The Last Tourist | Full Documentary
foreign [Music] foreign tourism it's considered a wonderful break from The Real World [Music] foreign tourism has apparently damaged the nation's Coastline one last photo one last chance for hundreds of tourists to visit Maya Bay the beach is being put out of bounds to years of unrestricted tourism [Music] holidays become cheaper and more people flood into tourism hot spots over tourism and environmental decorations and some of the most popular say there are just too many they follow the same Roots see the same sites their impact is devastating [Music] dude she and another tourist are accused of spray painting graffiti on an ancient wall tourism can kill place that was so beautiful can become overused exploited and trashed Mass tourism has led to destruction as it led to the destruction of the very things that they've come to see every year thousands of British in Thailand and load of them can't wait to get a tourist has been caught on camera carrying a dolphin on a beach it's almost a disposable engagement and economy [Music] you live with a certain set of values at home and why would you suspend those values when you decide to take a holiday it's a different set of behavior principles but we're wasteful we tend to eat more the tourist industry is a huge Cash Cow but locals don't see much of that Revenue the exploitation of the working class by the hotel industry that we have people who say that these volunteer trips abroad are sometimes only about the photo ops [Music] travel is in a very unfortunate State at the moment as tourists we're just such unconscious consumers oh yeah like a lot of Travelers I started out as a Backpacker in Africa when I traveled to Asia late 70s I was already starting to see negative impacts of Tourism so it set me off looking for the unspoiled the Uncharted and that eventually led me to a place called copengan in Thailand when I arrived in copengan in 1979 I was the first tourist to have arrived on that beach there was one Thai family a fisherman living there his name was some Boon and his wife Chong and I stayed with them for three months and it was magical and I made a little map of that location and unfortunately I shared that with one person it was my girlfriend at the time and that map found its way to others and soon other tourists began arriving now I never went back but in 1993 I opened New York Times magazine and I was stunned I saw a photograph of the beach with thousands and thousands of people celebrating something called the full moon party it was out of control masses of trash out of control development ripped ripped me apart from inside to think that from the time I had arrived there in 1979 within a period of 10 years this place was being utterly and totally destroyed we have got to get tourism right because if we don't we're going to see copengan reproduced around the world wow [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Applause] [Music] even Anaconda is yes [Music] the Concentra is [Music] important services [Music] thank you we are born explorers we have a carnal desire to want to travel dream about travel our ancestors were all Explorers people risked their lives to travel originally travel opens our eyes and we learn so much about the world and about ourselves sense of our innate curiosity we're driven by a desire to experience and to learn [Music] we were born to explore we were born to want to seek out new experiences learn from other cultures and somewhere along the way you become a tourist you become someone who is disconnected from the very place you're traveling to this is the way to travel relax and enjoy yourself yes this is the way to travel back in the 1950s when World tourism Massachusetts was just beginning the first Jets were crossing the Atlantic Ocean there were 25 million International trips a year last year that number was 1.3 billion that's a multiplication of 52 times [Music] fully loaded jumbo jet the aircraft which will revolutionize the future of civil aviation Captain Jess trantor and his crew brought the first jumbo from the states in just over six and a half hours with the Advent of mass air travel in the 1960s 747 when it was inaugurated was three times bigger than any public airplane before so we've gone through a journey of global Mass travel today with technology you can find ways to get to pretty much any part of the world now the world has become an oyster for the masses over tourism is simply too many people in the same place at the same time the increase in visitors to the point where it is too much for the landscape and the environment it's too much for the local residents so you're seeing examples of it in what are sometimes called Honeypot destinations there are places that people just really want to go places that used to be protected are becoming more accessible places that are really being loved to death we're having an infinitely growing number of tourists going to finite places that are exactly the same size they were back in 1950. it's a fascinating history because it has everything to do with what was a great success the end of the Cold War literally half of the world had been cut off from the other half during the Cold War one of the first things the end of the Cold War did was open borders around the world and with those open borders trade around the globe you saw the growth of the middle class all of this within literally about a decade this is astonishing we have Emerging Markets such as China and India coming onto the sea in terms of the affordability of travel simultaneously we had a great technological leap the internet tourism is not an elite hobby anymore tourism has become a global industry this industry is covering our entire planet eighty percent of the world's countries count tourism in their top five foreign exchange revenues one out of ten jobs in the planet is connected to the travel and tourism industry there's more Travelers it's easier and cheaper to travel and the way we experience and our expectations for what we want when we travel have changed [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the Advent of social media has completely changed the way we've traveled we're going after a photograph rather than actually truly having an experience holidays are a status symbol you work hard and you earn that vacation with your family once a year it's status [Music] 29 of millennial Travelers said they wouldn't go to a destination if they couldn't post about it on Instagram okay [Music] people see their their friends who have taken a picture of themselves in a beautiful spot and it spreads and it goes viral and then everybody wants to go to that same beautiful spot social media has become like the ultimate tasting menu some of the most isolated and fragile areas are now getting inundated with people who just simply really want to say I was here is that is that our tourism industry are we just traveling for the iconic photo or are we really trying to truly change the way that we learn and gain and benefit and become enriched from travel um foreign foreign [Applause] [Music] thank you right now two cruise ship is there and I can't believe nothing is not here it's just as dry as all you see and it's not only two days like always for a good while now it's like about five years now we have no season and the cruise ships comes in like always and nothing for the locals some keep on wondering what is going on for us over two months now I have make a sale at my store my rent is just spoiling up and I can't make no money we are not benefiting from tourism tourists we don't get from the cruise ships that come into Montego Bay [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Applause] [Music] breaks the sun in the largest racetrack at Sea zooming past Alaska's glaciers or pristine Caribbean beaches when you find yourself like on a go-kart track on a cruise ship in the middle of an ocean and they've sold it to you at some point you don't think this is kind of weird [Applause] [Music] the cruise ship business model is to basically keep the money not surprisingly flowing back to the ship [Music] there's seminars on how to go shopping to fulfill your diamond wardrobe [Music] making sure you have a thread count in your bed sheets and you have amenities in your bathroom and you have five swimming pools and six restaurants to choose from and you can be in the Caribbean make sure you still get Italian food just think maybe we should just leave another word for it because it's not travel anymore because you're you're being transplanted from one Western environment to another Western environment so let's just call it like a transfer of environments most of the tours that they take onshore are sold actually on the ship and the ship takes a hefty commission a tour costs eighty dollars forty dollars of that goes back to the ship as a commission in addition to that there are designated shops and restaurants on Shore that the cruise lines have done arrangements with so every time you shop in one of those stores the cruise lines get a commission you arrive you're given a little map of where you're supposed to shop and warned not to shop anywhere else because you can't trust the locals it's the exact opposite of a real experience the reality is that there have been surveys of visitors and when you look at how important is it that a particular Resort or tour operator is keeping locals in mind it's actually 10 percent that consider that travel has taken a turn and the destination is no longer relevant I was born in Trinidad I can speak firsthand there's a tension that's built between local people and the tourists and that tension is being used by the tour operators to build compound walls people into isolation because they're saying you know don't leave these walls because the natives are restless because they are restless because they're not benefiting for the fact that you're living in luxury consuming Mass amounts of resources but outside of those walls there's not access to Medical Care or clean drinking water traditionally tourism has been a one-way conversation [Music] change your bed clean your room wait on your table their wages are not very good at all so you have very wealthy industry that pays very low 50 a month for a waiter on the one hand Travelers being the source of money and on the other one workers being the source of profit and the judges treat them like objects being exploited [Music] thank you all inclusive travel packages deny host communities they don't just deny them Revenue they deny them even the richness of integration with Traveler [Music] [Music] oh [Music] how will tourism connect cultures when we have all-inclusive packages that keep you in your hotel in one place [Music] indeed tourism can be a great distributor of wealth only if we manage the distribution of the revenue that comes from tourism if we don't do that tourism will not contribute to development in destinations [Music] [Music] I'll use a typical Kenyan example you're going to Masai Mara in Kenya if my trip costs five thousand dollars I book a whole package how much of that 5 000 ends up in Maasai Mara where your Lodge is located and where you will enjoy your Safari in a case like Kenya only 14 of every dollar that's spent in the country stays in the country the other 86 leaves the country in terms of foreign ownership by hotels or Airlines or transportation in terms of food that needs to be brought in from somewhere else anything that the country does not keep in their local pocket is called vacation [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] and in other countries too is that a lot of the foreign hotel chains will simply build their hotels import the food import all kinds of things and take up that space so the locals aren't doing it so that you are changing what that City or place is by making a foreign and not local you're depriving the locals of a lot of economic space and cultural space most of the money goes to International companies [Music] tourism has created consumption patterns in the minds of The Traveler that need to be deconstructed a little bit we have to change our mindsets about travel