You may have noticed that I haven’t posted for a while. Well, the reason is that I’ve been away on holidays and before you start about carbon emissions from flying – I didn’t fly! I went to Wales which is just a few hours drive from my home (here in Southern England). Now, I do believe that carbon emissions from flying is a major contribution to climate change and I do think that people really should try to reduce the amount they fly but I don’t think all flights should be grounded and no one should fly anywhere, ever again. This extremist attitude has been widely publicised by certain individuals but tourism plays a major role in the economies of many countries and well organised tourism can be carefully managed so its impacts are minimised and its benefits are maximised. For example, the wildlife reserves of Africa probably wouldn’t be protecting their wildlife is tourism didn’t pay for their anti poaching patrols. So, by taking a holiday where you money benefits local conservation projects, employs local people and your accommodation tries to be as environmentally friendly as they can, you can actually have an ethical holiday. Generally, mass tourism is bad for everyone except the tour operator: tourists don’t see or understand the country they are in and all the profits head out of the host country. So, this is why I went to Wales, stayed in a tiny lodge on a farm and bought lots of food from little restaurants and not big American fast food chains. If you need any help with ethical holidays check out responsibletravel.com which collects holidays that try to help the local community and the environment.
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