Happy Friday!

We all made it another week in a global pandemic, congratulations everyone! As I’ve been yearning to get out and about again lately, I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about the future and what we will need to do differently to prevent issues in travel that were getting out of control before COVID hit from coming back once travel is safe again. It seems this pause has given the travel industry time to step back, assess the damage, and start making plans to protect not only the industry but the communities and the environments impacted by tourism as well after travel resumes.

Throughout the last several months several industries have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the travel industry may seem niche and unimportant to those who are not part of it, it actually encompasses many industries under its wider umbrella. A recent New York Times article reported, “Once accounting for 10 percent of employment worldwide, the sector is poised to shed 121 million jobs, with losses projected at a minimum of $3.4 trillion, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.”

Think about what you do when you travel; you take transportation like planes, cars, boats, etc which you need gas for as well, you eat out at restaurants, you stay at hotels or airbnbs or campsites or cabins, you buy new clothes or shoes for your trip, you buy souvenirs from the places you visit, you hire guides, visit museums, take tours, see animals, parks, and beaches. All of these things then are affected when no one is traveling any more. Wildlife sanctuaries, museums, and historic sites are not able to support upkeep, conservation, or preservation when they have no one buying tickets or booking tours. Restaurants are shutting down, unable to pay rent all over the world, and artisans who may rely on tourists buying their products struggle. This all teaches us how important travel is in supporting economic growth all over the world. As travelers, we have more of an impact than we may realize and I think that after the pandemic is controlled and people start traveling again, understanding our role and impacts will be even more important than it was before.

Here are some of the ways I think responsible and sustainable travel will be most important and how to make changes in your own travel process to be more responsible:

Rebuilding communities that typically rely on tourism dollars

Destinations that typically rely heavily on tourism dollars for their economy will be suffering a lot. Whether it’s where their population’s income comes from, how they pay for environmental conservation or preserving artworks in local museums or galleries, communities who rely on tourism need your money more than your volunteer work unless you are a professional in a specific industry you are wanting to volunteer within. Keeping money in the local community to help small businesses and local families get back on their feet will be vitally important in the next few years but should continue to be a goal even after recovery. Even if a community doesn’t necessarily always rely on tourism dollars for the majority of their economy, your tourism money can still help small businesses in a lot of places get back on their feet and could supplement their income from the local community members as well.

Being mindful of local politics and issues to prevent overtourism from recurring once tourists can get back out in the world

When you visit somewhere, it will be important to do research ahead of time to see how overtourism or environmental problems might have arisen before COVID brought travel to a halt. Before COVID, places like Venice and Barcelona and Dubrovnik were all experiencing outrageous numbers of tourists that they couldn’t sustain. Locals were being priced out of cities by airbnbs, rising rent costs, etc. Environmental resources were being strained by the pollution, overconsumption of water and food, and foot and/or car traffic, and cities had to start creating ticketing systems to limit the number of people allowed to visit at a given time. Before everyone crowds back into these heavily touristed destinations, we should take time to notice how COVID has been a relief for some of these places and how we can prevent letting them get back to their BC (Before COVID) states. This might mean staying outside the city and coming in for the day to explore, it might mean searching for more eco-friendly and locally owned accommodations or modes of transportation, or it might mean skipping those destinations altogether for a less popular but equally lovely alternative.

Being a patron to businesses owned by People of Color/ Women/ groups that may have been hit harder by COVID or might have more barriers to recovering economically

Marginalized groups or destinations that have typically struggled because of colonial exploitation or lack of resources will need our dollars more as well. Seek out businesses owned and operated by Black, Indigenous, or People of Color even if you are planning domestic travel around the US. In other countries, where People of Color are actually the majority of the population, focus on spending your money with local business owners and/or women and maybe do some research before you go about if any particular groups were hit harder by COVID, like Indigenous groups or certain religious groups, and try to spend with them. For tips on how to be an anti-racist traveler, click here.

Sustainability/ environmental consciousness when traveling

With the decrease in travel and tourism, the environment has seen a break from carbon emissions and pollution in cities, and wildlife has been protected from fewer cars on the road and people on trails. It’s important to keep that momentum going. Whether you want to donate to a conservation organization that may have struggled without tourist dollars during the pandemic, try to limit or offset your carbon emissions while traveling, or even making small choices like bringing reusable bags, water bottles, and utensils, any and all efforts toward environmental responsibility will be welcome. Additionally, bringing your own water bottle and utensils could also eliminate any questions you have about the cleanliness of what you’re being given and make you feel safer after the pandemic. For more tips on how to travel sustainably click here.

Be careful in natural destinations

With an increase in visitors looking to go to destinations where they won’t encounter crowds of people or being more inclined to visit natural attractions, we should be aware of our impacts in those natural destinations. Whether it’s a secluded beach, a mountain getaway, or a national park, be respectful of those places that might be seeing an increase in traffic. Don’t litter, stay on marked trails instead of wandering onto fragile ecosystems, always leave places as clean and cared for as possible, and try not to destroy nature by damaging trees, building unnecessary cairns (rock stacks), and disturbing animal habitats.

Reduce exposure to and of animals in conservation

Close contact between animals and humans can be detrimental to both species. COVID is a clear example of how easily disease can be spread from animal to human and vice versa. If you are cuddling wild animals or sharing your food with them, it can not only be detrimental to them in teaching them to depend on humans for food sources but also can transfer viruses and bacteria through saliva and spit droplets. Keep a safe distance from animals both in the wild and in reserves/parks/ eco-tourist spots for your health and for theirs. For more information about this click this link.

These are just a few ways that COVID is teaching us how important responsible tourism is and how we can play our part when we all get back out of our homes. If you’re interested in reading more about how travel will change after COVID-19, I highly suggest perusing this article from the New York Times, covering a range of topics from whether cleaning is the new amenity to where travelers will be most likely to go first. As difficult and confusing as this pandemic has been for us all, it’s also giving us perspective on lots of different areas of our lives, travel included. I hope we can all use this experience and this time to shift to a more responsible and sustainable approach for many things including how we travel. I hope you learned something and explore the articles I’ve linked throughout!

Thanks for reading,

Sami