In todays post, I want to talk about some of the important things I have taken away from my International Tourism class at the University of Utah.

            As I mentioned in the introduction, I became interested in sustainable tourism a few years ago when I traveled to Nepal and a few other nations. At the time of my travels, I lacked knowledge on sustainable/responsible tourism. After this class, I now have a deep understanding of the many facets of sustainable tourism. Through learning about the various effects of tourism, we came to understand the role we play in the environments we chose to travel to. One of the most powerful messages was learning how our financial decisions contribute to the environment. We learned that each time you make a purchase you also make a vote. Being a conscientious spender helps ensure that our spending money is reinforcing behaviors that benefit the environment we are in. We talked about buying goods and services that support local economies with minimal leakages to other nations. Our knowledge of buying power was enhanced through the lessons on ecotourism and fair trade. In these lessons we were instructed to find examples of tourism providers that uphold these principles. In doing so, we gained the ability to determine whether or not a company deserves your business based on the issues of ecotourism and fair trade. Through these lessons, we gained an understanding that we, as the tourists, can have a major influence on the places we choose to travel to.

            Another component to this class was the lessons in writing and communication. A theme for the class was understanding the importance of sharing information through social media. By doing this our influence can branch out and possibly reach thousands. Therefore, the ability to communicate your message becomes critical. In the class we learned about writing with different styles of voice, and we learned about making adjustments for different audiences. I appreciate the fact we were encouraged to write in an easy to understand conversational tone, rather than a flashy and somewhat abstract tone that is encouraged in many college classes. We advanced our writing through blog assignments and vocab/grammar quizes. All the while it remained important to use social media to share messages. This class has helped me develop my understanding of tourism, and it has helped teach me to share that information with others. 

Often times I walk into my kitchen and I am both amazed and horrified at the pile of dishes that have accumulated in my kitchen sink. How can a single man, living alone, accumulate so much filth over the course of just one day? Then I think back to my day of eating when several times I made small contributions to the pile. Each plate or fork seems insignificant, but eventually contributes to something overwhelming. In an odd way, tourism and the environment work in the same way. It is easy to minimize your own actions by the logic that one person cannot have to big an impact on the environment. But we are contributors, and every time we do something leaving an aversive impact, we are piling on in the same way we pile up dishes in the sink. It is important we take ownership and appreciate the impact that we have on the environment. Furthermore, we must understand the principle of bandwagoning. Bandwagoning is the tendency of people to fall inline with what they believe others are doing. This is powerful when it coms to tourism. When you act as a responsible traveler, you are not only doing your part in maintaining environments, but you influence others to do the same. It is for this reason that we must understand how to be a responsible tourist, and how to influence others to do the same.

The first step towards this goal is to learn how to be a responsible traveler; the second is to learn to spread the word. A great way to achieve this is to take part in the Green Hotels and Responsible Tourism Initiative. This initiative involves educating people on the components of responsible tourism and sharing the information with others. The first step is to read through the Responsible Travelers Guide, a comprehensive breakdown on the effects of tourism and how we can best influence the environment. The second step is to share the information. This is the real power of this simple initiative. By sharing the information with friends, family, and fellow travelers, we can create a cascading effect that could potentially reach thousands. They promote the use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) for spreading the initiative. Travelers can be most effective by sharing the initiative where they post pictures, and stories about travel experiences. Be proactive and tag friends you met during your travels, and encourage them to pass it along. You want to convey to others that caring for the places you traveled enriched your experience, and is something they should consider as well.

The tips learned in the Responsible Traveler Guide are important for all travel destinations, but can be particularly beneficial in fragile locations like Nepal. As the number of tourists visiting Nepal continues to rise, it is imperative travelers become informed on the impact of their visit. Use the Guide to ensure your impact is positive, and be vocal in sharing it with others. By taking part in this initiative, your efforts to be a responsible traveler can reach thousands and make a significant impact on the environment.