What Is Ethical Tourism?

The broad definition of ethical tourism is a form of tourism that encourages both tourist and tourism service providers to think about the ethical implications of tourism in a specific area or among a specific group of people.  It follows that ethical tourism can mean different things to different people depending on their situation.

Can You Be a responsible Ethical Tourist?

The short answer is yes and it is a sliding scale, some tourist activities are by their nature more ethical than others.  The aim of an ethical tourist should be to preserve the local environment and culture for future visitors. A tourist can achieve this by being thoughtful about the activities they participate in while visiting an area.

A major part of the preservation of culture is how tourism affects the local population of the destination, historically tourism has had a mixed effect on many local populations. On one hand tourism can bring money and jobs to a region. On the other hand tourism can bring overcrowding resource shortages and can place great strain on local infrastructure. 

Ethical Tourism Example In Action

It is however possible to increase the positive impact while reducing the negative impact. Bhutan now maximises income and reduces visitor numbers by charging daily fees to tourists.  This has a two fold effect. It ensures that the visitors to the area are people who really want to visit the area for its cultural significance and not just for shopping, restaurants and bars. Additionally the income from the fees can be used to enrich the lives of the local population though Education and Healthcare, by doing this they can attract High Value, Low Impact tourists. This concept is at the heart of ethical tourism policy in Bhutan.

The Bhutan model has been criticised for being exclusionary by favouring wealthy tourists over travellers with more modest budgets. This shows that ethical tourism can be more complex that just protecting the environment while maximising per person income from tourism.

Other factors influencing ethical tourism.

Ethical tourism is a very nuanced concept, and every little helps from tourists and tourism service providers alike. Simple actions taken by tourists, like bringing reusable water bottles on tours and taking advantage of refilling stations can reduce the waste produced by a tourist. It should be noted that in some locations tourists can produce twice as much waste as a local resident. Highlighting the need for further waste reduction in the tourism industry. 

Ethics and sustainability in Irish Tourism

Much of the focus on ethics and sustainability in Ireland has been on helping tourism and hospitality service providers to reduce their energy usage, waste output and ultimately their carbon footprint. Unfortunately climate change is not the only negative effect of tourism in ireland. The short term letting of city centre apartments and houses to visitors has contributed to a reduction of accommodation available to local residents and has driven up the rents for the accommodation that is still available.  This was highlighted during 2021 when visitor numbers dropped and the number of apartments available to locals began to increase while rents for a one bedroom apartment fell from $2100 (€1850) to $1800 (€1580) per month. The return of tourism to Ireland is forecast to see rents return to and surpass their previous levels. This example shows how tourism can negatively affect the quality of life of local residents in modern urban environments as much as it does in unspoiled paradises like Bhutan. 

What Ethical Tourism Means To Us.

Secret Street Tours set out to ensure that the services it provided to tourists are not only ethically neutral but have a positive impact on the people living in Dublin. We accomplish this by retraining people affected by homelessnes as tour guides. Our guides at Secret Street Tours offer visitors a unique viewpoint of the city of Dublin. Our guides share their personal stories as they explore Dublin’s cultural and historic landmarks with you. 

How can I support Secret Street tours?

There are many ways in which you can support secret street tours. You can take one of our tours here to experience Dublin alongside one of our fantastic guides. You can support us by making a donation or make a regular donation by becoming a patron here. Sharing our Tours with friends and family or on social media is another great way to spread the word about the work we are doing.