RESPONSIBLE TOURISM AND SOLIDARY COMMUNITY

Behind the denomination responsible tourism, there are several groups that offer tourist options of low ecological and social impact in the South. There are organizations that operate in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom... Here is a world directory of such organizations (in Spanish). The Spanish organization Action for Responsible Tourism is concerned with tourism and development in the south. The organization TourismConcern, analyzes the social and economic impacts of tourism.

Another option is that of community tourism. There are rural societies that organize and manage small scale tourism in such a way that all profits generated are equally distributed. In this type of tourism there is balance between tourism and other activities or social interests. Some destinations where community tourism is offered are: Latin America, Namibia, South Africa, India…

An additional option in order to travel to the South is that of solitary tourism. It is mainly organized by NGOs and development organizations. You actively participate one of these organizations while on vacation and thus, learn about the place you are vacating on and become conscious of its social realities. There are several debates on whether this type of tourism is actually feasible and also about the identity of some of the organizations that participate in it as well as their development programs.