Hello! Welcome back to another blog post. Throughout the past week I have been interviewing my peers in hall and asking them about their opinions on sustainable tourism. They have given me very different perspectives and great insight. I will be sharing their thoughts on sustainable tourism and my reflection.
I asked three of my peers if they would prefer an eco-friendly centric holiday or a normal holiday. Two of my friends stated that they felt guilty but the truth is that they would rather pick a normal holiday. I asked them what were their reasons for not choosing an eco-friendly holiday and their answers were intriguing. Both of their main reasons was that they were simply too lazy to find eco-friendly sites and hotels. They usually picked sites and hotels that were well known or recommended by friends. They felt that looking for eco-friendly tourist sites and hotels were too much of a hassle compared to using the easily navigated sites such as Klook or signing up for planned tour packages by tour groups such as Chan Brothers. Other reasons included that they felt that such sites may not be as beautiful as other famous sites and they did not want to take the risk. They felt that the entry fee or ecotour costs would be a lot more costly compared to normal sites’ entry fees and tour costs.
The other interviewee stated that he would not mind opting for eco-friendly sites and accommodations but he would only pick the eco-friendly site or accommodation if the place was about the same price and quality of the normal choice. He told me that during his Bali trip he specifically picked eco-friendly and sustainable tourist sites to visit and an eco-resort to stay in. It was not his first time in Bali and he claimed that the sites and accommodation were just as amazing than the previous places that he visited and stayed in and cost approximately the same.
Most eco-friendly trips indeed may spike the cost of travelling. However, these costs can be offset if travellers choose to ride a bike or walk instead of taking a taxi or driving. There are numerous sustainable sites and accommodations that are cost-efficient and beautiful but may require a lot of research which was the main problem my friends brought up. There are some websites that compare the prices of these green hotels and green sites. An example of this is Greenloons. Greenloons allows visitors to find green alternatives to activities and lodgings in thirty-one different countries easily on a single page. If more people were to know of such pages, I believe that more people would go on sustainable trips.
I believe that we can promote sustainable tourism if green tour packages were promoted by travel agencies in Singapore. I have yet to have seen any tour agency that offers such a package. If publicised well, I believe that we can start a green movement in Singapore.
Hi Chloe,
Thanks for the interesting read! Seeing all the talk about traveling makes me miss being able to go abroad. I feel that I might be as guilty as your friends when it comes to not choosing eco-friendly alternatives over normal ones. However, my reasoning behind it is that sometimes there are activities that eco-tourism just cannot compare to.
Personally, I enjoy going overseas to shop and to visit attractions such as theme parks, as I am someone who likes the hustle and bustle of these activities and would go overseas just to try them. What do you feel about this stance and does eco-tourism have anything similar that could be enjoyed?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Mark
Hi Mark!
To be very honest I love shopping and going to amusement parks too! I think that these activities are fine, just that if we were to go to such areas we should try to play our role in being sustainable such as bringing along our own bag to place our shopping items and using an online version of a map when we go to amusement parks. There are some amusement parks that have placed sustainable measures such as Tivoli Park in Copenhagen. They have a recycling program where guests pay a small amount for the cup which will be repaid when the cup is returned. This policy saves Tivoli one million disposable cups a year which also equates to saving 10 tonnes of waste. We can choose to support the parks that have made efforts in staying sustainable when we are out travelling! Another way is that we can do carbon offsetting where we compensate for our carbon footprint by reducing emissions somewhere else. This is done by funding certified projects that conserve forests, generate clean energy and so on.
Hi Chloe,
When it comes to carbon offsetting, we might need to be cautious in jumping on that bandwagon and using them as an excuse to continue traveling guilt-free.
https://theecologist.org/2019/jun/12/un-retracts-carbon-offsetting-critique
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/12/what-are-carbon-offsets/
https://grist.org/climate/do-carbon-offsets-really-work-it-depends-on-the-details/
What I would also respectfully challenge you and Mark to do is to self-analyse your statements on shopping. My question is : why / how does shopping enhance your life ? Does a strategy like bringing a reusable bag REALLY offset the impact of consumerism ? If you were to travel somewhere and not bring home a single souvenir, would the enjoyment of your trip be, somehow, diminished ?
I would also hazard an answer to Mark’s question about eco-friendly alternative activities. Mark – it sounds like you might like adventurous activities (since you mention theme parks). In that case, maybe you’d consider something like ziplining, rock climbing or bungee jumping – there are many tour operators that donate portions of their income to conservation organisations or directly divert them to reforestation initiatives, especially in our part of the world. And btw, ziplining is SUPER FUN !
jc
Hi Dr Coleman!
Thank you for the links on carbon offsetting! I have learnt a lot.
I really love to shop as I love different forms of fashion, I really love putting different outfits together and I feel that every country has different styles of clothes that may be difficult to find elsewhere. But I understand how fast fashion may bring harm so in recent years I have been shopping at preloved clothing stores. These stores are very popular in Japan and Kuala Lumpur due to how affordable these clothes are and yet they are still of good quality and beautiful. Bringing a reusable bag does not offset much of the impact of consumerism and yes some of the takeaways from my holidays are the beautiful photos and most of the time not souvenirs. The unforgettable experiences are the main reasons why I enjoyed my trips.
Hi Chloe,
From what I’ve seen in your previous posts regarding activities and accomodatioons, green tourism seems interesting.
However, the travelling to the host country from Singapore would definetly rack up a large carbon footprint. Do you think it would be ethical for a tour company to advertise such a package as green, or should it be seen as a lesser of two “evils”? Or should green tour packages only be for destinations which do not require air travel?
Thanks!
Hi Ee Kin!
A really hard question. But I believe that maybe tour packages could have an option for carbon offsetting! Carbon offsetting is when one compensates for their carbon footprint by reducing emissions somewhere else. This is done by funding certified projects that conserve forests, generate clean energy and so on. By doing this, the package will truly be green! 🙂 Another way is that we can choose to fly using airlines that are doing carbon offsetting. One such airline is Qantas where every dollar spent on carbon credits, flyers will be rewarded with Qantas points. Qantas points can then be used for cheaper hotel deals which is beneficial for us travellers.
Oh, that makes a lot of sense, I didn’t think about that. It’s rather similar to the carbon market mentioned in today’s lecture – but at the company level.
Thanks!