Friday, 28 November 2008
Travel. This is a word that conjures up notions of excitement and adventure. When I close my eyes and envision travel, it gives me butterflies in my stomach and I can almost taste excitement as all my past memories rush in a hustling race to the front of my mind. Travel is something that when started, grips its unwitting participants in an iron-clad hold, creating an ongoing need for wanderlust.
However, travel can have dire impacts upon communities and their environments. It can cause environmental disaster, social desecration, and cultural degradation. Hence why there is a need for travellers to start looking at their motivations behind travel, and once that’s understood, to change behaviours to ensure positive impacts when travelling.
Last night I gave a presentation on my experiences of getting to the point of being a responsible tourist (I was hedonistic once) to a group of 50 eager and willing travel enthusiasts at YTrip’s General Assembly held at R.O.X last night. This was followed by a discussion on the Travel Code and Profile of Responsible Traveller that can be found on the right-panel of this blog.
By the end of the talk and based on the feedback I received, I realised that I had failed to mention one vital piece of information – becoming a responsible traveller takes time. It isn’t something that you should expect to become overnight, so please don’t worry if the list is overwhelming and perhaps a tad on the prescriptive side.
The code and the profile is the ideal – it is the goal to work towards. If there is one thing I’ve learnt in my quest to lower my ecological footprint – the journey I’ve been on since early 2006 - it is that we should go forward slowly. We should be gentle on ourselves if we slip up from time to time – as after all – we are just human, we make mistakes, there’s no need to beat ourselves up over it.
Perhaps the most important thing is to really think about the background reasons of “why” we are going down this path. Let those reasons sink in – then the effort will be real and will have tangible meaning behind it. The actions will then flow naturally, with ease.
Goodluck on your journey to becoming a responsible traveller, and know we are all in it together – we can support each other, we can grow together.
YTrip - Philippine Youth promoting responsible tourism
Speaking engagement as part of Bluewater Consultancy for YTrip - a group of Philippine Youth advocating for Responsible Tourism through the outdoor group R.O.X. Philippines.
Crafting Change through Fair Trade
Written and photographed by Cherie McCosker
June 2008
It was 8am on a radia
nt, sunny morning, the first one the sleepy province of Antique had seen in days. Jesse Natan, owner of Natan Muscovado Mill, was relieved. Now the rain had stopped he was finally able to light and stoke the mill’s oven with dry bamboo lumber and prepare the vats for one of the final muscovado productions of the season. The mill, like most of the other mills in Antique is rudimentary, using age-old technology passed down between the generations. So too is the recipe. With no additives or preservatives, muscovado is the healthiest sugar on the market.
nt, sunny morning, the first one the sleepy province of Antique had seen in days. Jesse Natan, owner of Natan Muscovado Mill, was relieved. Now the rain had stopped he was finally able to light and stoke the mill’s oven with dry bamboo lumber and prepare the vats for one of the final muscovado productions of the season. The mill, like most of the other mills in Antique is rudimentary, using age-old technology passed down between the generations. So too is the recipe. With no additives or preservatives, muscovado is the healthiest sugar on the market.This scenario is common in the Philippines - backyard production using time-honoured technologies to make sublime, world-class products. The Philippines is a prime destination for the handicraft and food connoisseur, with each region showcasing handicrafts and food products unique to the natural resources at hand. Filipinos are adept in innovation, finding ways to make exquisite artefacts from ordinary materials. Nito vines, found in backyards and jungles, are made into attractive lamps; harsh pineapple fronds are stripped down to fine threads and hand-loom woven into exclusive piña cloth used for formal wear.
The growing Philippine homemade industry is defying a dying global trend, largely due to the support being provided by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and non-government organisations such as the Advocate of Philippine Fair Trade, Inc (APFTI). For almost 14 years APFTI, working alongside the DTI, has provided technical support to small enterprises across the Philippines to create and market highly competitive, sought-after products using fair trade principles.
Fair trade encourages artisans and producers to observe socially and environmentally just practices, such as paying fair wages to workers, providing safe and healthy workplaces, giving equal employment opportunities to women, not employing child labour and using environmentally-friendly production processes.
Natan Muscovado Mill is one such producer being assisted by APFTI. In fact, Jesse Natan is just one of eight muscovado producers in Antique who are incorporating fair trade practices into their businesses. The island province of Marinduque, located 2 hours south of mainland Luzon, is another province that has availed of assistance through APFTI.
