Travel with Respect

An Indian proverb says: Tourism is like fire: You can cook your soup with it - or burn down your house.

Tourism is one of the most important economic sectors in the world. If offers many chances for the destination countries, especially for the less rich and less developed ones, to earn foreign currency and to improve the living conditions in their own communities.

However, the price for these advantages can be very high: Tourism can as well augment social imbalance, can cause severe environmental problems and overcharge local cultures.

Therefore we plead for a soft and sustainable tourism. Appreciation of the foreign aspects in your holiday country should be a central part of your travel. This counts for religion, tradition, time management as well as for manners and customs. We think that every traveller bears a great responsibility when diving into a foreign culture.

Some recommendations:

Try to leave all the daily stress and all your prejudices at home. Instead, take a good portion of curiosity, open-mindedness and tolerance with you.
Try to limit your trip to a small region, not to cover the whole country or even continent. :-)
Less is definitively more in this case.
Try to be courteous, friendly and patient. If you start yelling around in case of some problems, all you will achieve is losing your face and nothing more.
Try to be informed about your destination country, which limits the chance of offending the feelings of the people on the ground. Try to get unbiased and open-minded encounters with the foreign culture.
Especially as a women you should watch the wardrobe of the indigenous people. Provoking clothes will meet with incomprehension in many parts of the world. Also men should not go around in undershirts and also avoid wearing shorts, in case they want to be respected.
Don't be paranoid about diarrhoea and cleanliness. Some problems are normal because of the changed food and climate and will usually be over after only a few days. And if you cannot be without perfect cleanness and hygiene, restrict yourself to trips within your own culture area.
Inform yourself about the usual amount of tips in your destination country. Many service staff cannot survive without this additional income, so be generous, if you are satisfied with the service, but do not overdo it. In case you are not content, reduce the amount of your tip and explain the reason in a friendly way. Never be arrogant. And never get mixed up in bribe - you will only stimulate widespread corruption.
Never take pictures of people without asking for their permission or even against their will. With a smile, eye contact or a nod of the head you can in most cases get the permit for a photo. If you pledge to send a copy of the picture, please fulfill your promise, and be very restrained and tactful during ceremonies and rituals.
When buying souvenirs, you should take care to buy only things which were actually produced in your holiday country. This will support local handicraft and economy. Please do not buy antiquities and products made of endangered animal and plant species.
Bargaining is a communication game. The more you smile, the more fun you will have. If you accept the first price with a grim face, you lose your face and your money. :-)
Do not bargain to the last cent with the mostly very poor small traders. And if you do not like to bargain at all, just buy in shops with fixed prices.
The correct dealing with beggars is quite difficult. Observe whether the native people give small coins. In this case, you can give a very small amount, too. But never support beggar children, which are normally staying away from school to earn money on the streets. Instead of continuing this vicious circle, better support children projects in your holiday country.
Water is a very precious good in many countries. Please be modest in your water consumption, especially if water is already rationed for the local people.
Try to avoid waste on the ground and take problematical things like spray cans or batteries back home with you to dispose of them in an appropriate way.

For more information on the topics of soft and sustainable tourism please have a look at these links: