Responsible Tourism

Taking into account the cargo capacity that each locality can bear, responsible tourism seeks to reduce to the minimum the environmental, socio-cultural and economic impact that normal tourism brings about.

Tourism is a very important sector of the world economy and for many countries it gives a real financial lifeline. At the same time, it becomes the worst “evil” if managed in the wrong way by tourism operators, providers and guests alike. Often one doesn't even realize how damaged or polluting mass tourism can be or how false attractions and a “touristic view” of local folklore are created; generating the escalation of illicit organizations and often even the damage of cultural heritage or natural parks and their inhabitants.

From these and many other critical observations on mass tourism rises responsible tourism. It is a movement that is spreading rapidly which has the aim of safeguarding both the tourists and the sites and communities that host them, creating behavioural and logistical rules for the promotion of a tourism, responsible from an ethical point of view and sustainable economically and ecologically at the same time.

In 1995 the first World Conference on Sustainable Tourism took place in the Canary Islands, with the writing of the Charter of Lanzarote. The Charter declares that “Tourism development shall be based on criteria of sustainability, which means that it must be ecologically bearable in the long term, as well as economically viable, and ethically and socially equitable for local communities....Tourism should contribute to sustainable development and be integrated with the natural, cultural and human environment;”

In Italy, since recent times, the body which occupies itself with the cause of sustainable tourism is the AITR: Italian Association of Responsible Tourism. In 1997 at Verona, the AITR approved the Identity Card for Sustainable Travels, which defines parameters and rules for this form of travel.

The sustainability also implies duration in time, and for this reason tourism must make provisions for optimal use of resources, the minimizing of the ecological, cultural and social impact, and the maximization of the benefits for conservation and the local communities. All of this while at the same time seeking to ensure the satisfaction of the tourist.

Responsible Tourism should not be seen as a niche market but rather as a philosophy. A philosophy of respect for the people and the environment which translates into a journey “on tip-toe”, without rushing, savouring the places and the encounters along the way. Always looking for authenticity in the knowledge of the places, the traditions and the flavours.