Understanding the impact of tourism with Vicky Smith
If you’ve ever though about the impact of the travel industry on people, the environment and economy and wanted to learn more, this is the episode for you.
It was an absolute pleasure to have Vicky Smith, Founder of Earth-Changers on the podcast this week, sharing her extensive knowledge and expertise on everything to do with the travel industry, including our contribution to it as businesses and consumers/travellers.
We don’t just talk about social impact in this episode, but environmental and economic impact - positive and negative - and the fact that’s it’s not always as simple and straightforward as we might like to think it is.
In this episode we covered:
20+ years in the making - Vicky shares her journey to creating EarthChangers and why she’s committed to helping the travel industry become more responsible and sustainable
The impact of mass-market tourism, what “over-tourism” is and why it's a problem for destinations, communities and the environment
The worst impacts of our travel habits
The difference between responsible and sustainable tourism
How Vicky helps destinations, travellers and the industry as a whole have a more positive impact
The challenge with measuring the social and environmental impacts of tourism in the whole and why measuring micro-impacts is more realistic
Vicky’s top tips for us to consider when planning our next trip
The opportunities (as well as the challenges) Covid-19 has brought the travel industry
Vicky’s worked in tourism since the mid-90s, and sustainable tourism since the mid-00s, in destinations, marketing and ecommerce. She’s headed up operations abroad and online for major tour operators like Tui and Virgin Holidays, online travel agents and media, in package and specialist holidays, ski, tours, charity challenges and voluntourism, NGOs and sustainable tourism accreditation organisations.
She’s a qualified ranger in Africa, charity challenge tour leader, acclaimed academic for her published MSc Responsible Tourism Management thesis on the online marketing and green-washing of volunteer tourism. In 2019 she was invited to be an Ambassador for the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Year of Green Action, and currently sits on the Trustee board for charity SEED Madagascar, and the development team for the Global and European Ecotourism Networks.
Vicky’s sustainable tourism start-up EarthChangers, features the life-changing places, world-changing people and extraordinary experiences with purpose of some of the best positive impact, transformative, sustainable tourism around the globe.
Links discussed:
Facebook: earthchangers.travel
Twitter: @Earth_Changers_
Instagram: @earthchangers
LinkedIn: Earth Changers
Further reading from Vicky & her blog:
Sustainable Tourism, Ecotourism, Responsible Travel, Conscious Tourism... What's the Difference?
Top 10 Tips on How to Reduce your Carbon Footprint in Travel (and should you Carbon-Offset?)
What are The Sustainable Development Goals and what have they got to do with Tourism?
Sustainable Travel: What’s in it for you? 8 Reasons to Book Sustainable Tourism
The Future of…Community Tourism: Top 10 Tips for Ethical Volunteering & Community-Based Travel
Travel after Coronavirus Covid-19 Lockdown: A New More Sustainable "Normal"?
If you enjoyed this episode you might also enjoy these:
Fighting poverty through sustainable employment & fairtrade in East Africa with Megan Kitt
Podcast (Season 1) with Sanne Meijboom from i-like local
Podcast (Season 1) with Tara Dodson from Full Circle Resource Management
