities were included on their balance sheets), then prices wouldn’t have fallen so low and demand would not have risen so fast. The commoditization of places and people is the shame of tourism. Instead of positioning travel as a privilege and a respectful celebration of diversity, unique geographies and histories, we have created the belief that travel is a right and travelers’ demands for convenience, cheapness, choice, accessibility, and instant gratification should somehow take precedence over the rights of host communities for dignity, space, and a decent economic return.

Based on UNWTO demand forecasts, by 2020 the volume of international tourism will be twice the size it was two years ago and domestic tourism in populous countries like India and China are growing at a greater pace on a larger base. No one has measured the human or environmental cost of that growth nor the impact of congestion on tourism demand or resident tolerance.

My position is that we need to work now with tourism providers (the hosts) as they can be the change agents that create a better model. As the current operating model will drive many into bankruptcy, it is in their best interest to join hands and break ranks.

Just the other day, when I was explaining the ethos of my site to someone, I talked myself into negating the whole thing! Ha ha!

The way I look at it is that if no one mentioned responsible travel then people, being people, would probably go on as usual with very little thought about the impact of their travels.

If highlighting responsible travel does nothing else but make people aware of various aspects of tourism and travel, then that’s cool. But I do think there are a load of travellers who do really care about where they go and what they do… for most of their trip.

And I’m totally with you about people not stopping travelling – neither they should. It has far too many up-sides. Like anything, it’s about balance. You just need to find what suits you.

You made a good point about supporting regions that need it. Travel by itself does a huge amount of good. It is one of the best ways of transferring wealth from rich regions of the planet to poor. Nobody should feel guilty about engaging in it. Talking about the carbon footprint of flights is irrelevant when there is no context. People contribute to carbon emissions in many different ways. You have got to weigh them all up – there is no point in looking at a single factor.

The only advantage of air travel is the speed at which it is accomplished. Remove that need and the need to fly is removed too.

Re orphanages in Cambodia, some links
http://lessonsilearned.org/category/orphanage-tourism/
http://goodintents.org/orphanages/orphanage-tourism-in-cambodia