It is interesting to note that despite the general economic downturn in America and in much of the world, 31% of respondents said they would spend more on vacations in 2012, while 49% said they would spend the same as last year.

Here’s a breakdown in estimated spending by tourists in 2012:

• 79% spend $3,000
• 57% spend $5,000
• 21% spend $10,000 or more

90% of people are planning 2 or more leisure trips in 2012
24% are planning 5 or more trips

There clearly is no downturn in the tourism business. One presumes that the tougher economic climate will mean that there are more service providers in competition for this lucrative market. This competition will no doubt drive down prices. For example, already in Koh Samui hotels are regularly promotions dropping their prices by 20%. This is because the market in over-saturated -  40% occupancy rates are now common.

Types of trip

It is perhaps no surprise that the most popular type of tourist vacation is a beach trip (44%). Second is cultural trip to museums, places of historical interest etc. (42%). Third is to take a road trip (40%). The fourth most popular type of vacation is a city break (36%), and fifth is a romantic getaway (24%).

This confirms people’s love of the ocean, and is line with the fact that more than 50% of the world population lives within 60 km of the coast.

The hazardous effects of global warming that will raise water levels around the world will thus strike a bigger blow to the tourism sector than economic downturn.

In environmental terms, it is depressing to see that road trip features so heavily on the vacation favorites list. This is no doubt part of a function of the size of the USA and the iconic status ‘road trips’ have for denizens of America.

The TripAdvisor survey also showed a drop in popularity of trips to amusement parks as well as hiking trips and lake trips. While the demise of the high-carbon theme park is no bad thing from an environmental and cultural point of view, it is sad to see an abating interest in holidays where the aim is to get closer to nature (hiking trips and lake trips).

Countries

European travelers are always amused at the parochial nature of Americans. The 2012 survey largely confirms this perception of American tourists as being unadventurous. 68% of respondents said they would travel abroad; of these, 54% plan to go to Europe and 52% to either Canada or Mexico. Only 12% will travel to Asia.

Eco-trends

This makes disappointing reading. Not only does TripAdvisor underplay this subject in its survey, but moreover the actions that are mentioned are limited and smack of perfunctory effort:

• 71% people participate in a hotel’s towel or linen re-use program. Considering that just means throwing used towels on the bathroom floor, which is hardly a great eco-trend in tourism.
• 51% of people switch off the air-con and lights when they leave the room. This is probably to do with key cards that turn the power off when the room is vacated. The fact that 49% of people still waste electricity and contribute to carbon emissions by leaving the air-con on while they are away is not encouraging.

12% of people choose a hotel or resort for its ‘green’ credentials. This number could be bigger, but it is an encouraging trend in world tourism. It is hoped the increased competition for the tourist buck will see more environmentally friendly measures being taken by hotels and travel companies to tap into the green travel market.

Source of TripAdvisor story: www.multivu.com

With big chain hotels people felt reassured. The rooms were in neutral tones; CNN on the TV; hot water in the bathroom; free toiletries; and the people at reception spoke English. The staff could bring you a club sandwich and you could get a drink from the mini bar. That’s what people wanted, especially after dealing with the noise, crowds and poverty of places like India.

The main problems with big chain hotels are apparent. Firstly, they have a large carbon footprint both in their construction and in their running. Lots of air-con going in the rooms as well as the corridors. While the big hotels might employ lots of local people the profits are channeled out of the country and into the hands of big corporate entities. And in their uniformity these big hotels do not reflect in any deep way the culture which surrounds them.

In contrast boutique hotels in such places as Bangkok do seem more in line with responsible and eco-tourist principles.  For a start, since they are ’boutique’, it means that they are smaller. Thus, they have a smaller carbon foot print. Boutique hotels are often converted historical buildings. Thus, they are part of the culture where they are situated. This is a major point – some boutique accommodations help to preserve culture rather than threaten to drown it  in a standardized globalization format.

Finally, ownership of these specialized hotels is often local. While the owners are probably not philanthropists it does mean that more of the profits stay in the area and will no doubt find their way back into the local economy.

Thus, there is a strong case to be made that responsible tourists should choose boutique styled hotels.

The internet offers various channels through which men can meet Russian women with the most common being through dating sites. Online dating sites have members from every part of the world including Russia which makes it easy and convenient to meet and begin dating a Russian woman from the large pool of women on the website. The profile put up by a man interested in finding a Russian wife should be tailored to what they find appealing. Signing up on a Russian dating website may produce more results than on English speaking ones as they are not targeting women who want to get married.

