Make my vacation fair

You've heard of eco-tourism, alternative tourism, adventure tourism, ethical tourism, sustainable tourism, sex tourism, rural tourism -- now check out fair trade tourism.

Fair trade tourism is about ensuring local people, whose land, natural resources, labour, knowledge and culture are used for tourism activities, actually benefit from the tourism.

While technically, fair trade tourism is a key aspect of sustainable tourism, it does concentrate specifically on benefitting local stakeholders of tourist destinations (rather than the environemental aspect that often overwhelms sustainable tourism).

One aspect of fair trade tourism is that it concentrates on supporting the rights of indigenous host communities, whether involved in tourism or not, to participate as equal stakeholders and beneficiaries in the tourism development process.

One organization that has worked to ground fair trade tourism in the international arena is Tourism Concern out of the London, England. Started in 1999, Tourism Concern initiated an International Network on Fair Trade in Tourism which focused mainly on research, advocacy, and information sharing. It was a 3-year project with funding from the European Commission and the Department for International Development (DFID). This network boasts a membership of over 150 organisations from industry, NGOs, and universities and has helped to provide a body of research to support fair trade tourism initiatives.

In the end, however, the main focus of fair trade/sustainable or ethical tourism is the committment to support ethical practices. As a result (and due to the hard work of the Tourism Concern and the Network) the UN General Assembly passed a resolution on a Global Code of Ethics for Tourism which was adopted in October 1999 in Santiago, Chile.

For more information go to: http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/fair-trade/index.html