 Inflight videos should be used to promote "clean and green" tourism for specific destinations, an expert says.
Tourism academic Freya Higgins-Desbiolles from the University of South Australia says the key to being a more sustainable traveller lies in better understanding your destination. "Be thoughtful of the place you're going to and make yourself aware of what the situation is," she told AAP. Ms Higgins-Desbiolles likens travel to hospitality, and believes visitors would be better behaved if they did so to. "Therefore you behave like you would when you're in someone's home - you go above and beyond the call of duty to behave respectfully." Primary schools and high schools should also teach more sustainable tourism, she says. Her comments come as a new survey conducted by Booking.com reveals close to half of Australians are determined to make more sustainable travel choices than they were a year ago. But they flag a lack of knowledge and options as barriers to turning this into reality. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed globally plan to stay at eco-friendly or green accommodation in the next year. More than half of Australian travellers are more likely to book accommodation knowing it's eco-friendly, while a similar number alter their behaviours to be more sustainable while travelling. Ms Higgins-Desbiolles says the now-defunct Ansett Airlines played a video for flights going to Bali in the late 90s which told travellers how their choices could help, not hurt, the island. Community Aid Abroad, now known as Oxfam, used to have a responsible tourism unit to educate travellers on how their visits could benefit local communities. "If we don't get the balance right there may be hostility from some destinations, such as Barcelona and Vienna," Ms Higgins-Desbiolles says. Anti-tourism marches have occurred in those cities, with some locals frustrated at the impact of mass tourism on their communities. In recent years there has been an increase in environmental tourism, with nature focused trips. There is also a list of the top 100 sustainable travel destinations, which credits locations for their sustainability work. Palau, a group of islands to the southeast of the Philippines, took out the Earth Award this year. Its immigration laws include the "Palau Pledge", where visitors have to sign an oath swearing to act in a responsible way to protect the natural and cultural heritage for future generations. From next year the island will also ban reef-toxic sunscreen from entering its shores. New Zealand has launched the "Tiaki Promise", urging locals and visitors to preserve the country. Ms Higgins-Desbiolles says government websites such as Smart Traveller are unlikely to flag environmental concerns for destinations as it "can get political". "It's got to be non-political agencies that are doing this," she said. Breaking news, scientific breakthroughs, major spokesperson announcements, groundbreaking products are all areas that make the news.  Good for finding a position on a matter
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