if you're going to Africa especially with the rise of luxury travel to go into a luxury Lodge and have gourmet meals and sit in your air conditioning and then you know on your ride in from the airport you may have seen living conditions which really can be quite devastating and this is absolutely a bubble that you're in by not integrating communities and you find unfortunately for some destinations they most acclaimed tourism destinations also have the highest levels of poverty but why does it happen because they were never integrated into the tourism value chain come down we talk about tourism creating jobs in destination I would never question what kind of jobs [Music] [Music] it's important to pay attention to how tourism impacts the developing world because of the vulnerability of the relations that live in tourism destinations this is unlike the West right where tourism still happens but their host communities are not as vulnerable [Music] this vulnerable populations live on a day-to-day basis it's about survival every day and they can be exploited by any economic activity because they desperately are in need of transforming their lives [Music] their ability to question and to challenge capitalists and government policy becomes very difficult Asia Africa South America this is where this Crossroads this critical Crossroads of poverty indigenous culture and biodiversity are all found in the same place and this is where tourism is going into right now we are traveling some of the most innate countries in the world yet people are coming in and out of those countries and not benefiting local communities we as tourists have kind of lost the plot I think we're at a Tipping Point we have a fundamental problem with tourism [Music] the biggest challenge facing the tourism industry today is the need for a paradigm shift a change in the way of thinking of how we do travel [Music] please [Music] you know Machu Picchu is a tourism hot spot where there's you know hundreds of thousands of people are going there every year local communities migrate to where there's jobs are opportunities the Andean communities that live in the rural areas the younger Generations moving to the cities for work ing in retail stores and restaurants selling things on the street opportunities for them to stay within their communities becomes an issue [Music] oh [Music] my God in the area surrounding Machu Picchu there's very few jobs available so The Travelers pay thousands of dollars for their holidays but outside of those tourism hot spots they just drive right through and ignore all the other communities foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] and ah me Miss Abuelos is Abuela yeah foreign foreign [Music] [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign foreign animal s [Music] okay what's the one [Laughter] you oh [Laughter] [Music] wow [Laughter] [Music] our research shows that the people who are buying tickets to these Wildlife attractions are Wildlife lovers and they have no idea that they're harming the very animals they care about actually I'm really not sure what's natural and what's not I have less knowledge and that makes makes it for me really hard to have a great opinion about all the centers here [Music] what happened after the show actually I think if they just to do the show and then they will go to a to a nice page with some forests and they will be treated well then I have that's a bad feeling [Music] if that's how they live actually I feel bad yes [Music] more than 500 000 animals are suffering around the world for different types of tourist attractions just to entertain people [Music] come on okay [Music] it's completely shocking it's a lot of Cruelty Tigers bread for tourism exhibited sometimes in very small enclosures or in cages tigers are used for selfies that tiger was likely drugged and dolphin experiences are also very popular in Caribbean and Mexico elephants are still being poked from the wild for tourists to ride them in order to force them to perform silly tricks for people I'm seeing a very sad distorted version of that animal [Music] and those are the kind of things tourists need to learn about oh foreign ERS who have knowledge about the places they have visiting because they have sat behind their computers they have clicked online travel agent and been given the glossy picture of where everything is but they are not aware of what is happening about what they're dealing with when they come to destinations [Music] I think that tourism that doesn't have knowledge about the people in destinations that we travel to it's not troubled it becomes more of a holiday from the reality of places [Music] poverty it's vulnerability of marginalized communities gender inequality in problems have existed in the world for ages and ages tourism didn't cause these problems but every single person who decides to become a tourist have to make a choice whether I am going to be part of the solution or not [Music] tourism is a big industry I mean it's a booming industry and more and more people are talking about responsible tourism sustainable tourism they're talking about how they can give back to the communities and how they can make their experiences of travel more meaningful but there has to be an interaction there has to be a sharing there has to be a knowledge [Music] it's when we travel to different places we learn about things there are other worlds possible there are other ways of being you know we build an understanding of the world which is so much more diverse than where I live and what I know about everything is good foreign [Music] thank you [Music] one in three women globally have faced violence in her lifetime in India more than 90 of the cases of violence that happen against women are happening in their families and communities the reality is that women's own homes and their own communities are the most violent places if you look at the records of crime against women across the world it's not just in India that we are fighting against operation can tourism be a part of the solution [Music] is [Music] [Applause] um