For conscious travelers who are just starting to look into traveling more sustainably, the terminology can be overwhelming. I hear a lot of questions like, what exactly is sustainable tourism? And how is it different from the terms sustainable travel, ethical travel, or ecotourism? When it comes to conscious travel, it’s understandable that negative words like greenwashing and over-tourism can cause some anxiety about doing the wrong thing, when you’re just trying to go on vacation. Not to mention adding the word responsible to anything that is supposed to be fun, like a trip you plan and pay for yourself, might sound really off-putting to most people. 

The importance of conscious travel terminology

If you want to travel more sustainably it means you’re making a conscious effort to help protect the environment, support the local economy, and respectfully help preserve the culture in a destination. If you’re already doing this – congrats! As a next step, if you understand the different terms used to describe “sustainable” options it means you’ll have an easier time making good decisions about where to go, where to stay, and how to travel better. It will help you know what questions to ask your travel advisor or tour operator, or if you’re booking through an OTA or directly.

The truth about sustainable and responsible travel

So what is the difference between sustainable travel, responsible travel, regenerative travel, and other terms? Are some better than others? The short answer is – applying sustainable practices to the broader tourism industry is relatively new and the words and phrases are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes correctly and sometimes not. Also, just because something is described as sustainable doesn’t mean it is (see the term greenwashing, below). 

The truth is that travel cannot be completely sustainable. More accurately, lodging, tour operators, transportation or activities can be eco-friendly, sustainability-minded, responsible etc – but not 100% sustainable. Which is great – progress vs. perfection! But if a company is calling itself fully sustainable it’s really a misnomer. Maybe they’re offsetting carbon and supporting a local NGO, installing solar panels or weeding out unethical wildlife interactions. But there could be other aspects of their operations that aren’t perfectly sustainable. There is not as yet one governing body that can deem every hotel or tourism business as sustainable or not, however there are certifications. If you want to nerd out and learn more from an industry standpoint, check out this info on certifications from GSTC – Global Sustainable Tourism Council. 

With that in mind, the below glossary of terms – which will be continually updated and revised as needed – should be helpful in continuing the journey toward becoming a more respectful, informed and empowered visitor in any destination.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM GLOSSARY

Asking what is responsible tourism is likely what led you to this glossary, and that’s why it’s first here (with the rest of the terms in alphabetical order).

Responsible Tourism / Responsible Travel

The definition of responsible tourism or responsible travel really encompass most of these other terms and ideas below. Ultimately responsible tourism and travel means tourism that takes into account the impact on the environment and local people in a destination, and the responsibility for minimizing negative impact and maximizing positive impact rests with BOTH the traveler as well as all entities in the region who are involved in tourism – the local, national, and international businesses including hotels, tour operators, and marketing organizations that are actively bringing tourists to the area.

Carbon Footprint and Carbon Offsetting

Simply put, your carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases we emit with our actions. Some of this is unavoidable. For example, if you have to work to live, and in order to work you have to take a form of transportation to get to another location, you are emitting greenhouse gases through energy of some kind. Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change. Because of flights and all the other transportation and movement associated with traveling, the tourism industry is said to be responsible for a whopping 8% of the world’s carbon emissions, according to Sustainable Travel International. You can even use STI’s digital platform to calculate your carbon footprint for any trip.

Citizen Science

The term Citizen Science is sometimes used to describe an activity that a traveler can partake in while on a trip that involves hands-on project work alongside a real professional scientist. The activity is typically related to environmental or wildlife conservation. Examples of citizen science include notching a rhino horn or putting a satellite collar on a cheetah, both of which enable research scientists to track the animals to learn about their behavior and it furthers conservation of the species. A gorilla habituation experience also falls under the definition of citizen science, which is something you can do when you go gorilla trekking – a bucket list experience that is a prime example of sustainable travel!

Community Tourism

The concept of community tourism is rooted in combining tourism initiatives with enterprises that are sustainable even without travelers. From a traveler’s perspective, a community tourism experience could look like a chocolate-making class led by a person in the community who has their own business making and selling chocolates; meaning that the chocolate business runs even without paying students, but the tourism aspect makes the business even more profitable and sustainable. It could also look like a homestay with a local family where you share meals and other social activities. Community tourism projects around the world help to alleviate poverty, especially in rural areas where economic opportunities can be hard to come by but where culturally curious travelers are drawn by nature experiences and “getting off the beaten path.”

Ecotourism / Ecolodge

Eco-related terms in travel tend to be mostly focused on experiences or accommodations that are related to the environment. Hotels that have banned plastics or developed water filtration systems might call themselves an eco-lodge. Some may refer to themselves that way just because of their location in a remote jungle, for example. This term can be tricky and even misleading due to greenwashing (see below). So it’s important to investigate the facts that support this type of labeling or branding.

