Ethical Tourism

• Tourism
• Foundation Degree

Ethical Tourism

Tourism has the power to lift people out of poverty, it has a power to connect people across cultures and religions and languages – Alana Dillette

Please remember that Tourism has the potential to.....

Help people get out of poverty 

Educate and inspire 

Reduce inequality 

Create cultural understanding 

Help conservation of natural and built environments 

Change lives for the better 

What are ethics?

Moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.

(oxfordlanguages, 2014)

Morals?

www.atana.com

Let's see how ethical you are in a workplace.

How does this translate to Tourism?

What is an example of unethical tourism?

Discussion on irresponsible / unethical tourism examples 

A few examples.....

Child Sex Tourism / exploitation 

Some all inclusive resorts 

Canned hunting 

Captive animals /irresponsible wildlife watching / shark cage diving 

Cultural Insensitivity 

Some cruise liners 

Land grabbing /forced evictions /displacement 

Sexual Exploitation of children in Travel and Tourism (SECTT) 

Child sex tourism 

Some stats....

$5 billion generated 

Impacts over 2 million children 

250,000 perpetrators  

Koning, A., & van Wilsem, J. (2023). The Context of Sexual Exploitation of Children by Tourists and Travelers: A Cross-National Comparison of Destination Countries and Non-Destination Countries. International Criminal Justice Review, 33(4), 349-366.

ecpat.org

ECPAT 

Enclave tourism 

Do all inclusive holidays provide a much needed break for millions of families on a tight budget and employment for local people – or deny local communities a fair share of tourism revenues?

Canned hunting 

A trophy hunt which is not a fair chase.  Animals have been kept in a confined area to prevent escape and make it easier for hunter.

Animal tourism 

Is it okay to use animals in tourism for entertainment?

Cultural Insensitivity 

Religious sites 

Monuments 

Festivals 

Customs and traditions

Human Safari 

www.loveexploring.com

www.eurochange.co.uk

How not to be 'that tourist'

www.bbc.com

Slum Tourism 

aka 

slum tours, reality tours, adventure tourism, poverty tourism

www.nationalgeographic.com

Slum Tourism article - National Geographic 

Human Safari 

www.survivalinternational.org

Land grabbing/displacement

Examples 

After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, coastal communities in Thailand, Southern India and Sri Lanka were permanently relocated inland while their traditional lands were earmarked for tourism development.

In Kenya, the Endorois were expelled from their lands to make way for a conservation area in 1973. They only received compensation 30 years later when they took their case to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.

The South African government stepped up its ‘slum clearance’ programme in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup in the face of fierce opposition from local groups.

In Burma, 5,200 residents of the ancient city of Pagan were forcibly displaced in the lead up to ‘Visit Myanmar Year’ in 1996.

Other countries where displacement of local peoples has occurred for tourism: Australia, Argentina, Bali, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, Honduras, Jordan, Mexico, The Philippines, Namibia, Peru, Senegal, Tibet, Tanzania, Ghana, Honduras, Costa Rica, India, Burma

www.survivalinternational.org

Massai

www.thecanary.co

Land grabbing 

Now relate to your destination