What is the difference between sustainable and responsible tourism

The main difference between sustainable and responsible tourism is that sustainable tourism focuses on long-term change, while responsible tourism focuses on short-term change .

Sustainable tourism and responsible tourism are two types of tourism that focus on maximizing the positive impact of tourism on society, the environment and the economy. In contrast to mass tourism, this type of tourism is not only aimed at generating income.

Key areas covered

1. What is sustainable tourism - definition, objectives, characteristics 2. What is responsible tourism - definition, objectives, characteristics 3. What is the difference between sustainable and responsible tourism - comparison of the most important differences

key terms

Sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, mass tourism

What is sustainable tourism

Sustainable tourism is basically the concept of traveling and exploring a destination as a tourist while respecting the culture, the environment and the people of that destination. In short, sustainable tourism includes tourism that has a positive impact on society, the environment and the economy. The UNWTO, the World Tourism Organization (a specialized agency of the United Nations), defines sustainable tourism as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts and that meets the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and the host communities received ". . "

Before understanding the concept of sustainable tourism, it is important to understand the concept of mass tourism. This is the type of tourism that the average traveler engages in; This includes things like hotel tour packages, cruises, and huge beach parties. Mass tourism is mainly geared towards generating income. No importance is attached to local residents, traditions or natural resources. In fact, most of the revenue from mass tourism goes to large corporations and does not endorse the country or place you are visiting. Sustainable tourism is a better alternative to mass tourism. In contrast to mass tourism, sustainable tourism does not only focus on generating income. It also focuses on authentic interaction with the local culture. In fact, sustainable tourism includes:

Make the best possible use of environmental resources in tourism development, preserve essential ecological processes and contribute to the protection of biodiversity and natural resources.
Respecting the socio-cultural authenticity of the host communities, protecting their living cultural heritage and traditional values and contributing to intercultural understanding and tolerance
Ensure viable long-term economic operation, the equitable provision and distribution of socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders, including stable employment and income opportunities, and social services for host communities, while contributing to poverty reduction.

What is Responsible Tourism

Responsible tourism is about "creating better places for people and better places for visitors". In other words, it is about using tourism instead of being used by it. It minimizes the negative social, economic and environmental impacts of tourism and brings greater economic benefits to the local people.

In contrast to sustainable tourism, which deals with global issues and tries to change the tourism industry as a whole, responsible tourism focuses more on individual action and individual travel destinations. Therefore, responsible tourism involves identifying economic, social and environmental problems that are locally important. This also includes bringing stakeholders together to take responsibility for these issues and take action. In short, responsible tourism focuses on how people, businesses and governments help maximize the positive economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism.

Difference between sustainable and responsible tourism

definition

Type of Change

In addition, sustainable tourism typically focuses on global issues such as climate change and attempts to transform the tourism industry as a whole, but responsible travel is more focused on individual actions and individual destinations. Therefore, sustainable tourism focuses on long-term change, while responsible tourism focuses on short-term change.

diploma

Sustainable tourism is the concept of traveling and exploring a destination as a tourist while respecting the culture, the environment and the people of that destination. Responsible tourism is about creating better places for people and visiting better places for people. Sustainable tourism focuses on long-term change, while responsible tourism focuses on short-term change. So this is the main difference between sustainable and responsible tourism.

Reference:

1. "Sustainable Development". UNWTO - World Tourism Organization, available here .2. “Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism.” Responsible Tourism Partnership, April 8, 2020, available here .