The article in the news I found was called Sustainable Travel: It’s Not Just About the Environment. This article focuses on programs on tourism impacts that the community faces. The sustainable efforts looks at social and economic impacts as well. One way a sustainable effort is put into place is making sure the money that tourist bring into the community is kept in that community and used for the funds needed. The article says, “travel is the first or second source of export earnings in 20 of the 48 least developed countries, according to the W.T.O., yet a 2013 report from the organization noted that just $5 of every $100 spent in a developing country stayed in that destination.” Money in tourism is a very important contributor. In March the Jordan Tourism Board created the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan. This project helps put in place community projects. These community projects are improvement projects. This is why the money that is spent by tourist needs to stay within the community to keep it up in a sense. An example of these projects can be seen Africa. Education is very resourceful when it comes to sustainability.“There’s a lot of people who think ‘eco-tourism’ when they hear ‘sustainable tourism,’ but that’s a piece of the puzzle,” said Kelley Louise. As mentioned in the article, educating the tourist on spending their money locally, such as buying food at local restaurants or shops. This is causing positive impacts on the economy which is correlated with sustainable acts. “Every time you have a meal, get accommodations or do activities, you can have a positive impact just by traveling,” said Paula Vlamings. Small acts that are listed for sustainable efforts include booking hotels that have a connection with charities. This article discussed hotels that give a percentage of what you pay to charities. This really helps the sustainable economic efforts. This improves the connection between the tourist and the place they choose to visit. Looking out for the community as an outside, from what i’ve read in this article, is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy sustainable economy. Also, helping out in the community can bring forth positive change. “Only when you actually get your hands proverbially dirty by rolling up your sleeves and engaging in these projects and initiatives can you really learn and understand the issues and how we can make an impact, however small,” wrote Joss Kent. There is also a project mentioned in this article that allows native people of certain villages to get a chance for schooling. Each visitor pays for a certain schooling and the program sponsors a village citizen for school. This project is under the name village ways. It focuses on the life of the villagers in this large places people visit and tour. This helps the community and the economy. I feel this article is very interesting and informative. It is good to see efforts being made to watch out for the community where travelers go. The village is very important to maintaining the beautiful places people go to travel. Taking care of the people and the community is very important.
Alexis Waters-Peterson