A returning visitor’s perspective It was 2016 and I had been living in Cusco, Peru, for about a year. Passing by tourist agencies with attractive posters selling tours to Machu Picchu, Titicaca Lake, Salkantay Trek and Tambopata Natural Reserve-among others- was basically daily routine. But one day something changed. It took a while until […]
A true community based tourism that had an impact in poverty reduction in northern Ethiopia
I am Girma Tadele, the founder of Tadele Travel, and I was once a member of community based tourism initiative. I joined TESFA (Tourism in Ethiopia for Sustainable Future Alternative) in early 2007, three years after the initiative was launched. I had been attracted into TESFA by the stories told by a good friend of […]
Growing human rights violations caused by over-tourism
The International Tribunal on Evictions (ITE) is a peoples’ and opinion tribunal established in 2011 by the International Alliance of Inhabitants and civil society organisations for the World Zero Evictions Days to practically and interactively put forced evictions from around the world in the dock. International Tribunal on Evictions – Session on Tourism (Venice, […]
Tinkering with ‘ecotourism’ hides the real face of tourism
Anita Pleumarom (Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team) and Chee Yoke Ling (Third World Network) The United Nations committed a substantial error when it proclaimed 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. Despite its pronouncements of tourism being a positive force for economic development and poverty eradication, tourism is inept at meeting the challenge of […]
Earth Day and Tourism – 9 Ways Travellers Can Help the Earth Right Now
Earth Day and Tourism In the words of environmental activist and actor Leonardo Dicaprio, “Climate change is real. It is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.” The environment is a top global priority that can be supported through […]
Stolen Stories! – Yana Spencer
Stolen Stories! – Yana Spencer Yana Spencer is a journalist and women’s right activist, currently based in SE Asia. She runs Tamu Bakery, a social enterprise which empowers women survivors of gender-based violence through the power of baking. Hundreds of women around the world have benefited from her innovative baking therapy sessions. Every woman […]
Residents in control: locally owned Favela Tours in Brazil
Residents in control: locally owned Favela Tours in Brazil In the first of a series of stories from Brazil about slum tourism, Elisa Spampinato shares her positive experience with Museu de Favela, which she came across whilst doing field research in Rio de Janeiro. Located on Cantagalo Hill in the centre of Rio de Janeiro, […]
Falkland Islands: living on the edge of the earth
Mark Stratton discusses life on the 778-island archipelago that is the Falklands Islands and where tourism is an increasingly significant part of the economy (article reprinted courtesy of Wanderlust Magazine) Island survival doesn’t come much tougher than on the Falklands archipelago, the place to meet a wealth of wonderful wildlife and the equally resilient human […]