Responsible Travel at Earth Trip
At Earth Trip, responsible travel means your holiday should benefit the people and places you visit, not cost them. Every holiday we plan is private and tailor-made, which lets us choose small locally run hotels, local guides and community projects instead of mass-market tours. We started with Sri Lanka in 2012 and now plan holidays to more than 50 countries across the Indian Ocean, Africa, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, East Asia, South Asia and North Africa and the Middle East. We apply the same principles everywhere we go.
Better Places To Live & Visit
What Is responsible Tourism?
- minimises negative economic, environmental and social impacts;
- generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities, improves working conditions and access to the industry;
- involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life changes;
- makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world’s diversity;
- provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues;
- provide access for people with disabilities and the disadvantaged;
- is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence.
Our responsible travel commitments
- Local guides and drivers. We work with local driver-guides and naturalists, so your money pays local wages and you learn about a place from people who live there.
- Hotels we have inspected. Our specialists personally inspect the hotels we recommend, and we look for small, locally owned properties with practical environmental measures, such as recycling, reducing plastic, solar power or growing their own food. Ask us about the measures at any hotel on your itinerary.
- Wildlife only in the wild. We never include elephant rides or captive animal shows. We arrange wildlife encounters in national parks and reserves, with naturalists who keep a respectful distance from the animals.
- Spending locally. We encourage you to eat at least one meal a day in local restaurants, buy crafts directly from the people who make them, and choose fair-trade tea and spices.
- Meeting local people. On every holiday, we offer the option of staying with a local family, for example learning to cook rice and curry in a Sri Lankan home.
- Respect for local culture. Before you travel, we explain local customs, what to wear at religious sites and how to behave respectfully.
- Community projects. We include visits to community-run projects, listed below, and can tell you about local organisations if you would like to make a donation.
What is responsible tourism?
The widely used definition comes from the 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations. It describes responsible tourism as tourism that:
- minimises negative economic, environmental and social impacts
- generates greater economic benefits for local people and improves the wellbeing of host communities
- improves working conditions and access to the industry
- involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances
- makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage
- provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through meaningful connections with local people
- provides access for people with disabilities
- is culturally sensitive, encourages respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence
In short, it is tourism that “creates better places for people to live in, and better places to visit”.
What is responsible tourism?
The widely used definition comes from the 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations. It describes responsible tourism as tourism that:
- minimises negative economic, environmental and social impacts
- generates greater economic benefits for local people and improves the wellbeing of host communities
- improves working conditions and access to the industry
- involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances
- makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage
- provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through meaningful connections with local people
- provides access for people with disabilities
- is culturally sensitive, encourages respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence
In short, it is tourism that “creates better places for people to live in, and better places to visit”.
Community projects you can visit
Sri Lanka
- Elephant Transit Home, Udawalawe: orphaned wild elephants are cared for here and later released back into the wild. Visitors watch feeding time from a viewing area, learn about human-elephant conflict and can donate directly.
- The Vedda people, Gal Oya: meet one of the last communities of Sri Lanka’s indigenous forest-dwelling people, on a visit arranged with the community.
- Village visits and homestays: buy crafts directly from the makers, eat in small family restaurants, or stay with a local family.
Madagascar
- Mitsinjo, Andasibe: a community association that began with local guides and now manages the Analamazaotra Forest Station (since 2003) and the Torotorofotsy wetland (since 2005), combining conservation, research and local jobs.
- Anja Community Reserve: a community-run reserve that protects ring-tailed lemurs and shows how local management can both protect wildlife and benefit villagers.
The Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius
- Our team inspects island hotels for their environmental and community practices, and more resorts now run reef, recycling and local employment programmes.
- We recommend going beyond the resort: visit local islands and markets, join cultural events and eat at least one meal in a local restaurant.
Africa
- Gorilla trekking in Rwanda and Uganda: part of the national park and gorilla permit fees is shared with the communities living around the parks, while the rest helps fund gorilla protection.
- Safaris with local guides: across Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa, we favour camps and lodges that employ and train people from neighbouring communities, and wildlife viewing that follows park rules on vehicle numbers and distances.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Mexico: boat trips in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve are run through community-led cooperatives, so entry fees support local families and habitat protection.
- Belize: we work with certified Belizean guides and community-run tourism, so your trip creates jobs in rural communities.
- Trinidad and Tobago: from March to August, we arrange small, guided night visits to see leatherback turtles nesting, with local community conservation groups that protect the beaches.
- Panama: learn about the mola textiles hand-sewn by Guna women, and buy them directly from the makers.
- The Amazon, Brazil: Uakari Lodge in the Mamirauá Reserve is run together with local riverside communities, who share in the income and work as guides.
- Ecuador and the Galápagos: the Galápagos National Park entry fee funds conservation of the islands and their wildlife.
Asia
- In Nepal, India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, we favour family-run guesthouses and heritage hotels, local guides and village visits arranged with the community, and we avoid animal attractions such as elephant rides.
Tell us what matters to you. Wherever you travel, your Earth Trip specialist can suggest community projects, conservation work or local businesses to include in your holiday.
How you can travel responsibly
- Eat in local restaurants and buy locally made crafts, and check where souvenirs are made.
- Dress modestly at religious sites and ask before photographing people.
- Keep your distance from wildlife and never feed wild animals.
- Refill a water bottle where filtered water is available, rather than buying plastic.
- Ask your Earth Trip specialist about community visits and local projects on your route.
Plan a responsible holiday
Every Earth Trip holiday is private, tailor-made and 100% financially protected by the Travel Trust Association (TTA). Meet our team, read our reviews, or contact us on 020 8935 5685 or info@earthtrip.co.uk.
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Responsible travel FAQs
What is responsible travel? Responsible travel is tourism that benefits the people and places you visit. It means using local guides and businesses, respecting local culture, protecting wildlife and the environment, and making sure more of the money you spend stays in the local community.
How does Earth Trip make its holidays more responsible? Every Earth Trip holiday is private and tailor-made, so we can choose local guides, small locally owned hotels we have inspected, wildlife experiences in the wild, and visits to community-run projects. We also brief every traveller on local customs before they go.
Does Earth Trip include elephant rides or animal shows? No. We never include elephant rides or captive animal shows. We only arrange wildlife encounters in national parks and reserves, with naturalist guides who keep a respectful distance from the animals.
Can I stay with a local family on my holiday? Yes. On every holiday, we can include a stay with a local family, which is one of the best ways to learn about a country. In Sri Lanka, for example, you can learn to cook rice and curry in a family home.
How can I travel more responsibly? Eat in local restaurants, buy crafts directly from the people who make them, dress respectfully at religious sites, keep your distance from wildlife, and avoid single-use plastic where filtered water is available.
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Each specialist has travelled extensively in the countries they plan. Whether it’s uncovering hidden gems or planning immersive cultural experiences, we design trips that go beyond the ordinary. Get in touch today!
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Responsible Travel