Note from Linda      

Where is Linda? Washington, Paris, Dakar, Ziguinchor                    

Feature Article: What You Need to Know: The New Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria                          

Lingo Tidbits: Wind or Wind? Hoarse or Horse? 
 

Dear Responsible W.O.R.L.D. Traveler,

As you read this, I’m heading for the airport. Final destination: Ziguinchor, Senegal, where we launch Women’s Travels for Peace, our unique, women-helping-women travel experience, on November 7. Our goal, as you know, is to connect women from developing countries with women from emerging countries in support of a local community project that will improve the lives of the women and children.

Four fabulous women and I will participate in the final stages of the construction of a strong, durable well – the project the Senegalese women wanted most of all. Work already began a month ago, much to the delight of the village. My five traveling companions and I have financed this project, and our joy when we meet our Senegalese sisters in two weeks will be enormous.

This is precisely the type of passionate, purposeful, and responsible travel that has been discussed so intensely and deeply at the much-publicized IUCN World Conservation Congress in October. Sustainable Travel is all about committing to and supporting travel that nurtures our world and all who live in it…as we here at Peace Through Travel have been saying all along.

This month’s Feature Article, What You Need to Know: The New Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, takes a look at the universal standards of sustainable tourism just announced this month at this Congress in Barcelona. If you’re excited by travel that supports your world and enhances life for your fellow-humans — as well as yourself, read on. These goals are lofty but attainable. Come take a look at what we in the field of sustainable travel see ahead. I believe you’ll enjoy the view from this beautiful peak.

Love and Peace,

Linda  

Peace Through Travel

What You Need to Know: The New Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria                          

by Linda Rivero 
 
 
 Have you ever felt confused, trying to understand exactly what “sustainable travel” means? The term sounds laudable, but applying “sustainable travel” principles to real-world travel practice has been a somewhat vague challenge for many, including some in the travel industry. 

Help is at hand, at last. In October 2008, after 15 months of exhaustive research and consideration, the Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria reached its painstaking goal: establishment of the first-ever criteria for Global Sustainable Tourism.  

What do you need to know about this major step forward? How do these Criteria affect you? 

We all know, or should know, that traditional tourism has caused serious problems. Uncontrolled travel, often oblivious to or  uninterested in the needs of local destinations, has resulted in damage and even ruin of important sites. It has caused the degradation of local communities and their quality of life.  

The Criteria for Sustainable Tourism have been created to clarify the responsibilities of both travel industry and travelers in developing and supporting tourism practices that benefit the local economy, environment, culture and community. These Criteria are designed to establish common practices that reverse this damage and prevent further deterioration to the planet and the quality of local life in tourist destinations. 

The Criteria focus on four major areas:

1. “effective sustainability planning
2. maximizing social and economic benefits for the local community
3. enhancing cultural heritage
4. reducing negative impacts to the environment.”

Let’s look at what you need to know to be a responsible W.O.R.L.D. traveler, beginning with focus number two. 

Focus Number 2: “Maximizing social and economic benefits to the community and reducing your negative impact” 

You can easily observe or research these standards and apply them to your travels:

• Does your travel company support social and community development, including education and sanitation?
• Are local residents employed?
• Are local and fair trade services utilized?
• Does your travel company provide the opportunity for local entrepreneurs to sell fair trade goods and services based on the area’s history, culture and natural surroundings?

Focus Number 3: “Enhancing cultural heritage” 

You can easily support these standards yourself: 

• Do you observe, or does your travel company observe an established code of behavior when visiting local cultural, historical or spiritual sites?
• Are historical or cultural artifacts sold, traded or displayed according to local law? (If you don’t know the local law, just use common sense. Are local cultural artifacts being exploited?)
• Do you, the traveler, or does your travel company protect local cultural, archaeological and historic sites?
• Does your hotel use local artistic, cultural and architectural influence in its design, décor or shops?

You can contribute actively to the consumer-oriented standards:

• Conserving resources: Do you conserve energy in your room? Do you conserve water? Does the establishment observe this conservation?
• Conserving biodiversity, ecosystems and landscapes: Are wildlife species being held in regulated activities and cared for by those trained and authorized to care for them? Does the establishment support natural protected areas nearby? Does it supervise and control interaction with native wildlife and avoid disturbance of natural ecosystems?

And finally, Focus Number 1: “Effective sustainability planning”  

The focus here is on structural planning and is a bit more difficult for you, the traveler, to track. However, you can research and speak with the company you plan to travel with to determine:

• Does the company properly train its employees?
• Do their structures comply with sustainable building practices?
• Do they measure customer satisfaction and correct what needs to be improved?
• Do they provide information on the local surroundings, including the environment, culture, and heritage?
• Do they inform their clients about how to behave in the local natural environment?

So much in the world of sustainability, in day-to-day terms, comes down to mindful living and common sense. If you’re already attuned to “living green” at home, you’ll be on the right track when you travel.  

If you’re still sharpening your “green” skills, these guidelines will help you travel responsibly. Just keep these questions in mind both as you plan your trip and while you travel, and you’ll be doing good for your world, as well as yourself. 
  
  For more information about the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, just click here.

Wind or Wind? Hoarse or Horse? 

This is another look at the deliciousness—or difficulty, depending on your perspective—of English. This language is loaded with both homonyms (words that are spelled and pronounced alike, but different in meaning) and words identically spelled but different in pronunciation.  

Try reading these sentences aloud, getting the words right the first time: 

Why object to the object?

• The seamstress and the sewer fell into the sewer.
• I shed a tear when I saw a tear in the painting.
• The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
• Did you polish the Polish pantry?
• The insurance is invalid for an invalid.
• The bandage was wound around the wound.
• The dove dove into the bushes.
• The farmer taught his sow to sow.
• He painted a bass on the head of the bass drum.

No doubt, English is one of the trickiest languages to learn to spell and pronounce properly, don’t you think? 

Love and Peace,