The growing Philippine homemade industry is defying a dying global trend, largely due to the support being provided by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and non-government organisations such as the Advocate of Philippine Fair Trade, Inc (APFTI). For almost 14 years APFTI, working alongside the DTI, has provided technical support to small enterprises across the Philippines to create and market highly competitive, sought-after products using fair trade principles.
Fair trade encourages artisans and producers to observe socially and environmentally just practices, such as paying fair wages to workers, providing safe and healthy workplaces, giving equal employment opportunities to women, not employing child labour and using environmentally-friendly production processes.
Natan Muscovado Mill is one such producer being assisted by APFTI. In fact, Jesse Natan is just one of eight muscovado producers in Antique who are incorporating fair trade practices into their businesses. The island province of Marinduque, located 2 hours south of mainland Luzon, is another province that has availed of assistance through APFTI.
Marinduque, best known for the annual masked Moriones Festival, is home to artisans using materials such as butterflies, and renewable nito vine and buntal – a fine fiber from the leaves of unopened talipot palm. Rico and Laura Sanchez, producers of ‘Butterflies from Paradise’ by Text and Images make attractive crafts, such as lamps, candle holders, clocks and jewellery using a combination of all three materials.
Rico advocates for fair trade as he knows the challenges facing farmers given he used to also share that profession. He sources butterflies as surplus from local butterfly farms at above-market rates, nito, ferns and bamboo are collected from nearby jungles, and buntal is purchased from local weavers. Prototypes are designed by the Sanchez’s; however the production is outsourced to poor communities, who are given the flexibility to balance work with familial commitments.
Turning unwanted materials into works of art is one of Rico’s passions. Tired of removing washed-up coconuts from the fragile coral reef during scuba dives, Rico started transforming them into beautiful household accessories with butterfly designs. Similarly, Rico encourages a local furniture maker to turn waste material into butterfly-shaped potholders.
Rico advocates for fair trade as he knows the challenges facing farmers given he used to also share that profession. He sources butterflies as surplus from local butterfly farms at above-market rates, nito, ferns and bamboo are collected from nearby jungles, and buntal is purchased from local weavers. Prototypes are designed by the Sanchez’s; however the production is outsourced to poor communities, who are given the flexibility to balance work with familial commitments.
Turning unwanted materials into works of art is one of Rico’s passions. Tired of removing washed-up coconuts from the fragile coral reef during scuba dives, Rico started transforming them into beautiful household accessories with butterfly designs. Similarly, Rico encourages a local furniture maker to turn waste material into butterfly-shaped potholders.
Another producer group in Marinduque finding value in fair trade is the charming Riverside Handicraft Association. It was an unlikely place to find chic floor lamps and baskets made from nito vine, and brightly coloured, playful parrot mobiles made from soft-wood. The backdrop was quintessentially Filipino; towering coconut palms, clear streams flowing past mod
est huts, whilst chickens ran as freely as the children played.
Yet, the members of Riverside Handicraft Association have known the benefits of fair trade since the early 1990s. Originally assisted by SAFRUDI, another non-government organisation advocating for fair trade, members of this small community have found ways to remain self-sufficient by looking back to their heritage and continue an age-old tradition of hand-crafting, yet they look to the future by incorporating stylish modern designs. In such a rustic setting of simplicity, by talking to the people behind the products, it was easy to understand how the altruistic aims of fair trade tangibly help uplift the lives of Filipinos across the country.
Note about the author: Cherie McCosker is living and working in the Philippines as a volunteer through VIDA – Volunteering in International Development from Australia. She advocates for fair trade, particularly in how fair trade principles can be applied to tourism.
est huts, whilst chickens ran as freely as the children played.Yet, the members of Riverside Handicraft Association have known the benefits of fair trade since the early 1990s. Originally assisted by SAFRUDI, another non-government organisation advocating for fair trade, members of this small community have found ways to remain self-sufficient by looking back to their heritage and continue an age-old tradition of hand-crafting, yet they look to the future by incorporating stylish modern designs. In such a rustic setting of simplicity, by talking to the people behind the products, it was easy to understand how the altruistic aims of fair trade tangibly help uplift the lives of Filipinos across the country.
