ABSTRACT
Seasoned travellers and culturally sensitive tourists seek to blend in as citizens of the world, following a cultural code of conduct that is both respectful and responsible. Responsible travel or tourism is based on three interrelated principles when visiting a foreign land: (1) a genuine attempt to understand the host culture; (2) a respect for the people who live there; and (3) a commitment to tread lightly on the local environment (Lea, 1993; Scheyvens, 2002; Leslie, 2012). Seasoned travellers understand these qualities as an openness and opportunity to learn, embracing a position of culturally sensitive enquiry and humility.
Like individual tourists who follow their own responsible code of conduct when travelling in a foreign land, companies, organizations and government agencies sponsoring tourism activities and events are increasingly held responsible for ethical behaviours. The term responsible tourism (RT) emerged in the 1980s “as a way of doing tourism planning, policy and development to ensure that benefits are optimally distributed among impacted populations, governments, tourists and investors” (Husbands and Harrison, 1996, p. 1). In addition to seeking an equitable distribution of benefits or rewards, responsible tourism likewise seeks to limit the deleterious costs associated with these positive outcomes.
