The word tourist often has a negative connotation. I am a tourist. We are all tourists at some point. I don’t think being a tourist has to be negative thing. I have been thinking more about my impact on the places I travel and the ways I can be a responsible tourist.
I have been thinking about my impact as a tourist in terms of the ways I receive and provide value to the places I travel. As a tourist you receive more value than you provide. The value you receive is intangible, the experiences you have travelling. While the value you provide is usually monetary, the money you spend. From an economic perspective, if you spent more than you felt the experience was worth you wouldn’t travel.
I try to focus on receiving value from sustainable and ethical sources. This means doing things that are authentic to the local culture and don’t cause harm to humans or animals. Here in Marrakech, the main square is full of snake charmers and monkey handlers. I avoid these types of things because I don’t want to support these pursuits. When you are a tourist and spend money on something, you are encouraging that behaviour. Often many shows and activities advertised as “traditional” are really just a facade put on for tourists. I don’t want to encourage this form of inauthentic behaviour.
Inevitably, you will spend money on purely touristy things. I am not sure how authentic the camel ride in the Sahara desert next week will be, but I think it is important to be conscious of these things.
While you receive more value, I think one can still add value. There are three main ways I think you can add value as a tourist:
- Money
Tourism is a great way of transferring money from wealthier regions to poorer ones. Many peoples livelihoods are based on tourism. However, if tourism becomes too profitable it can dominate the local economy. There is a fine line here.
- Connection
We are all human. We seek connection with other humans. You can provide value by sharing your culture, just as others are sharing it with you. I think this is most beneficial off the main tourist trail.
- Awareness
Travelling exposes you to different cultures and different parts of the world. You can use this to bring awareness to issues and charities in other parts of the world that may not receive enough attention. Some people make this their entire mission while travelling.
I am still exploring what it means to be a responsible tourist. I am by no means a perfectly responsible tourist. But as someone who has travelled in the past and hopes to travel in the future, I think it is important to think about.
– Mitch
Travel Updates
This week I climbed the tallest mountain in Northern Africa, Mt. Toubkal at 4167m! We started the climb at ~1800m. It was a two day affair. The first day we hiked up to base camp, and on the second we summited and climbed back down.
I had never heard of Mt Toubkal before until two guys in my room were packing at 10pm to start the climb the next day with a few other guys from the hostel. It sounded too cool of an opportunity to pass up so I decided to join. An awesome experience and was happy to share it with a great group!