Note about the author: Cherie McCosker is living and working in the Philippines as a volunteer through VIDA – Volunteering in International Development from Australia. She advocates for fair trade, particularly in how fair trade principles can be applied to tourism.
Fair Trade Philippines - Moving Towards Tourism
Published in TravelMole, 25 August 2008
By Cherie McCosker
Fair trade is an international movement of growing support and awareness. Many fair trade consumers are aware of fair trade tea from Sri Lanka, bananas from the Caribbean, cocoa beans from Ghana and coffee from East Timor, but the Philippines as a fair trade destination is less familiar.
The Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands and a rapidly growing population upwards of 86 million. Whilst rich in biodiversity, culture and history, roughly a third of all Filipinos live under the poverty line.
Aiming to combat poverty, the Advocate of Philippine Fair Trade, Inc (APFTI), who chair the Philippine Fair Trade Forum, has spearheaded the fair trade movement since 1994. Working with food and craft producers, APFTI provides fair trade enterprise development to micro, small and medium marginalised entrepreneurs.
By Cherie McCosker
Fair trade is an international movement of growing support and awareness. Many fair trade consumers are aware of fair trade tea from Sri Lanka, bananas from the Caribbean, cocoa beans from Ghana and coffee from East Timor, but the Philippines as a fair trade destination is less familiar.
The Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands and a rapidly growing population upwards of 86 million. Whilst rich in biodiversity, culture and history, roughly a third of all Filipinos live under the poverty line.
Aiming to combat poverty, the Advocate of Philippine Fair Trade, Inc (APFTI), who chair the Philippine Fair Trade Forum, has spearheaded the fair trade movement since 1994. Working with food and craft producers, APFTI provides fair trade enterprise development to micro, small and medium marginalised entrepreneurs.
The result is an increase of empowered Filipino entrepreneurs producing world class fair trade products handcraf
ted from native fibres derived from pineapple leaves, vines and palms; coconut products and bi-products; delicacies from pili nut, mangoes and muscovado sugar.
Whilst European traders account for a large percentage of the Philippine fair trade market, one of the main barriers is the inability for small producers to attain internationally-recognised fair trade labels. Given the financial constraints of these producers, few can afford the accreditation fees.
As such APFTI has looked to other options of connecting buyers with producers. Firstly, APFTI are in the planning stage for the creation of Philippine recognised fair trade label and accreditation system. This is part of a new campaign to develop the domestic fair trade market amongst the growing middle class.
Secondly, APFTI have started linking fair trade with tourism. Since 2007, APFTI has run ‘Meet the People’ tours through TraidCraft Exchange, a UK-based trading company and charity that has been empowering fair trade producers for over two decades. The Meet the People tour takes European guests on a 2 week tour across the Luzon Island, visiting fair trade producers, availing of eco-tourism products and staying in locally-owned accommodations and homestays.
Learning through experience about the impacts of consuming fair trade has proved to be invaluable for both tourists and producers. APFTI is now embarking on a tourism program that will incorporate the fair trade enterprise development framework to be applied to service providers in the tourism industry.
Piloting the framework in Antique, one of the Philippine’s more economically-disadvantaged provinces but richly endowed with history, biodiversity and cultural livelihoods, APFTI envisages the program to be rolled out across the country.
According to APFTI’s Executive Director Rommel Agustin: ‘We feel that experiencing fair trade is paramount in market development for our producers. Our tours have been well-received, however we wanted to create an experience where tourists know that it’s not just the product that is fair, but also accommodation, food, guiding and transport.’
Looking globally, the fair trade in tourism market has great potential, with more and more tourists wanting personal connections in their holidays. The fair trade brand has proved to be widely respected; it is time for that trend to follow into tourism.
Agustin added: ‘TraidCraft’s approach of bringing consumers to meet the producers is a wonderful model; however, we need to take it that extra step and provide fair trade enterprise development to tourism stakeholders.
‘This is where the travel industry could step in and provide the necessary tourism training skills. Fair Trade NGOs, such as APFTI, are experienced in food and craft development, but less so with tourism. Partnering up with sustainable tourism organisations, I believe, is vital for the success and sustainability of the fair trade in tourism brand’.
