By Michael Dehoyos
As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to slow down in countries around the world and travel is starting to gradually open back up, many of us are starting to think about where in the world we’re going to visit next. After all, many of us have spent months in lockdown, so it makes sense that we’ll want a change of scenery.
However, while getting away is essential for our happiness and well-being, there’s another concern you need to be thinking about. Sustainability. Now, you may not care about sustainable travel, but it’s something that affects us here. Here are eight reasons why this is the case.
1. The Local Community Benefits
Picture the small little town or tropical location that you visited and how nice it was. How relaxing and refreshing it was to see such an authentic part of the world. Now imagine if it wasn’t there. If you don’t look after the local communities you visit, they’ll be taken advantage of, and they won’t be there forever.
Sustainable travel means spending your money in places that benefit the local community and helps them to thrive long after you’ve left.
2. It Protects the Natural Resources
“The planet is rich with beautiful and expanses ecosystems that house humans, plants, and animal communities, and these all rely on the careful balance of resources in those areas. Take the resources away, and you’ll destroy the habitats,” explains Peter Maris, a lifestyle blogger at Brit student and Next coursework.
Through sustainable travel, you’ll be protecting places that endangered and need an extra bit of care and protection to survive, as well as providing much-needed funds that will pay for future developments.
3. It Protects Local Communities
When a destination becomes popular with tourism, local communities are usually displaced over time with the arrival of hotel chains and holiday parts that don’t care about the location or the people but would rather just profit from it all.
The easy way to deal with this is to imagine if it happened in your town. Imagine a lot of people visited, and suddenly hotels popped up everywhere and forced you out. This is what happens all over the world.
4. It’s More Rewarding
When you’re going on a sustainable vacation, and you bear in mind all the tips we’re talking about today, it’s such a rewarding experience and makes your travel experiences all the more exciting and adventurous. You’ll feel far more connected to your experience and the destination you’re visiting, and you can sleep soundly knowing you’ve done your part to be happy and protect your planet at the same time.
5. It’s More Genuine
When you travel sustainably, you’ll be traveling to a much more authentic and genuine part of the world. Staying in hotels and holiday complexes can be fun, but there’s no denying you’ll be in an artificial environment. There’s so much more connection to be had when traveling to a traditional location.
6. It Protects the Future
“One of the biggest impacts of the tourism industry is the gigantic eco-footprint it leaves behind from all the travel and all the vehicles used. By sustainably traveling, you’ll be lessening your own footprint, which goes into the biggest picture and contributes massively on a global scale,” shares Emma Hudson, a travel writer at Australia 2 write and Writemyx.
7. It’s Important for Nature
The traditional campsite rule of leaving a place the same, if not better, than you found it applies to everywhere. This kind of thinking is so important when it comes to protecting local ecosystems and protecting our planet.
8. It’s Being a Responsible Human Being
If you’re not looking after your planet and the livelihoods of other human beings, then you’re only destroying yourself and the planet you call home. To be a responsible person is to look after each other and our home and to take control of the decisions you’re making throughout your life.
Michael Dehoyos is a travel writer and editor at Phd Kingdom and Write my thesis. He’s interested in sharing sustainable travel opportunities and helping them protect the world through conservation projects. Also, he is a writer at Coursework help.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media