Responsible holidays: trends in Singapore

Sandra Leong, Straits Times 11 Dec 07;

No, that's not the name of a travel agency. It's the emerging trend of travellers being ecologically aware and giving back to the places they visit

A TREKKING trip to Nepal in 2000 opened engineer Goh Khoon Hua's eyes to a new way of travel. A self-professed 'beach bum', the 36-year-old was accustomed to sand-and-sea allures.

Then, for a taste of something new, he signed up for a trek to the Everest Base Camp. He was humbled by the simple ways of the Nepalese people, many of whom struggled to make ends meet.

He realised there were 'little things I could do to help them. By engaging them as porters, guides, cooks, kitchen boys, we can give them jobs'.

He was especially moved by the efforts of the porters, usually young men hired to carry supplies. Despite living in cold climes, many were too poor to afford warm clothing.

He has since been back to Nepal twice in the past seven years, each time with Blazing Outdoor Adventures & Co (BOAC), an adventure travel operator here whose ideals gel with his.

Its owner Sim Tim Suan, who organises treks to places like Nepal, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Picchu in Peru, deals only with licensed porter-protection agencies.

He honours a code of ethics laid out by them and is required to protect the welfare of the porters he hires. One of the things he does is to take them warm clothing from Singapore. Small as the gesture may be, it has an 'immediate impact on the people helping us get up the mountain', he says.

Respect and benefit the locals

TRAVEL may be a booming industry, contributing to both economic prosperity and employment worldwide, but it has also long been associated with gas-guzzling jets and self-indulgence rather than a desire to do good.

These days, however, responsible or sustainable tourism are the new buzzwords in a world of Live Earth and Live Aid concerts, where it's now fashionable to champion a cause to save the poor, trees or polar bears.

Travellers are encouraged to do anything from offsetting their carbon emissions when they fly, to visiting places in need of a tourism boost, to simply giving back in any way to the folk who have made their trip enjoyable.

According to British company Responsible Travel, which has over 2,700 packages, the new tack is for those who have had enough of mass tourism.

It says: 'It's about respecting and benefiting local people and the environment - but it's about far more than that. If you travel for relaxation, fulfilment, discovery, adventure and to learn, rather than to simply tick off 'places and things', then responsible travel is for you.'

Checks here show there are no travel operators equally dedicated to the cause. With Singaporeans only just trying to grasp environmentally friendly ways in everyday lives, the concept of responsible tourism is still relatively new.

In a nod to growing awareness and interest, however, Responsible Travel's public relations manager Kristina Pentland notes that out of the 250,000 visits the site receives from Asia, nearly 20,000 are from Singapore.

Still, there are players, most of them niche outfits specialising in more exotic destinations, who have incorporated ethical dimensions to their businesses.

X-Trekkers has organised community service trips since 2002. Early this year, owner Wong Yuen Lik focused his efforts on a Tibetan village called Napahai.

An agricultural community of 42 families, they rely on logging and are slowly depleting the natural resources. So far, X-Trekkers has taken about 50 Singaporeans there.

'Travellers give the villagers a chance to earn an income by hosting them in their houses and preparing meals. We give them the clients and they, in turn, promise to reduce their reliance on logging.'

At least one of the 42 families has stopped logging, he says. The extra income has helped send 11 out of 16 children to a nearby town to attend school.

Mr Wong plans to help the community for seven to 10 years so that any change is sustainable and long term.

Another agency, Country Holidays, undertook a project in 2000 that helped raise US$2,000 to build a school in Bhuka village in Nepal, says its spokesman Jess Yap.

For every trekker that it sent to traipse through the village, it donated $5 to a school fund. The school was built in 2002.

In Vietnam, it worked with an operator who paid the locals in buffalos rather than cash. The idea was to promote a more sustainable lifestyle for the area's ethnic minorities.

Offset your carbon footprint

It also partners safari lodges in Africa which employ only local folk so tourism dollars enrich the community.

X-Trekkers' and Country Holidays' business has grown over the years but both are unable to give specific figures with regard to ethical travel because of the wide definition of the term. But Ms Yap adds that Country Holidays' volume has grown 'more than 50 per cent' over the past five years.

Others like Eco Adventures and Atrium Eco Travel are less overt in their approach but share the same philosophies.

At the former, trips include stays at longhouses in Ulu Ai in Sarawak which benefit the Iban community.

In Koh Yao Yai and Koh Yao Noi, off Phuket in Thailand, operators work with fishermen and families to provide homestays in an attempt to stave off the big boys planning to establish resorts and hotels on the island.

Mr Andy Yeo of Atrium Eco Travel says: 'We don't have a category of tours called 'ethical'. I simply turn away requests for anything I feel is irresponsible. Recently, that has included hunting trips and four-wheel-drive trips in environmentally sensitive areas.'

To him, responsible travel is not always about the grand gestures but also about exhibiting considerate manners, such as not littering and showing respect to locals.

Says Mr Yeo: 'We're fooling ourselves if we think that as tourists we can give back more than we take. If we're able to minimise the impact of our visit, that's the best we can ask.'

Admittedly, the whole concept of holidaying with a conscience may sound mind-boggling to a newbie. So how does one get into the groove of things?

Control carbon emissions

ONE of the easiest ways is to start offsetting your carbon emissions when you fly. British Airways, for example, has a voluntary carbon offset scheme on its website. A flight calculator helps you determine the financial cost of the harm your flight has done to the environment.

You can make a contribution to a Climate Care trust project. The donation on a return flight from Singapore to London Heathrow will cost £18.43 (S$54).

Climate Care, set up in 1998, spearheads projects in renewable energy, energy efficiency and forest restoration. Other airlines that have carbon offsetting schemes include Qantas and Jetstar.

For now, followers of responsible tourism say it's good enough that you know you can do things differently and ethically.

Certainly, the movement has its fair share of detractors who feel that travellers can only do so much amid the myriad issues facing the world today.

Doctorate student James Wong, 28, is one. He says: 'Yes, you can give back to the destination you visit, but surely many people do so just for one 'feel good' moment and may not truly reflect a desire to change the world.

'They probably go back to driving SUVs and using plastic bags after they return from their holiday.'

But Eco Adventure's Mr Timothy Tan sees it another way. 'I call it ABC - awareness before change. Once travellers discover there are alternatives, where one can travel more responsibly, they will usually choose that route.'