create [Music] yeah foreign thank you [Music] for travelers new visitor place you become part of that place from the moment you arrive by what you do where you spend your money who you talk to how you behave there's an interaction going on this wallet is a vote and every dollar euro you spend is sending a message I like this do more of it there are more than 3 000 elephants suffering in tourist attractions across southeast Asia in Vietnam Cambodia and Thailand is really the hot spot for this what people don't realize is the harsh treatment that the elephants have to endure in order to accept a person on their back the tourists expect to see the elephant performing is no way for the elephant will be performing without train see that this is this is they come together the only way that is to take the baby separate from the mother it's terrific really I hate to tell people about it but I think people need to know that any elephant that's forced to give tourist rides or perform circus-like tricks for them was beaten into submission foreign [Music] about three days for the bow weeks or two weeks in every day they will train elephant and beef and start to let them know the hook some they tied the trunk on the pores when I start to ask them why you tie the trunk the man who trained elephant he said you have to tie the trunk because it's all old elephant kill himself how they killed himself by their own tongue who lost the blood [Music] then the elephant's experienced post-traumatic stress disorder you can see them rocking back and forth pacing these are called stereotypical behaviors we've never seen them in the wild in elephants foreign or monkey and lions and tigers they become psychotic they show very abnormal behavior pacing back and forth and in the end we'll become deeply depressed and just withdraw into him or herself like a person would you see the same with with orphaned children and some of these terrible orphanages oh [Music] objective describes does it describe a noun what is unknown [Music] I don't have any teaching qualification I've not done my teaching English as a second language qualification it's not necessary if you want to spend time with the children and enjoy spending time with children it's all you need and like a basic understanding of English yourself it's super easy to volunteer we emailed Maybe three weeks before coming here absolute most video called us the night before to confirm times make sure everything was all okay and then yeah then we were here within 24 hours it was so simple it could have been any easier volunteering is one of Tourism Industries fastest growing Trends and is often unregulated about two billion dollars a year spent through volunteerism by sending out 10 million volunteers I spent my entire childhood in institutional care the number of volunteers that came in through the doors foreign of tourists coming in to a school and disturbing a class guys I found the kindergarten to play with the kids to take selfies with them she's gonna let me come see the babies we can't really talk to each other but honestly they just want to touch you sometimes give out candy and then also expect the children to do a performance for them would this happen in your own country probably not so why do tourists think it's okay to do it in developing countries see the save your complex this idea that you can go abroad without skills without qualifications but if you know the local language have worked with the issue before it's this rooted in this belief that you can actually change societies and communities let's be honest here this is neo-colonialism this is deeply rooted in prejudice white beautiful the visible impact of volunteerism is what we see is the pictures from those who went to the orphanage is the report from the company the amount that was contributed but they invisible emotional impacts that happens when we go to these places and leave is undocumented home here I've been here since I was in grade four we were around 42 children I've been here for eight years and here there was this is where we used to play and hear mostly when the volunteers could come here we could just entertain them in 2008 I boarded an airplane from Toronto to Nairobi I remember meeting terracia very well teresia was one of the older girls at the orphanage she was friendly she approached me she cuddled with me she wanted to talk to me play with my hair braid my hair and I'll be honest this just made me feel absolutely wonderful [Music] okay so this thing that I get donation from Korean girl we're just calling this a restaurant the money that I can support for this building I owe a lot of money from the bank 50 South 50 000 from the bank since two thousand student there's been a 75 increase in orphanages and this directly reflects the tourism industry so what this 75 increase shows is that orphanage tourism has become a lucrative business show you the accommodation for the volunteer and guests of visitor so the volunteer they can sleep in ladies the volunteer come that we ask them to pay for accommodation majority of the orphanages follow a very similar pattern so you usually see a lot of children in very dire conditions The Operators want to pull at the heartstrings of these Travelers and these volunteers to get the donations from them at the end orphanages has become a dirty word they've rebranded themselves as child centers or Residential Care institutions so they can still attract volunteers attract Travelers under the same game about 80 of children living in orphanages have at least one living parent s foreign [Music] [Music] Ty is a big factor communities they are quick to push children into these places as a quick fix and unfortunately that does not work in the children's interests so what then does that tell you voluntourism fuels the demand for children to be in these facilities he was a separation of children from their families of origin ating to them to stay let them stay all together as I think in the future [Music] for me I'm Freedom I'm loved them like my children like I take care of the children