Visit APFTI’s website on www.apfti.org.ph
To book a ‘Meet the People’ tour, contact TraidCraft at
http://meetthepeople.skedaddle.co.uk/holiday/111/view.rails
About the author: Cherie McCosker is living and working in the Philippines as a volunteer through VIDA – Volunteering in International Development from Australia. She advocates for fair trade, particularly in how fair trade principles can be applied to tourism.
ted from native fibres derived from pineapple leaves, vines and palms; coconut products and bi-products; delicacies from pili nut, mangoes and muscovado sugar.Whilst European traders account for a large percentage of the Philippine fair trade market, one of the main barriers is the inability for small producers to attain internationally-recognised fair trade labels. Given the financial constraints of these producers, few can afford the accreditation fees.
As such APFTI has looked to other options of connecting buyers with producers. Firstly, APFTI are in the planning stage for the creation of Philippine recognised fair trade label and accreditation system. This is part of a new campaign to develop the domestic fair trade market amongst the growing middle class.
Secondly, APFTI have started linking fair trade with tourism. Since 2007, APFTI has run ‘Meet the People’ tours through TraidCraft Exchange, a UK-based trading company and charity that has been empowering fair trade producers for over two decades. The Meet the People tour takes European guests on a 2 week tour across the Luzon Island, visiting fair trade producers, availing of eco-tourism products and staying in locally-owned accommodations and homestays.
Learning through experience about the impacts of consuming fair trade has proved to be invaluable for both tourists and producers. APFTI is now embarking on a tourism program that will incorporate the fair trade enterprise development framework to be applied to service providers in the tourism industry.
Piloting the framework in Antique, one of the Philippine’s more economically-disadvantaged provinces but richly endowed with history, biodiversity and cultural livelihoods, APFTI envisages the program to be rolled out across the country.
According to APFTI’s Executive Director Rommel Agustin: ‘We feel that experiencing fair trade is paramount in market development for our producers. Our tours have been well-received, however we wanted to create an experience where tourists know that it’s not just the product that is fair, but also accommodation, food, guiding and transport.’
Looking globally, the fair trade in tourism market has great potential, with more and more tourists wanting personal connections in their holidays. The fair trade brand has proved to be widely respected; it is time for that trend to follow into tourism.
Agustin added: ‘TraidCraft’s approach of bringing consumers to meet the producers is a wonderful model; however, we need to take it that extra step and provide fair trade enterprise development to tourism stakeholders.
‘This is where the travel industry could step in and provide the necessary tourism training skills. Fair Trade NGOs, such as APFTI, are experienced in food and craft development, but less so with tourism. Partnering up with sustainable tourism organisations, I believe, is vital for the success and sustainability of the fair trade in tourism brand’.
Visit APFTI’s website on www.apfti.org.ph
To book a ‘Meet the People’ tour, contact TraidCraft at
http://meetthepeople.skedaddle.co.uk/holiday/111/view.rails
About the author: Cherie McCosker is living and working in the Philippines as a volunteer through VIDA – Volunteering in International Development from Australia. She advocates for fair trade, particularly in how fair trade principles can be applied to tourism.
Reflections of a Responsible Trekker in Nepal
By Cherie McCosker
30 May 2007
Recently I dragged my weary body back to Kathmandu, after following the pilgrimage trail to the holy Gusainkunda lake, at an altitude of 4200m. An incredible journey, but that is another tale.
Given the hiking lasted 4-6 hours each day, and little other activities were on offer except to drink tea, meditate, read a book or write in a diary, my mind inevitably turned towards responsible trekking.
Before leaving for the trek, I had diligently visited the office of KEEP (Kathmandu Environmental Education Project), and thus was armed with information on how to be a responsible trekker. My backpack was laden with iodine tablets, so that I didn't drink boiled water; I ordered dalbhat for every meal and ate the same time as my guide and porter. The hot showers to soothe my weary muscles in sub-freezing temperatures were sourced from solar hot water facilities.
All of these measures revolved around the reduction of burning precious wood from the forests, as apparently the tourism industry is resulting in deforestation at an alarming rate. I was trekking to an area that is slightly off the beaten track, and I knew many of these measures related to the Annapurna region, however I wanted to be as responsible as possible.
To be responsible, I was meant to choose guesthouses that had kerosene cookers instead of using wood stoves. So, on the long bus ride to Dhunche, I asked my trekking guide if that would be possible, my heart sinking when he replied that it wasn't possible on our trek.
