I started my working career in the tourism and hospitality industry and I have travelled extensively across the globe. However, I never consciously thought about the impact of my journeys and how they affected the local people and the local economy. Since I retired in 2017, I have been doing some volunteer work both in Australia and overseas. I love travelling and my recent volunteering experience in Cambodia gave me the opportunity to travel and learn about the culture of the people at a more grassroots level. It opened my eyes to see how I could spend my travel dollars more wisely to reduce the negative impact that tourism has on developing countries and increase the positive impact by spending my money at locally owned businesses or social enterprises that support the local people and communities.
What does it mean to travel responsibly?
“Travelling responsibly is about demonstrating respect for the people, culture and environment you’re visiting,’ ... Responsible travel also helps to fund environmental and cultural conservation and gives locals a reason to conserve” (Reid, 2018).
I am travelling back to Cambodia again in February 2020, with my sister-in-law, Linda and this time I am planning my journey to ensure most of my tourism dollars are spent at locally owned business or with social enterprises to maximise the benefits for the local economy. Planning this trip has required a lot of work, so I have created this website to document my research about locally owned business and social enterprises in the regions I will be vsiting in Cambodia.
I hope my research and this blog will help other people planning to travel to Cambodia to be responsible travellers.