in here it is very difficult to separate volunteerism from they kind of often a zoo kind of Tourism where we go and we click and we we cuddle animals and we take nice pictures and we go to offerage homes through volunteers and do exactly the same thing it's a mirror of what we do with animals in the zoo do this with little ones children with another human being [Music] [Music] it's very painful memories I'm thinking how many years I wasted in depression [Music] we knew we had family members who loved us but you describe yourself as a total offer and we had nobody nobody totally share with the truth foreign [Music] foreign [Music] came into my life today then tomorrow the one there I felt worthless and deserving you can tell that all of the children here they want that relationship that connection they just want to be with you they will write messages like we love you so much thank you for helping our school thank you for bringing money [Music] and I'm learning that those hugs and affection they're a sign of an attachment disorder they will be unable to form healthy bonds later in life I was just one of many volunteers who came through a rotating door off a bus to hug them to play with them causing them harm I had all the best of intentions but in hindsight I didn't do my homework I didn't take the time to really understand what communities needed what my impact would have been on those communities or why those children were there and when I got there I really learned the horrible truth they were there because I wanted to be there not because they needed to be there and because of people like me they were separated from their families [Music] one in three ends up homeless one in seven gets involved in prostitution one in five has a criminal record and one in ten ends up committing suicide these are experiences I have lived through I'm the last one in a family of six and we were six of us taken to an orphanage we all left at different times but it was not long after that my brother committed suicide [Music] and so for many children that are going through what I went through it's important that we think really about what is right for them it's a really sad day as well because all of our volunteer teacher will leave us so sing loudly please [Music] and how can they still get to be in families I think how can they get to experience the love and care of a family [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] there are different ways of doing volunteerism and we can do volunteerism without being disruptive but still living a positive footprint and in situations where we can determine that positive footprint in advance and we can be accountable for our actions I think it's the best way of volunteering so talk to us just a little bit about the staheli foundation that you helped found after do after making this a couple of years later we came together and realizing what was actually happening in the in the institution staheli was born it wasn't initially born as an NGO it started [Music] the most important thing about being a responsible traveler is to be an informed traveler for me uh the travels that I took were really my education to lead us in the direction of ensuring that this massive industry that we call travel and tourism and all of its components protects the very places we visit [Music] copengan it was a real dramatic experience that kind of made me begin to question conservation from a different perspective and suddenly tourism became a part of that we should ask more questions about the places that we want to visit and I'm not asking the traveler to be government I'm not asking them to be the inspector of Tourism I'm just asking them to put value and the places that they visit what if we could harness tourism what if tourism was done differently what if tourism was based on supporting local people what if tourism actually invested and supported the very places that people were traveling to see I couldn't see our heart Avocado now bye-bye bye-bye love it foreign there are many places that have rescued elephants from these other tourist attractions these elephants can't be released into the wild but there is hope for the elephants that are currently in captivity if we are to phase out elephant rides they still could have a life worth living if they're provided a proper natural environment be sustainable by tourist visitor and use the money to you know expand the land and rescue more elephant we don't train them with the trust but we train them with love [Music] you can as a tourists feel good about supporting these venues and seeing elephants in proper sanctuaries those people are leading the way and helping us shift this change in tourism demand [Music] that's my baby I rescue her rescue them when Die Young yeah they're often he had often [Music] the most animal right people just said that they love animals but they hate people for me you know My Philosophy no I just believe that if you want to change something change the people from your heart don't hate them the important fact that unless we work to improve the lives of local communities around an area that we want to conserve if we don't do something to help the people we can't even try to conserve the animals responsible tourism is tourism that puts people fast it must be inclusive of the people in destinations that we traveled to if communities are helped a little bit then they do better [Music] myself I come from the hilltie family I come from the poor family I love animal and I I want to help animals people believe anymore doesn't have feelings and they think only us the human that feel love feel angry feel pain feel lost but they'd never know that it's the animals feel the same of us they're not different from us [Music] and when I see the people love to come and see animal performing I think because people didn't know the truth so that's why we need education we need to tell them [Music] the more people education the more people will care for the others because if tourists didn't go and pay money to see these entertainments then the entertainments