When we talk about responsible travel, we’re really talking about impact. In simple terms, it’s about looking at the effect that travel has on the places we visit, the people who live there, the environment and the animals, and asking ourselves: how can we minimise the negative impacts, and how can we create more positive ones?

It’s important because responsible travel isn’t just about carbon emissions or being environmentally friendly. Those things are obviously important, but travel has many different impacts. It can affect wildlife and animal welfare, natural habitats, local cultures and traditions, and the economies and communities we visit. So we look at responsible travel much more broadly.

There are really two sides to it. The first is reducing harm. Some impacts of travel are difficult to avoid completely, such as the carbon emissions associated with transportation, but we should still be looking at how we can reduce them. Other impacts are avoidable, such as supporting poor animal welfare, contributing to overtourism, damaging natural habitats or treating local cultures as simply another tourist attraction. Responsible travel means recognising those issues and making better choices.

But we don’t think responsible travel should stop at simply doing less harm. The other side is creating positive impact. That might mean supporting conservation projects, contributing to biodiversity, using local businesses and suppliers, supporting local communities and education, or choosing experiences that help protect and promote local cultures and traditions.

So, for us, responsible travel isn’t about being perfect, and it isn’t about saying that travel itself is inherently good or bad. It’s about being conscious of the impact our travel has and making better choices wherever we can. The aim is to move beyond simply trying to leave less of a footprint and instead look at how tourism can actively contribute to the places we visit.