Ethical Photography

There are some basic guidelines to consider when taking photos during a trip. I go into this in my guide for being a more conscious traveller. But some of the basics are mainly centered on how you photograph other people when you travel. First, make sure you have permission (especially if you are photographing children!), and make sure what you are photographing isn’t perpetuating stereotypes about the destination you’re in. Ask yourself your motivation for taking and/or sharing the photo.

Flight Shaming

It’s not a secret that air travel accounts for a LOT of carbon emissions. This fact has resulted in attention toward finding alternative ways to get from point A to B – namely, more environmentally friendly ways such as train travel. Some people in the industry who are very conscious of their impact on the environment have even sworn off flying altogether and committed to promoting more eco-friendly travel experiences that don’t include any flights, like road trips (still not perfect when it comes to releasing carbon into the atmosphere unless it’s an electric car) and bike tours. Some even go as far as trying to make anyone who DOES fly feel guilty – and this is called flight shaming.

Greenwashing

You might find a hotel property calls itself an eco-lodge, or “green” or “sustainable.” Just know that any company can use these words in their marketing and advertising to get bookings from consumers who have good intentions when it comes to their environmental impact.

Regenerative Travel

Within the realm of sustainable travel definitions there are multiple more nuanced terms, and one of those is regenerative travel or regenerative tourism. Where sustainability in travel really refers to creating balance, regenerative travel aims to actually rebuild or regrow ecological or economical aspects of a destination through tourism, rather than just minimize negative effects. There is even a network of hotel properties called Regenerative Resorts that are committed to the regenerative travel movement – check out this New York Times article for more about Regenerative Resorts and more details about regenerative tourism.

Overtourism

When too many people visit a travel destination and cause a strain on the local resources and make life difficult for residents, infrastructure, and wildlife, among other things, we refer to it as overtourism. We see examples of this all over the world. One of the most well-known examples is when the beach from the movie The Beach got so many visitors after the movie gained wild popularity that the beach got literally trashed and had to shut down for years. We see this in cities like Lisbon, Barcelona, Venice, where Airbnbs have pushed up the cost of real estate and pushed out local residents. In Tulum, a small town in Mexico that was once a quite haven for yogis and people who wanted to relax, the influx of people has caused an overgrowth in resorts, with crime along with it, meanwhile the town’s infrastructure like cash machines can’t keep up with the growth.

Undertourism

As you might guess, undertourism is the opposite of overtourism but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing. When a destination that would benefit economically on tourism dollars does not receive enough visitors to pump funding into it’s local economy or support wildlife initiatives it can cause problems, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Voluntourism 

When a person combines a vacation with a volunteer placement it’s referred to as voluntourism. Examples of voluntourism could include teaching English for a short time (without pay), building houses, providing medical care, and working on a farm, among many other kinds. Voluntourism can be ethical or unethical. When you are evaluating the quality of a voluntourism experience it’s important to ask the following questions:

• Am I trained or certified to do this work? Answer should be YES
• Is this work going to make a legitimate positive impact on the people or place I interact with? Answer should be YES.
• Am I taking a paid job away from someone in the local community? Answer should be NO
• Am I doing this mainly for my own benefit or bragging rights? Answer should be NO.

Examples of ethical voluntourism would be a real doctor providing medical care in an area that does not have enough trained doctors, such as a refugee camp or very rural village, or an experienced teacher who stays for a substantial enough period of time (a semester or academic year) to see their students make progress from their curriculum and lessons. Examples of unethical voluntourism (however well-intended it may be) could be any kind of temporary work in an orphanage, or providing medical care when you are not trained or licensed to do so. There are many other examples of each, those are just a few.

White Saviorism or White Savior Complex

The definition of white savior complex is what happens when the mindset of a white traveler from a developed country travels to the global south with the intention of “saving” people living in the destination they’re visiting. This term can often be associated with voluntourism. With the notion that just by being a white westerner they are equipped, qualified, or needed to make an impact. One of the most horrifying recent examples of white saviorism was Renee Bach, a young American woman who was eventually sued for being responsible for the deaths of children in Uganda after she opened a clinic there to treat the malnourished. She had no medical training but was reportedly performing procedures. This New Yorker article sums up the story pretty well. The organization and platform called No White Saviors is also great place to dig into this topic more. They also have a large following on their Instagram platform. For a humorous take on a serious subject, there is an Instagram account called Barbie Savior that offers a tongue-in-cheek look at this all-too-common modern phenomenon in travel.