would change is the time for us to get educated and start to think about that before you're traveling respect for the other life but if we don't demand of it they will keep selling us the same packages when we as Travelers begin to demand this then the travel industry will give it to us [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] and even the foreign [Music] tourists tourism has played a significant role in helping women drivers that those who are in more vulnerable positions get opportunities for a livelihood with dignity thriving it strikes at the heart of patriarchy because patriarchy one of the key things it rests upon is restriction of Mobility for women and it's linked to the holy show of violence normally little girls grew up inside homes they are not even allowed to be on the roads and streets [Music] driving it brings women out of their homes onto the roads behind powerful cars I think anyone who has ever learned driving in their lives will identify with that feeling because it does make you feel empowered today in Delhi we have nearly 40 cars and we are able to give employment to more than 100 women chauffeurs through this initiative we believe that women need to get into the travel industry because there's a huge transformative impact that this amount of money has women are able to negotiate delayed marriages or better marriages or work out of violent relationships ultimately if there are just more number of women on the road their own homes will also become safer for themselves foreign [Music] foreign [Music] ERS we should seek more to connect with the reality of places we need a change of mindsets to become more aware travelers to become more conscious Travelers we need the industry in itself to transform and change completely thank you thank you foreign on the way to Machu Picchu you know hundreds of thousands of passengers going right through the sacred Valley and you realize that there's an area there that has zero employment for women and really it was just on the way to Machu Picchu we met Francesca and her community and we realized they had an idea for us it seemed like a natural extension on the way to Machu Picchu so it made sense for us to have a dialogue with the community to think of how can we help and how can we bring passengers to you you know what what we have to do as tour operators is listen and create a dialogue with local communities That's the basis of community tourism actually listening to this the storytelling locally of what local people want culture preserves itself tourism can come in and strengthen it and showcase it to the world without trying to alter it that start by asking the question is tourism the right tool for this area and if it is in what form will it benefit the host Community I mean that's really the magical part of Tourism when you get it right when you create that dialogue and you're meeting the needs for everyone and you're creating an amazing experience for travelers and this is [Music] there's the multi-generational ripple effect impact goes beyond creating jobs you give locals a voice and you give all the different stakeholders a voice and you develop it with the community in mind and with the natural Assets in mind and you protect those two then you have a great experience and you make money and everybody can win foreign foreign [Music] this place is that we visit that we call destinations are actually people's homes we have come into people's homes [Music] thank you [Music] a traditional Homestay is about staying with a family in which they've set the conditions and the terms to welcome you as part of their lives and you stay with them in their home [Music] you share their day-to-day life and they open their world to you [Music] [Music] they become the local guide they teach you about the local culture and they also help us remember we are guests in somebody else's home in somebody else's country in somebody else's community organization foreign Patricia significantly experiences University foreign [Applause] this is foreign the challenge of how to deal with increasing numbers of tourists is going to be with us for the foreseeable future and part of it is simple arithmetic we're going to likely have close to 10 billion people on planet Earth in the next 35 years if you add 160 million visitors to the current number of 1.4
billion Travelers that are traveling now every year that's going to increase and then you add it to the already two to three percent which is the global growth you have a phenomenal amount of people traveling we're in an all hands on deck moment if just like a light switch right now I could just go click shut down the entire Global aviation industry every plane flight in the world what does that look like airplane is supposed to fly in the sky but currently there are place on the ground the coronavirus effect has been fast and devastating there have been so many live flaws the numbers are impossible to grasp over 19 has now spread to more than 140 countries truly borderless disease most borders are lines on a map the virus is taking no accounts of boats travel into the European Union is being [Music] speaks but he expects a drop of six restrictions of foreigners coming into Kenya some airports have turned into Ghost Town tourist hot spots are virtually empty many destinations are in lockdown travel was down at 80 millions of one of the world's biggest industries suffering at devastating blow to their livelihoods many countries in the developing World being hit hard on a high percentage of their GDP was tourism dependent waiting for the tourists who seem to have vanished Into Thin Air wondering if their jobs and their means to provide for their families are going to be able to survive this seen the disruption in some of the most sophisticated supply chain countries in the world you can imagine if you have a problem there what you're going to have in the most fragile environment or economy [Music] foreign travel today is one of the strongest catalysts for conservation and poverty alleviation that we have tourism has an opportunity to