Another option available is through the use of marriage agencies that are located online and can be quite convenient when looking for the love of a Russian woman. These agencies have database of mail order brides that make it much easier to select the ones that are the most appealing. A mail order bride in Russia puts up a profile that describes herself and her objective which is to be married, then she is selected by a man who proposes marriage after getting to know each other.

This bottle was from South America and was quite different though.  First I saw a note which talked about how the bottle was made from a plant instead of from glass.  I know glass is actually really environmentally friendly if people recycle it, but I have friends that live in Dallas, so I know the rest of the world isn’t as serious about it as my neighbors and I are.

Anyway, outside of the plant made bottle which decomposes naturally in any landfill over the course of about a decade (or composts in about a month believe it or not) the bottle also came with a natural cork enclosure.  That’s pretty cool in my book!

Anyway, if you’re looking to suppose a cool environmental winery in South America.  It’s called Cabeeta and is located just outside the more famous Mendoza wine region.  I think being just outside of that wine region is part of the reason they had to take the huge step of becoming so environmentally friendly.

It would be wrong to imagine that partying in a foreign country is by definition diametrically opposed to either sustainable tourism or responsible tourism. On the other hand, several parties around the world do have a reputation for excess, for drugs, for environmental damage and cultural pollution. Perhaps the best example to take to discuss this topic is famous (or infamous) Full Moon Party on Phangan Island in Thailand.

Koh Phangan is Thailand’s fifth biggest island. It is a designated eco-tourist area that retains 90% of its original rain forest cover thanks to zoning and a population keen to avoid the mistakes made on the neighboring island of Samui.

Until the Full Moon Party really started to attract large numbers of people to the island it was a quiet place famous for its laid back atmosphere, simple bungalows and low-key backpacker and hippy tourist industry.

That all changed in the early 2000s as news of the Full Moon Party spread far and wide and attracted a party minded set of young people to the island. In many cases these new devotees of Koh Phangan cared very little about Thai culture, picking up a few words of the language or staying in cheap fan bungalows on the beach. Whereas, they don’t openly smoke marijuana on the beach they do raid the pharmacies prior to the party and organize other class A substances for the party. Since nothing is smoked openly on the beach the organizers and authorities can claim the party is now ‘clean’.

This is very far from responsible tourism. The locals gain a bad impression of foreigners, Thai culture is not respected and money is being funneled into the hands of the gangs.

It is a pity because the original parties were a chance for locals and tourists to mingle and get to know each other. Parties are very much part of Thai culture, since having fun, drinking and smoking a bit of weed was never really frowned on until tourism highlighted this part of Thai culture that does not fit in with American values.

In short, there is nothing wrong with partying with the locals. It can be done in the right way. Big commercial events that pollute the beach and create large black markets are not sustainable or desirable in the long run.

Responsible Tourism is commonly regarded as a set of behaviors that has the same goal as sustainable tourism: namely, the development of a sustainable system of tourism that benefits tourists, local inhabitants and the environment.

It is possible to break down responsible tourism into the following behaviors according to the Cape Town Declaration:

• Minimize negative economic, environmental and social impacts
• Improve the economy for the host community
• Involve local people in decision making that impacts their lives
• To make a positive contribution to the conservation of environmental and cultural resources of the host area
• Provide more opportunity for meaningful interactions between tourists and local inhabitants
• Increase cultural sensitivity and maintain the pride and dignity of the host community

The success of responsible tourism is not simply in the hands of the foreign visitor. Because the goal is to benefit the local inhabitants there has to be shops, accommodation, tours and transport that is controlled by the local inhabitants in order for this to happen. Although many tourist locations will employ ‘local’ people to work in the tourist business, it is often the case that the owners and the main financial beneficiaries of tourism are people who come from and live outside of the host community. In many cases the owners are foreigners from Europe, America or China with priorities based on the profit motive, not the welfare of the local people or the preservation of the local environment.

To be a responsible tourist it is often necessary to be pro-active; to by-pass the travel agent system and to eschew the traditional hotel. This is what humane tourism attempts to do by using the internet to arrange host family situations where the tourist lives with the locals and gets to experience life as the locals do.

There is risk in this approach as trust is needed on both sides. Moreover, many traditional tourists are reluctant to forego the luxuries of beach front accommodation, swimming pools and room service.

Another challenge to meeting the criteria of responsible tourism is language. Meaningful interactions are limited when a common language is not shared. Traditionally conversations between tourists have been based upon the nexus of services and goods – which means asking for prices, ordering food, inquiring about transport times etc. To get beyond this better communication skills are required on both sides as well as a change in mind-sets: tourists must take a genuine interest in the life and traditions of the host people, and the local inhabitants have to stop viewing tourists as simply a means of making money.

