At RISE Travel Institute, we see sustainable travel as the following:

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Sustainable travel acknowledges the systemic and global nature of travel, in which each traveler's actions and impacts affect and are affected by the places they visit and, by extension, the planet as a whole. Far beyond the common conception that sustainable travel is synonymous with environmentally friendly travel, sustainable travel emphasizes "harmonious interactions between travelers, host communities, and the planet.”

 

Sustainable travel requires that each traveler consider the interconnectedness of all aspects of the travel experience. These components broadly include:

• How resources are used and consumed

• Supporting the local economies of the places they visit

• Reexamining notions of value around goods and services

• Considering class privilege on a global scale;

• Ethically behaving around plants, animals, and other lifeforms

• Centering cultural exchange, respect, and self-education

• Examining values and overarching intention, rooted in an acknowledgement of privilege and gratitude

 

At its core, sustainable travel is a holistic concept and practice. It cannot be achieved through a piecemeal approach focusing on just one aspect or component of the travel experience. Instead, sustainable travel must incorporate and integrate all parts, radically transforming the growth-centric status quo of the travel industry in a way that promotes intentionality and prosperity for all involved in the travel experience.