Thorn Tree travel forum

1

Well you acknowledged that this is very much a generalisation, so here is my generalised opinion:

Generally, independent travellers (many of which are the LP variety) are more responsible as travellers than tour-group tourists.

Generally, LP travellers have a basic to good understanding of the concepts of responsible travel, and at least in some way try to be responsible travellers: the extent to which they achieve this varies greatly and is to do with a wide range of variables other than what guidebook you read.

I have never met a person who wanted to be an "irresponsible tourist" intentionally.

So conclusion - generally LP travellers THINK they're more responsible, or want to be more responsible, but in fact actually may not be.

This is just my general opinion.

2

Is tourism "responsible"? Or are "responsible travel" and "ecotourism" just shallow concepts that we use to make ourselves feel better about the global advantages afforded by imperialism and economic inequities?

I'm not sure whether I'm a Lonely Planet tourist. Is there also a distinct subculture of Rough Guide Tourists, or Bareback Tourists, or Rick Steves Tourists? I've used LP's guidebooks (among others). I tend to travel on a budget (because I don't make much money, and it's better than not travelling at all), and I prefer to go solo. But I don't relate to the descriptive stereotypes discussed in the thread you linked; I've always thought of the LP more as a resource than a philosophy or a way of life.

However, if anything distinguishes it from other guidebook publishers, I think it's the idea that nearly every region of every country in the world can be a destination for Westerners. Somehow I don't expect to see Fodor's coming out with "Uzbekistan For Under $5 A Day," but maybe I'm not looking hard enough. Either way, I'm a little wary of restarting the constant argument over whether there is a "responsible" way for increasing numbers of foreigners to visit fragile ecosystems and indigenous cultures without irreversibly disturbing them. It seems to me that tourists are among the more benign interlopers; with or without LP, there will still be the onslaught of everything from sprawling urban development and industry to warfare to disturb the remote areas of the world when poverty isn't doing the job well enough. I only ask that my guidebook not steer me into a place where I am unwelcome.

What have I become,
my Swedish friend?
Ev'ryone I know
Goes away Indian

3

Correction:

Quote

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Is there also a distinct subculture of Rough Guide Tourists, or BareFOOT Tourists, or Rick Steves Tourists?

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Freudian slip.

What have I become,
my Swedish friend?
Ev'ryone I know
Goes away Indian

4

Maybe LP-Guides were the 'Backpacker Bible' 20 years ago… today it changed totally. They publish in French and Spanish and I see many 'normal' tourists travelling with LP-Guides. I don't think if you eat in beach-stalls (even package tourists do this sometimes), stay in a basic hut or organize a treck at a local tour operator means you get close in touch with the locals. You are mostly surrounded by people working in the tourism-industry.

A close friend went on a last minute package to Varadero/Cuba… met a waiter, fell in love, spent the next years travelling to Cuba visiting her lover, has a baby now but lives alone. What I want to say… even if your on a package you can met locals very close.

5

There is one thing about LP back-packers that I think is hilarious: they think they are so responsible if they take some precious time to “get to know the locals.”

I don’t think “getting to know the locals” automatically means one is a “responsible traveler.” I don’t consider myself a particularly responsible traveler, but I am an outgoing person, and when I am at home and abroad I go to bars and parks, meet people and hang out. However, the condescending way that some “back-packers” frame this action, like they are “getting to know the locals” seems condescending and self-congratulatory. Unless you are a covert racist that has to overcome a serious internal struggle, meeting people and hanging out is no big deal. I know a lot of divorced female tourists that go to resorts; the type of tourists that make LP back-packers cringe. Many of them “really get to know the male locals” if you know what I mean. Does this make them responsible?

6

You're right, austingirl. I kept in touch with one lovely American "LP-style" tourist I'd met in Africa, who had even more of a knack for "meeting the locals" than I did. She came back home with so many beautiful photographs, delightful stories, indelible memories...and chlamydia. Could have been much worse, but her boyfriend didn't see it this way. It seems that none of the idealistic diatribes about how to "travel responsibly" mention using condoms.

I guess we all have a different idea of "responsible travel" (I hope we're not being any less conscientious when we're at home). For me, "meeting the locals" makes the journey more memorable and less lonely, but I've never thought to interpret it as a political statement, or some kind of benevolent deed. It just kind of happens. If some travellers really do think of it as "responsible," I wonder what their conversations sound like.

What have I become,
my Swedish friend?
Ev'ryone I know
Goes away Indian

7

It would be "responsable" if they chatted in the local lingo.

"If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it." – Lyndon Baines Johnson

8

I should have said some back-packers in #5, I made it sound like I think all back-packers do this. It just cracks me up when some people make a virtue out of talking to “the locals” (lucky them!)

9

Quote

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It would be "responsable" if they chatted in the local lingo.

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Polite, definitely. Useful as well. But it's only responsible as far as your own conveniences are concerned. In most cases, I don't think the natives are at risk of forgetting their own language just because the tourists aren't asking for directions in it.

What have I become,
my Swedish friend?
Ev'ryone I know
Goes away Indian

10

Maybe its me, but I don't view LP (or any other travel guidebook company) as an ideology, just as a reference as to things like accommodation, where to go and eat, how to get around, what number to dial in the event of an emergency, what the climate is like, directions from the airport etc. I don't feel completely compelled visit all the places they suggest. As a (normal) human being I don't need LP to tell me how to go about meeting people - local or otherwise - I'm big and ugly enough to be able to work that out for myself by now :-) It isn't exactly a science anywhere in the world!

I don't think people rely on guidebooks that heavily, instinct, contacts and a whole heap of other stuff are quite important too. Good as they are, guidebooks like LP are not really enough to allow you to "hit the ground running", when you arrive at your destination.

Bottom line its not LP's job to engender responsibility in YOU, apart from the basics, you're either a responsible or an irresponsible person by your own nature, and yes I believe that responsibility extends to travel. People should take responsibility more for their own actions!!!

Welcome to Edinburgh, the home of.......capitalism!

11

I think responsible travelling means going abroad with an open mind and realising that other cultures and thoghts and beliefs and religions exist and that you should respect this and not apply your own ideas and opinions to another culture.

E BABY! NEVA 4GET DAT "145 IZ DA NUMBA"

12

i am so out of the loop. a lonely planet tourist? (ahh jsut read the link and find some peoples comments rather amusing and a bit .. arrogant.. )

a guide book is a GUIDE book. (duh...).. helps you along.. that, word of mouth and self exploration and taking random chances/opportunities - best way to go (for me!) .

not really getting what a responsible tourist is? i can picture a non - responsible one i suppose? like the general tourist population of, lets say, playas de las americas in tenerife?

responsible = respectful? hmmm...

13

Well, forget the 'reponsible traveller' for a minute.

The point is, are you a 'reponsible being' in your every day life.
I think those who practice a fair amount of fiscal, environmental and social responsibility in their everyday lives will usually be responsible travellers.

And this issue of "responsible" tourist has as many connotations and definitions as anything else. I'm not sure you can put out a laundry list of things that they are.