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Frugal Traveler
When you think of sustainable travel, what comes to mind? Gorilla trekking in Uganda, perhaps, or a sojourn in a remote yet well-appointed eco-lodge in the forests of Costa Rica, or even a luxurious stay at a Galápagos safari camp with an infinity pool and locally made teak furniture. If these high-cost trips are what pop into your head, your picture of what qualifies as sustainable tourism is not necessarily wrong — it’s just incomplete.
The term sustainable travel has been inextricably tied to opulent eco-travel. Fueled by a desire for guiltless extravagance and increasing attention paid to climate change, sustainability became a misused, industrywide buzzword associated with far-flung, expensive trips.
But sustainable tourism doesn’t have to be expensive. Not only that, “it should actually be cheaper,” said Kelly Bricker, vice-chair of the board of directors of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, or G.S.T.C. “There should be cost savings for doing the right thing. If you’re sourcing locally, reinvesting back into the community, it should be cheaper than if you’re importing from all over the world to create your product.” Not only should traveling sustainably not break the bank — it’s frequently a better, more enjoyable product than its nonsustainable counterpart. I’ve compiled some tips from experts, as well as from my own experiences, and have found that sustainable travel is something nearly all casual tourists can afford.
While there aren’t definitive statistics on the percentage of the hospitality industry deploying a sustained commitment to sustainable travel, there are indications that it is on the rise. A Booking.com study shows that 65 percent of travelers intend to seek out green accommodation in 2017 — nearly double that of the previous year. And a study conducted by McGraw Hill Construction shows that green building increased by 50 percent from 2011 to 2013, and now encompasses 25 percent of all hospitality construction.
And that affects an increasingly huge number of travelers. Nearly 1.2 billion people traveled the world in 2015, generating $1.5 trillion — a full 10 percent of global G.D.P. That number — and the huge environmental impact that comes with it — is part of the reason 2017 has been designated the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations. Both travelers and destinations are increasingly acknowledging the impact of sustainable travel. “We are at a crucial crossroads,” said Dirk Glaesser, the director of sustainable development of tourism for the United Nations World Tourism Organization. “We currently see that many countries are taking this very seriously.”
Tourism, while a global economic driver, also leaves a big environmental footprint. By some measures it accounts for a full 50 percent of all traffic movements, according to the U.N. Environment Program, and local culture can be strained by too many tourists crowding a particularly beautiful place — a concept known as overtourism. With a rapidly growing tourist base (1.6 billion people by 2020), the need for a sustainable approach grows more and more urgent.
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