250 (or so) Provocative Words with Stuart McDonald

Not long after my recent Vietnam trip, I caught up with a travel writer friend recently off of a two month research trip elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Comparing trips, I explained how I was grappling with the challenge of repurposing my primary business,?Travelfish.org, into something focused on sustainable travel.

They paused, clearly thinking of where they’d just been, and asked “how do you write about sustainable travel in a place where there is none?”

How indeed? For too long I’ve told myself it’s all about context—what’s achievable and practical within a specific realm. The more I think about it though, the more I think this is a cop out.

Imagine somewhere rife with crime, where tourists are robbed incessantly. There’s petty theft, violent crime, mayhem and madness, and the authorities couldn’t care less, or worse still, are party to and profiteering off it. A responsible travel writer would tell their readers not to visit. After all, look at all the crimes the tourists face.

Now, imagine a destination rife with environmental degradation, economic exploitation and social dismemberment—all in the name of “quality tourists”. Where avaricious foreign developers work hand-in-hand with local authorities to lavish somewhere with luxurious resorts and horizon pools. There’s encroaching golf courses sucking up water (tax-free incentives at work no doubt), and robbing local people of land access.

The crimes? They’re committed against local people—and the planet. The end result? A “must visit” listicle in Condewhatever.

Highlighting this is how you start to write about sustainable tourism where there is none.