Sustainable tourism… Responsible tourism… Ethical tourism… Community-based tourism…

These are concepts that overlap and inter-connect. They are all increasingly vital to you, whether to target travellers or to satisfy media concern.

However, they can mean different things to different people.

Here’s what we think. You’ll shortly be able to post your own views here – we’d be delighted to host a debate.

Ethical tourism and fair trade: it does matter

More and more tourists and journalists want to know whether travellers’ money goes to ethical ends. That means to reduce poverty, not exploit it. To sustain and restore natural resources, wildlife, historic monuments, and not damage or exhaust them. It means that tourist revenues should empower local people to retain their way of life or embrace change - or whatever mixture of preservation and development suits them.

Actively managed, tourism can spread prosperity widely among the people, redress some of the adverse impact of tourism ‘ghettos’ and help cushion the effect of local price rises. Community-based tourism is only one way of doing this.

Enlightened self-interest - and profit can go together 

Profit and exploitation or ethics and responsible tourism?  That’s a false dilemma. The Hat Factory does not believe that self-interest and ethics are automatically opposed. The choice is between  short-term and long-term vision. Sustainable tourism by definition means protecting the assets that you will depend on for your long-term interests and profits. Those are the landscapes, wildlife, buildings, culture and traditions – and the goodwill of local people.

We can help you develop profitable products that are sustainable, long-term, in every sense. Our experience in other sectors allows us to talk to you about how tourism can be used to spread prosperity into many sectors of your economy, if you wish.

We believe that tourism can and should sustain employment and the wider economy - farming, crafts, exports, shops, inward investment, and lots more. Tourism can assist self-sufficiency, the development of small-scale enterprise and a culture of enterprise. The Hat factory would love to explore your ideas on this subject with you.

There is not even necessarily a choice between mass tourism and eco-tourism, because often both can co-exist. Indeed they can complement each other. For example, a good solution for the forest might be to reserve and preserve its fragile sites for a handful of carefully targeted and appropriate visitors while a different marketing approach draws the crowds away to more robust areas. Some beach resorts are equally vulnerable, and marketing can protect them; others can be designed to accept mass tourism but in an entirely sustainable way.

Your image as a destination and a country

As interest rightly grows in these matters, your image as a destination and a country is at risk, unless your website shows that you are addressing these issues convincingly and effectively. As we say elsewhere (Destination Branding) image and reality are connected. The Hat Factory will communicate your concern for responsibility in tourism, but only if based on reality. Hence our enthusiasm for working alongside your team as they adapt and create your products, as well as publicising them and developing your reputation.

The Hat Factory and eco-tourism

The Hat Factory is interested in this subject and aware of what the concerned tourist expects. We can assist you in:

• Redefining target markets
• Choosing the products that will attract the concerned tourists you want – in other words, working with you to review your natural assets in the light of this demanding market
• Working with you to design or refine these products. Examples could be special guided trails, cultural appreciation holidays, and community-based tourism. They can take many forms, sometimes will be even unique, but the effect should be the preservation of your assets and higher living standards. Enhanced, educated contact with tourists has beneficial cross-cultural and political effects, too.
• Drawing public attention to what you are doing – including journalists and politicians
• Linking to the  relevant, specialist tour operators
• Search:  Obtaining a high profile in search engines for your efforts and your products, so as to attract the independent traveller
• Audits: analysing what you promote to tourists, and how - whether from the point of view of the foreign tourist or journalist or the political lobby. Our recommendations would cover your products and how you are communicating them to the ethically-concerned tourist.

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