Leaving Light Footprints – the Importance of Promoting Responsible International Travel

Document Type : Perspective

Authors

1 School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

2 School of Medicine, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract

Irresponsible travel has the potential to harm both the traveler and the host destination. The subject of responsible travel is a major focus of the International Society of Travel Medicine, whose Responsible Travel special interest group has been very active in providing leadership for travel medicine practitioners in relation to the protection of local travel destination communities. Healthcare professionals have a responsibility to safeguard the dual interests of travelers and their hosts. This can be achieved by drawing the traveler’s attention to examples of irresponsible tourism during the pre-travel consultation. This perspective article aims to explore various aspects of irresponsible travel, including environmental damage travelers may cause; medical tourism and its impact on both the home and destination health service; voluntourism involving poorly prepared volunteers interacting with vulnerable communities in the host country; and sex tourism, including prostitution and child trafficking. Further research is needed to better understand the attitudes of travelers, travel health professionals, and the travel industry towards responsible tourism and to overcome barriers to its implementation.

Keywords

References

World Tourism Organization. Tourism Towards 2030/Global Overview. Madrid: World Tourism Organization; 2011.
Glaesser D, Kester J, Paulose H, Alizadeh A, Valentin B. Global travel patterns: an overview. J Travel Med. 2017;24(4). doi:10.1093/jtm/tax007.
International Society of Travel Medicine. Responsible Travel Group. 2018. http://www.istm.org/responsibletravelgroup. Accessed 23 January 2018.
Flaherty GT, Lim Yap K. Bibliometric analysis and curriculum mapping of travel medicine research. J Travel Med. 2017;24(5). doi:10.1093/jtm/tax024.
Carbon Footprint. Carbon offsetting. 2018. https://www.carbonfootprint.com/carbonoffset.html. Accessed 23 January 2018.
Roche RC, Harvey CV, Harvey JJ, et al. Recreational Diving Impacts on Coral Reefs and the Adoption of Environmentally Responsible Practices within the SCUBA Diving Industry. Environ Manage. 2016;58(1):107-116. doi:10.1007/s00267-016-0696-0.
Croatian city of Dubrovnik overwhelmed by mass tourism. France 24 website. 12 July 2017. http://www.france24.com/en/20170712-focus-croatia-mass-tourism-dubrovnik-old-city-tourists-cruises-unesco-world-heritage-site. Accessed 23 January 2018.
The Local it. Venice residents protest against tourist influx. 2017. https://www.thelocal.it/20170703/venice-residents-protest-against-tourist-influx-mass-tourism-mi-no-vado-via. Accessed 23 January 2018.
Channel News Asia. 2017 Social network founder turns champion for exploited farmers in Indonesia. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/regopantes-app-champion-exploited-farmers-indonesia-fair-price-9815254. Accessed 23 January 2018.
Tourism Concern. Ethical travel guide. 2018. https://ethical.travel/. Accessed 23 January 2018.
Bauer IL. Inca Trail porters: the health of local tourism employees as a challenge for travel medicine. J Travel Med. 2003;10(2):94-99. doi:10.2310/7060.2003.31654.
Chen LH, Wilson ME. Medical tourism. J Travel Med. 2015;22(3):218. doi:10.1111/jtm.12190.
Gholami M, Jabbari A, Kavodi Z, Gholami M. Service quality in Iran’s medical tourism: hospitals in Shiraz city. Int J Travel Med Glob Health. 2016;4(1):19-24. doi:10.20286/ijtmgh-040119.
Reinheimer C, Kempf VAJ, Jozsa K, et al. Prevalence of multidrug-resistant organisms in refugee patients, medical tourists and domestic patients admitted to a German university hospital. BMC Infect Dis. 2017;17(1):17. doi:10.1186/s12879-016-2105-y.
Akoh JA. Key issues in transplant tourism. World J Transplant. 2012;2(1):9-18. doi:10.5500/wjt.v2.i1.9.
Naqvi SA, Ali B, Mazhar F, Zafar MN, Rizvi SA. A socioeconomic survey of kidney vendors in Pakistan. Transpl Int. 2007;20(11):934- 939. doi:10.1111/j.1432-2277.2007.00529.x.
Johnston N, Sandys N, Geoghegan R, O’Donovan D, Flaherty G. Protecting the health of medical students on international electives in low-resource settings. J Travel Med. 2018;25(1). doi:10.1093/jtm/tax092.
Oppermann M. Sex tourism. Ann Touris Res. 1999;26(2):251-266. doi:10.1016/S0160-7383(98)00081-4.
Bauer IL. Romance tourism or female sex tourism? Travel Med Infect Dis. 2014;12(1):20-28. doi:10.1016/j.tmaid.2013.09.003.
ECPAT International 2018. http://www.ecpat.org/. Accessed 23 January 2018.
Alcedo S, Kossuth-Cabrejos S, Piscoya A, Mayta-Tristan P. Factors associated with non-use of condoms in an online community of frequent travellers. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2014;12(6 Pt B):750- 756. doi:10.1016/j.tmaid.2014.10.003.
Government of Ireland. Irish Statute Book. Sexual Offences (Jurisdiction) Act, 1996. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1996/act/38/enacted/en/html. Accessed 23 January 2018.
International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health
Volume 6, Issue 3
Summer 2018
Pages 88-91

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 25 April 2018
  • Revise Date: 05 September 2018
  • Accept Date: 07 September 2018

Share

How to cite

Statistics