The final challenge for the responsible tourist is preserving the environment and local culture. It can be hard to carry home two weeks of trash with you. Just consuming bottles of water, coke and imported alcohol means a large carbon expenditure. Moreover, coastal communities often find it hard to maintain decent sanitation and waste disposal. Sadly, the only solution is often burning or landfill. While local products should be preferred it is often hard to choose the least polluting products to buy. Information about this can be hard to come by. Perhaps some areas are too important in terms of biodiversity to allow any tourism.

In terms of culture, a respectful attitude is a must. However, a tourist often represents a different society and set of values which is hard to disguise even if tablet computers, digital cameras etc. are kept out of view. The culture of consumerism is polluting and tourism is sadly part of that culture. There is no disguising the fact that the tourist is the ‘rich’ person who can afford to go to the host location. This sends out cultural messages that are hard to stop becoming prejudices that will affect generations of local people who see tourists come and go and leave behind paper money.

These are all valid issues for those who want to be responsible tourists in the Twenty-first Century.

Kuraburi is not a well known holiday destination in Thailand. It is a remote area surrounded by beautiful rolling hill scenery that is the northern corner of Phang-Nga Province, about 120 km south of Ranong City. Kuraburi is notable not only for the natural beauty of the area but also for the Kuraburi Greenview Resort which makes more effort than most other resorts in Thailand to be environmentally friendly.

It is often the case that the ‘eco’ or ‘sustainable’ label is used merely as window dressing in Thailand in order to charge customers a premium rate. One resort will have its own desalination plant, another will use locally sourced materials, and another might offer uPVC windows. All these measures help to reduce carbon emissions and conserve natural resources, but the measures are applied in a piecemeal way that reveals insincere motives on the part of the developers.

Although Greenview Resort in Kuraburi is far from perfect, they do make more of an effort to care for the natural environment. For a start, the resort is at a slight altitude. Despite charging mid-range prices the accommodation is without air-con. This is most unusual for Thailand where installing air-con is an obvious way to command higher rental fees. Rather the rustic cottages use clay and other natural materials to improve insulation in the rooms and keep out the heat. This improves the energy efficiency of the resort and greatly lowers its carbon foot print.

Another good eco-feature of Greenview Resort is the swimming pool which avoids chlorination and instead uses mountain water run off.

The resort is set around a gorgeous lake. There are several activities on offer such as kayaking, trekking, mountain biking and rock climbing. For those who love undisturbed nature it is a great spot. The only other things in the area is the bus stop and Klong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary where  elephant, gaur, tapir, serow, sambar, clouded leopard, sun bear, Great Argus, and king cobra can be spotted.

The park is well maintained and rarely visited. So if you want more of an ‘eco’ experience in Thailand that combines plenty to do, then Kuraburi is a good place to start.

Eco tourism is defined as tourism that sends people to relatively untouched parts of the world and that is sensitive to the impact to nature caused by humans. Eco tourism is an attempt to allow tourism that does not damage nature or traditional culture. It is an idea that has massive appeal as those with money can now visit places in good conscience. They can see wonderful things and feel at the same time that their money is helping the local environment and indigenous people.

Since the 1980s the eco tourism sector has grown and grown. It is the fastest growing sector in tourism – growing at an annual rate of between 10% – 15%. Tourism is one of the few sectors of the world economy that continues to grow despite the ups and downs in the world economy. It has become so important that the IMF now includes stipulations about tourism as part of its preconditions for lending money to developing countries.

The Pros of Eco-tourism

If done rightly eco tourism has several advantages. It is more concerned with the environment and does encourage developers to build with more consideration for the natural environment. This means that more natural habitat is preserved and that the resources for building come from sustainable sources. This is the theory anyway.

Another advantage is that eco tourism provides an income for local inhabitants in an area. The argument is that if the local people can generate revenue from showing tourists around a jungle, lake, savannah etc. then it is much better than killing elephants for their ivory or capturing gorillas to sell on the black market. Moreover, showing people a rainforest rather than logging the forest is a good compromise if the forest is preserved.

People in the developed world through eco tourism get to experience places of great natural significance as well as interact with local and indigenous people. It is hoped that this contact will benefit both parties, fostering better understanding of the issues on the ground, and overcoming prejudice.

The Cons of Eco-tourism

It is felt by some environmentalists that there should be some parts of the world that are ‘off bounds’ for any tourists as any human activity will damage the eco system and disrupt the routine of the animals.

