New Perspectives on Travel — Responsible Tourism
When we arrived to Cambodia, we were exposed to several issues which were rather new to us until then. Although we have heard or read about of several of these beforehand, we have not encountered them directly (or at least not consciously). In a general sense, we can put these matters under the umbrella of responsible tourism.
Our first exposure came through the guesthouse where we stayed in Siem Reap, ‘Babel’. The owner of the guesthouse is a fervent promoter of responsible tourism, so every room is equipped with a notebook with all kind of ways we can responsibly support the local communities and economy while lessen the negative impact of mass tourism. Actually, during our month in Cambodia, we were favorably surprised to see many initiatives (there are still many active NGO’s in the country), that try to do exactly this. These are some of the issues we came across not only in Cambodia, but also in other countries we visited later on:
Drinking water and garbage
Cambodia’s garbage collection in most areas of the country is non-existent (this is also true for Nepal, India and to lesser degree, Thailand). People either burn their garbage, or just dump it wherever (many cases right outside their house). The millions of tourists who arrive to the country every year and buy bottled water (or just the straws they use for their drinks) add considerably to the amounts of garbage. Some places with many tourists have started to offer filtered refill water in order to address this. We have had this in Siem Reap, India and also in tea houses along trekking routes in Nepal.
Animal welfare
Most countries in South East Asia, especially Thailand, offer different experiences for tourists that involve animals, such as tigers, monkeys, turtles and of course, elephants. Thousands of elephants are used in tourism, and not in the best conditions (to say the least). Although elephants have been used by humans in the area for hundreds of years, we have learnt a lot about the hidden side of modern practices during our time in the Elephant Valley Project (EVP) in Cambodia (which we highly recommend!). These practices include capturing wild elephants, smuggling them, training them and keep them in captivity in dubious conditions for many years. What makes this even more complex is that many local people derive their income through the industry, so solutions are not simple. We spent two days in the EVP sanctuary for retired working elephants, learning about them and also volunteering for the project for two half days. After this experience the kids did not want to participate in any elephant ride in Thailand (the country we visited after Cambodia) and became much more critical towards tourist attractions that involve animals.
Begging children
In poor countries see begging children is rather common. The first country we have encountered this was in Cambodia, but we have seen this in India and in Nepal as well. As much as we would wish to help them, we never give money or buy things from them directly; as we learnt, this would just encourage their family to keep them on the streets (because they are generating income), instead of sending them to school. In Nepal, we saw tourists distributing candy and chocolate to children. This practice had actually led to teeth problems among them, so it is discouraged. We have also saw the infamous powdered milk or baby milk scam, where a young mother holding a baby (who is sometimes rented and drugged) will ask to buy a foreigner the most expensive baby formula at the supermarket, which is returned to the store afterwards while the money is split between the girl (and her bosses) and the store.
Volunteering in orphanages
This issue has become more widely discussed in recent years and it is also an important one in Cambodia and Nepal as well. In many cases, orphanages have become organizations that are mostly interested in raising donations for themselves and encourage families to send their children there (promising meals and education). In most cases, children in orphanages have at least one parent alive, and separating them from their families is more harmful than helpful for them.
Women’s handicrafts
We have seen many initiatives in Cambodia and Nepal who train and support women in rural areas in handicrafts which are then sold to tourists, enabling them to support themselves economically. In many cases these are related to weaving and sewing (using different materials depending on the region, silk, wool, etc.) and deriving products, such as handbags, clothes, blankets, quilts, etc. Other popular products are natural cosmetics. In Cambodia we have also seen many smaller products based on recycled materials as well.
Community based tourism (CBT)
Many communities have developed home stay programs, where travelers are housed (with options to meals) in the homes of locals. This provides the family with extra income and the traveler gets a more authentic experience. In some cases, the community also offers other activities as well, such as harvesting, fishing and cooking in the village with the locals. We have stayed in home stays twice in Cambodia (and the lodging part was fine) but during our stay in Benteay Chhmar, where we looked forward to such experiences, we were very disappointed when these didn’t work out so well. Home stay options are common in many places in South East Asia, not only in Cambodia.
Supporting businesses that provide fair wages
Tourism provides locals with many opportunities for employment, but unfortunately also gives the employers the upper hand in offering low wages. There are businesses that offer training and fair wages to their employees (the guesthouse where we stayed in Siem Reap was one example for this) and we tried to support them when we could (of course there is no real way to verify this other than talking to the employees). In Siem Reap for example, we went to this restaurant/school where the employees were in training. We had a real gourmet meal there (for reasonable prices considering the quality) and we also felt good about it :)
