Ethical Travel Destinations
The Houston Chronicle recently reported 10 travel locations recommended by Ethical Traveler, a Berkeley, California organization that advocates spending our travel dollars to enhance the economies of those countries that treat their people, animals and environment well.
According to the Chronicle, Ethical Traveler’s founder and executive director Jeff Greenwald explained the rationale for ethical travel:
“Where we choose to put our footprints has economic and political reverberations that reach far beyond our personal experience. By ‘voting with our wings’ – choosing our destinations well, and cultivating our roles as citizen diplomats – we promote international goodwill and help change the world for the better. The report and list are based on tourism destinations that are doing the “most impressive job of promoting human rights, preserving the environment and supporting social welfare – all while creating a lively, community-based tourism industry.”
An example of a named ethical travel location for 2015 is Uruguay, described as –
“Highlights: Eighty percent of the country’s energy comes from renewable resources, and Uruguay has put itself “at the forefront of sustainable public transportation in Latin America.” It has the most liberal policy for LGBTQ in the region, and leaders made abortion legal, and instituted a 30 percent quota for representation of women in the government. Uruguay received a near perfect score in Freedom’s House index of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, and it ranked near the top for press freedoms.
Wild card: Uruguay accepted Syrian refugees and has a program in place to help the refugee families adapt to life in Uruguay.”
A big caution: Some locations are questionable from a human rights perspective. The “issues to overcome” statements are so serious that I wonder how the location could be on the ethical list, even if, say, their environmental policies are exemplary. For example, see the report for Cape Verde:
Highlights: This West African group of islands off the coast of Senegal is a small country with big changes recently. Cape Verde abolished the death sentence, introduced an ethics code to deal with corruption and has decriminalized homosexuality. Leaders have a number of plans in the works for environmental projects and environmental training for teachers; sustainable development; and for combatting child labor and violence against children.
Attractions: The country is known for gorgeous hikes, crystal beaches, water sports, turtle-watching tours on Boa Vista and the country’s highest peak, Mount Fogo.
Issues to overcome: Human trafficking, sex tourism, violence against women and shark fishing (for fins).
Nonetheless, the list is worth checking out as some locations, such as Uruguay, do not have the cautionary “Issues to Overcome” .