change law we have to learn how to make this in sharing more risk the idea we've had of a tourist has to end we need a new tourist a new Traveler the key issue isn't do we stop travel it's how do we get travel right we Travelers are a very powerful lot so when Travelers say things like I can only do that because that is what is available what did you ask for what do you yourself want as a traveler how much do you want a different form of trouble how much do you want to reduce leakages in destinations how much do you want to be accountable for your actions during the travel how much do you want to live positive Footprints out of your travel at hard and ethical traveler isn't selfish they don't just see travel as being about them it's not just their trip the trip is shared not only with other Travelers but with residents and with the environment responsible tourism can be a really beneficial to the animals to the environment to the local people to the government and to the tourists for sustainability to be achieved it's about educating the tourists the tourist has to understand the power they have if people just took the time to do a bit of research on where their money's going you have this ability to suddenly make your holiday a transformative experience for so many people that would be impacted by your decision to just go on holiday making sure the travel companies are being held accountable this is what you say this is what you're selling so now I'm going to take the tour and I want to make sure that this is actually what you're delivering not only to me as a traveler but to the workers too we have a responsibility to ask the hotel what they're doing for the local community or if the hotel or cruise ships have an environmental policy as a traveler tip generously that's the best person-to-person thing you can do went abroad and considering interacting with activities such as visiting a school or an orphanage it's always good to step back and ask yourself would this be okay in my country and if it's not there's a good chance you shouldn't be doing it do your research make informed decisions understand what happens behind the scenes simple rule of thumb if you can ride it hug it or take a selfie with the wild animal chances are it's cruel so don't do it we need to be responsible about where we're purchasing our products and make sure that we buy ethically sourced and locally sourced we need to bring our own water bottle and our own coffee cup it's just it's unexcusable now we need to stop using single-use Plastics I think one of the most important ways of making tourism more sustainable is by ensuring that we work with community-owned initiatives tourism can encourage a redistribution of wealth travel can be the greatest form of wealth distribution that the world has ever seen and suddenly your holiday can be transformed into your form of giving back imagine a world where that happens I think The Travelers are like holy Neighbors wherever they go they get pollinated by ideas experiences places situations people and they're transporting them to other places and they also contribute because they have the privilege of traveling to many other places so if they get the right message the right ideas the right questions that will create a very good synergy [Music] by traveling by meeting new people by learning new things you become part of India versus world is a family [Music] because [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] you can see [Music] you can see foreign [Music] [Music] kitchen new currency because foreign [Music] [Music] Heroes thank you [Music] [Music] all right [Music] I am committed to traveling responsibly I commit to making travel decisions that align with my personal values I think it's fantastic for travelers to always have a mindset of how can I support the locals small changes can go a long way I commit to never using plastic bags utensils coffee cups and shampoo and conditioner bottles because we are the ones that are visiting it is very important to be mindful towards the local communities refuse housekeeping it's such a simple thing to do but you'll really need your bed sheets washed every few days same with your towels and it saves a lot of water choosing hotels and accommodation that have sustainable practices I'm also commuting to only using Reef friendly sunscreen to ensure that chemical aren't leaching into our oceans never participating in Cruel animal tourist attractions I commit to supporting women-led businesses organizations and shopping fair trade whenever I possibly can trying to encourage people to travel Solo or in small groups if you are going to choose a group tour then choose one that supports and works with locals I commit to always doing my research before I sign up to volunteer with a new organization and I commit to making sure my impact is sustainable over the long term go to a local Fresh Market go to a local farmers market and buy the things from the locals where the money goes right back into the economy deciding where we put our money to what businesses do we support I'm continually thinking about how my travel choices can have an impact both positively and negatively and so I think it's up to us as Travelers you and me we have a responsibility to search out opportunities that will benefit communities because we have so much information at our fingertips sustainable responsible ethical travel all of these practices everyone needs to be aware of it and needs to think about it when they're exploring this great world that we live in because because I want to keep exploring this big beautiful planet of ours I think what the world needs now is for people to travel [Music] [Music] no matter where the road is [Music] you can count the Stars I never know the sky they share a story like your scars when you hold them side by side when you hold them side by side [Music] with Wonder no matter where the road is [Music] no matter where you wonder when you hear the rising Thunder no matter where the road is [Music] foreign [Music]
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