Although scuba divers try to be careful, any tourist scuba business is going to have a negative impact on fragile coral marine environments. Although, people walking carefully through the forest might not do much harm, building their eco lodges does.

A good example of this is the safari business in Africa. Tour jeeps going across the savannah scare off the animals that the lions rely on catching. The result is that lions can no longer hunt in parts of Kenya and Tanzania during the morning when the tour jeeps are out. They have to wait until the hottest part of the day to hunt. This is draining for them and affecting lion numbers.

The Masai people in Kenya have been moved out of their traditional lands because of the demarcation of National Parks for eco tourism. They are settled on land next to the reserves. Much of the best land next to the reserves has gone to non-local people and eco tourist operators. When animals come on to this communal land any damage caused by the animals is not compensated by the government. The result is that the Masai who once co-existed with the animals of the savannah now come to regard them as pests.

Another issue for the Masai and other indigenous people is that they have become ‘tourist attractions’ that are expected to pose for the cameras and perform dances etc. for money. Not only is this extremely patronizing, but it is discouraging the Masai and other indigenous people from pursuing their traditional life styles. Unwittingly the tourists are destroying the culture that they are paying to preserve.

Eco-tourism seeks to go to the remotest places. These places are often not well policed. There is nothing stopping people taking money from tourists as well as pursuing environmentally unfriendly activities. In the case of Brazil, illegal logging will not stop because of eco-tourism because the logging companies make too much money.

It seems that the cons often outweigh the pros of eco tourism. It might be better to take pictures of animals rather than shoot animals, but given the choice the animals would sooner not have people around. Policing of eco tourism is another matter. Do eco tourist outfits deliver what they promise? It seems whether eco tourism should be allowed should be judged case-by-case, and that the consultation must include the local people, and not the IMF.

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to spend an extended period of time travelling extensively through South East Asia, Australasia and South America.  Although taking an aeroplane to these continents didn’t help reduce my carbon emissions, when I was actually on the ground I tried my best to keep my carbon footprint as small as possible.  One of the ways I wanted to try and make this work was to use the local populations ways and means of travel instead of just getting on the more convenient tourist bus that would pick me up outside my door, whisk me through the country with preplanned stops at particular vendors, and then drop me at a convenient destination.

This wasn’t just about ‘keeping it green’, but rather, I wanted to immerse myself in the culture and lives of the local people.  I had read so many stories before I went away of people just following the ‘Gringo trail‘ and only visiting predetermined places that were built up around tourist trade, but I wanted to see the real country and that meant finding the real people.  Travelling on those local buses, not entirely sure of where I was going to end up was a dream come true.  I met some many wonderful people who would do anything to help you out and it cost me what it would cost them to get about – so another added bonus!

What more could you ask for – meet the locals, keep the budget low and save the planet! All worthy points in my eyes!

There were a few times when the going got tough though, times that I just wished I had kept it simple.  One of those times was when I was in Peru.  I got into a little town after dark, it was freezing and I couldn’t find anywhere open.  I had walked around for 10 minutes and the cold was really getting to me – so much so that I began dreaming of being at home, central heating turned on full blast and my mother making me a roast dinner!  At the time, I didn’t realise the danger I was in but a nice local school master pretty much saved my life!  A local child had seen me wondering about and because of my appearance she wouldn’t approach me but instead told her parents about me.  In turn, they went and got the local school master who had a basic command of English and he came and found me wondering about and led me off to the only guest house in town, down a small back alley which I would have never gone down if it wasn’t for him.  They got me fixed up for the night and I arranged to meet with him the next day so I could show my gratitude.  When I met him, he insisted that I have lunch with him at his expense.  All he wanted was to practise his English with me so we had a nice relaxed lunch and I answered his questions about England and he helped me make some travel plans for my next destination.  Those were the real moments that I felt I was really travelling!

As a business owner, learning how to file bankruptcy can do more than protect your personal assets.  It can provide a way to keep your business alive.  A qualified bankruptcy lawyer can examine your financial situation and find ways to alleviate some of the pressure, giving you time to come up with a new business strategy that will keep your doors open and your staff employed.  Understanding the new bankruptcy guidelines is of paramount importance, and with local and regional governments keen to keep existing businesses in operation, bankruptcy experts are able to provide much needed aid and relief.  Existing debt can be reduced, enabling a business owner some room to adjust to economic conditions, even possibly to move to a more tourist-friendly environment.  People need to know what options they have available to them before they make poor choices.