Another big problem is the tourists themselves. The massive tourism travellers are usually they just don’t care. they spend more water, they press the resources and they expect unreasonable services….

Being in a country with economical crisis, everybody is trying to promote tourism and use tourism as a way for more income but the result is a complete sell out of the land, the nature, everything. As a person with an actual education on tourism I only a see a crime against humanity, unlike acts of the development.

I disagree that tourists should be blameless. There is plenty of free information about pretty much every inch of this planet- if someone is savvy enough to browse travel blogs and book a vacation, they can certainly make it over to their local public library and read a book or two about the place they are visiting. You can choose to educate yourself. But even if you read nothing about a place you are visiting, you can certainly practice common sense and basic decency wherever you go. I live in a small touristy beach town and while I welcome those who want to visit my town, I am always disturbed by the enormous loads of crap people leave on our beaches: plastic beach toys, diapers, cigarette butts, water bottles. It is truly disgusting. When we did a nighttime kayak tour of the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world (Vieques, PR), we learned it was the brightest only because formerly brighter bays had been ruined by humans. Our tour operator instructed everyone to paddle as lightly as possible and take no photos so as not to harm the bioluminescence…of course a total idiot decided they would just dive in the water. People have no shame sometimes.

After Ko Phi Phi we went to Ko Lanta and experienced a more relaxing, tranquil paradise. I read your recent post on Ko Lanta and was happy to hear it hasn’t changed much.

This issue of sustainability and tourism have several sides to it, including the challenges that many cities and towns have with becoming more environmentally sustainable (which does take financial investment and also may take time in some countries/locations to develop a plan for sustainability). We do forget that not too long ago, our own country (USA) was all about the plastic forks/plastic plates….many of us didn’t really think about the environment. Now, we are more educated and more aware.

My issue is more with the “educated environmental champions” who certainly mean well when we talk about the negative impact tourists have on destinations and how the locals feel..BUT we often come off as sounding “holier than thou”. Its like we have all the answers and we can tell the tourists what to do and guilt them into seeing things our way, and we think we know how all the locals feel about tourism in their home cities or towns. As some of us have read in a few of the comments, this is a debate even among locals who disagree with one another on how they should handle tourism in their cities or towns. Some of them don’t agree with any of us commenting here.

While its great to discuss and try to figure ways to help or assist a destination to become more environmentally sustainable, the decision will be up to the local businesses, government, and the people who live there. Tourists have the money, but chances are if a destination lose some tourism because it isn’t following a plan that is environmentally sustainable, then that same place will find more tourists elsewhere. Its up to the people who live there what they want to and need to do. Us blaming the tourists won’t get us anywhere, it will just make more tourists not listen to us .

If we want to get the bulk of the tourists on your side, then we first need to start with NEVER talking down to them, which many of us are doing right now in our comments. The solution is providing the appropriate information about how sustainable tourism provides a greater and more exciting experience to their travels. Education and Marketing…people want the “experience”, so let’s give them that when we talk with them about improving their travel experiences by being more mindful of sustainability.

Tourists will go to the places where they can find a great experience, value, a cost that is reasonable, and a place that will meet their particular needs. Some of the comments here that talk about how tourists want a destination to meet their every whim…I agree that some tourists are overbearing and rude, but a tourist will go to a place where their desires are met. Part of the travel experience is to enjoy a new place and also be treated as a valued guest who receives services that he or she doesn’t always get at home. Travel to many people is like a fantasy come true. All of that means, there will be an expectation of having some “whims” met.

Tourism is a business, and businesses bring money to a city or town. Money is used to buy food, clothing, shelter, etc. Yes, many people are into consumerism, but guess what most of us are into consumerism as well …if you buy any object you are a consumer..and into consumerism. If you have an iPad, you are into consumerism. If you have a car, you are into consumerism. If you buy a pair of cool shoes or sunglasses, consumerism.

As far as the big hotels, yes they can be bothersome and lend to over development. On the other side, a chain hotel does offer at least some consistency in services that many travelers desire and can find in a chain regardless of which city they stay. Also, if you have a problem during your stay at a chain hotel (if you were mistreated by its staff), they may have a stronger system put in place where you can call the headquarters to inform them about the issue you had. That hotel chain may give you a reimbursement like a discount off of your next stay in any one of establishments. We can all talk about how staying in a chain hotel or a major hotel can take away from the travel experience, and there are certainly trade offs if you do stay in a major hotel as opposed to a local mom and pop establishment. The great thing about travel is that we have the freedom to stay in a place that suits our needs and the needs of our families. We also have the freedom to choose a more sustainable path in travel. The more solid information we receive, where informs us of how sustainable travel improves our overall experience and which places offer that, the more you will see us travelers taking that responsibility.

The Gili’s are filled with tourists too.

We headed to the Gili Islands to get away from it!