09.02.12
The concept of eco-tourism as a place travel sector has been slammed by responsible tourism experts pining for to refocus the industry’s approach to sustainable travel.
Ruth Holroyd, collection head of sustainability at The Thomas Cook Group, challenged established perceptions of sustainable tourism at December’s World Green Tourism colloquy in Abu Dhabi.
She questioned whether an eco lodge, gentle on the environment but accessible only to a minimal wealthy few likely to arrive on scheduled flights, was really more sustainable than a on the loose but low impact hotel for the mass market, who would be travelling with limited budgets on hire flights and coaches.
“Why should sustainable tourism only be for small groups of more opulent people?” asked Holroyd.
“Others are entitled to it as well and in truthfully it is the mass form of sustainable travel that will really make a unlikeness to destinations,” she asserted.
Source: Hotelier Middle East