At first I felt a bit helpless - I was doing everything else right, including picking up litter from the paths to carry out. I felt terrible that I was helping contribute to deforestation on my pilgrimage.
Perhaps to ease my guilt, I reflected upon the logic behind the 'wood' versus 'kerosene' that the NGOs had decided upon. I had just climbed up vastly steep paths - exceeding the recommended altitude level by about 3 times (there were no other options of places to stay). Therefore, I was at risk of extreme altitude sickness. So too would the porters who would carry in the kerosene.
Tracing the kerosene back to its source, I pondered whether this was a more responsible option. With a labor-intensive and environmentally-damaging extraction, not to mention the considerable land miles covered to transport the kerosene to Kathmandu, and then the 10 hour bus trip to Dhunche - I wondered at the carbon credit chalked up even before a porter could precariously balance the heavy load on the upwards journey.
I wondered whether NGOs such as Tourism Concern, KEEP and other groups had factored this in (and I acknowledged that I was relatively new to the Nepal scene and they were the experts - so who was I to judge them).
At the teahouses, whilst warming up with a steaming cup of fruit cordial, I paid attention to the wood stoves being used, which also doubled as wood-heaters.
It was freezing in these altitudes. Who are the tourists and NGOs to decide that the locals shouldn't use wooden heaters? I thought that was double-standards considering the amount of fuel we burn in our own countries on airconditioning and heating for personal consumption.
The stoves were large and took up most of the kitchen. Presumably to replace them with kerosene cookers would cost of lot of money. Who was expected to cover this cost?
There must be other ways - it seemed to me that the locals, who are ingenious at recycling simple things like paint cans into meaningful appliances, were in a very good position to take custodian of the forests. Their culture is grounded in respect for nature and the meaning of resources - given their isolation they had to make do with what nature provided them.
It certainly begged the question of whether sustainable use and regeneration of the forests was just as feasible as relying on forces of globalisation to bring in kerosene, which in turn had other environmental considerations.
Upon my return to Kathmandu, I went into KEEPs office and shared my thoughts with them.
They acknowledged that it wasn't Gusainkunda that they were targeting so much as Annapurna. They also conceded that it would cost a lot to change the stoves, yet they hadn't actually talked to hotel owners - but were hoping that tourists consumer behaviour would dictate the change. They also conceded that it takes much effort and risk to the porters to walk in the kerosene. But they said that forests take a long time to regenerate.
I was confused. I understood the argument, however had alternative options been thought through in regards to the use of fuel?
Is it possible to sustainably use forests - using fallen logs as fuel, or look into endemic fast growing trees with no negative impact upon the habitat? What about other renewable energy methods - such as biogas? That would kill two birds with one stone - energy plus a solution to waste management and sanitation. Or it is more feasible to have a mix of wood stove for heat and kerosene for cooking, but again, who would pay for the kerosene cookers - are microfinance options available?
With the days of introspection and reflection I had whilst hiking, I realised that responsible behaviour in tourism had many shades of grey. One can't consider only the environment without looking at other factors such as social and cultural impacts.
Yet, the most important lesson gained was those involved in the responsible tourism industry can't afford to be dogmatic.
It was clear that the teahouse owners in this particular region hadn't been consulted on the use of fuel nor given the opportunity to come with their own solutions on the problem (as after all, they know best about their own resources).
Yet, ironically, their businesses and likelihood were at risk of boycott by responsible tourists. It seems that for tourism to be truly responsible, it is imperative that the host destination community members are consulted and have a say in the development of tourism guidelines.
After all - tourists come and go, however it is their culture and livelihoods at stake. We must close the gap and make the communities part of the solution for responsible tourism.
30 May 2007
Recently I dragged my weary body back to Kathmandu, after following the pilgrimage trail to the holy Gusainkunda lake, at an altitude of 4200m. An incredible journey, but that is another tale. Given the hiking lasted 4-6 hours each day, and little other activities were on offer except to drink tea, meditate, read a book or write in a diary, my mind inevitably turned towards responsible trekking.
Before leaving for the trek, I had diligently visited the office of KEEP (Kathmandu Environmental Education Project), and thus was armed with information on how to be a responsible trekker. My backpack was laden with iodine tablets, so that I didn't drink boiled water; I ordered dalbhat for every meal and ate the same time as my guide and porter. The hot showers to soothe my weary muscles in sub-freezing temperatures were sourced from solar hot water facilities.
All of these measures revolved around the reduction of burning precious wood from the forests, as apparently the tourism industry is resulting in deforestation at an alarming rate. I was trekking to an area that is slightly off the beaten track, and I knew many of these measures related to the Annapurna region, however I wanted to be as responsible as possible.To be responsible, I was meant to choose guesthouses that had kerosene cookers instead of using wood stoves. So, on the long bus ride to Dhunche, I asked my trekking guide if that would be possible, my heart sinking when he replied that it wasn't possible on our trek.
At first I felt a bit helpless - I was doing everything else right, including picking up litter from the paths to carry out. I felt terrible that I was helping contribute to deforestation on my pilgrimage.
Perhaps to ease my guilt, I reflected upon the logic behind the 'wood' versus 'kerosene' that the NGOs had decided upon. I had just climbed up vastly steep paths - exceeding the recommended altitude level by about 3 times (there were no other options of places to stay). Therefore, I was at risk of extreme altitude sickness. So too would the porters who would carry in the kerosene.
Tracing the kerosene back to its source, I pondered whether this was a more responsible option. With a labor-intensive and environmentally-damaging extraction, not to mention the considerable land miles covered to transport the kerosene to Kathmandu, and then the 10 hour bus trip to Dhunche - I wondered at the carbon credit chalked up even before a porter could precariously balance the heavy load on the upwards journey.
I wondered whether NGOs such as Tourism Concern, KEEP and other groups had factored this in (and I acknowledged that I was relatively new to the Nepal scene and they were the experts - so who was I to judge them).
At the teahouses, whilst warming up with a steaming cup of fruit cordial, I paid attention to the wood stoves being used, which also doubled as wood-heaters.
It was freezing in these altitudes. Who are the tourists and NGOs to decide that the locals shouldn't use wooden heaters? I thought that was double-standards considering the amount of fuel we burn in our own countries on airconditioning and heating for personal consumption.
The stoves were large and took up most of the kitchen. Presumably to replace them with kerosene cookers would cost of lot of money. Who was expected to cover this cost?
There must be other ways - it seemed to me that the locals, who are ingenious at recycling simple things like paint cans into meaningful appliances, were in a very good position to take custodian of the forests. Their culture is grounded in respect for nature and the meaning of resources - given their isolation they had to make do with what nature provided them.
It certainly begged the question of whether sustainable use and regeneration of the forests was just as feasible as relying on forces of globalisation to bring in kerosene, which in turn had other environmental considerations.
Upon my return to Kathmandu, I went into KEEPs office and shared my thoughts with them.
They acknowledged that it wasn't Gusainkunda that they were targeting so much as Annapurna. They also conceded that it would cost a lot to change the stoves, yet they hadn't actually talked to hotel owners - but were hoping that tourists consumer behaviour would dictate the change. They also conceded that it takes much effort and risk to the porters to walk in the kerosene. But they said that forests take a long time to regenerate.
I was confused. I understood the argument, however had alternative options been thought through in regards to the use of fuel?
Is it possible to sustainably use forests - using fallen logs as fuel, or look into endemic fast growing trees with no negative impact upon the habitat? What about other renewable energy methods - such as biogas? That would kill two birds with one stone - energy plus a solution to waste management and sanitation. Or it is more feasible to have a mix of wood stove for heat and kerosene for cooking, but again, who would pay for the kerosene cookers - are microfinance options available?
With the days of introspection and reflection I had whilst hiking, I realised that responsible behaviour in tourism had many shades of grey. One can't consider only the environment without looking at other factors such as social and cultural impacts.
Yet, the most important lesson gained was those involved in the responsible tourism industry can't afford to be dogmatic.
It was clear that the teahouse owners in this particular region hadn't been consulted on the use of fuel nor given the opportunity to come with their own solutions on the problem (as after all, they know best about their own resources).
Yet, ironically, their businesses and likelihood were at risk of boycott by responsible tourists. It seems that for tourism to be truly responsible, it is imperative that the host destination community members are consulted and have a say in the development of tourism guidelines.
After all - tourists come and go, however it is their culture and livelihoods at stake. We must close the gap and make the communities part of the solution for responsible tourism.
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