Responsible tourism: common sense and profitability

As for the rest of human activities, we progressively had to put into words, to formalize a concept, to talk about common sense in the way of running touristic activities.
Why? How? Through the course of events, through evolutioj, through progress? Many notions that were Obligés par qui ? par quoi ? Par le cours des choses, par l’évolution, par le progrès ? All concepts that have been monopolized, phagocytosed by a system of values and operations based on the perversions of a global movement, based almost exclusively on monetary exchange: abuse of power, extreme individualism, exploitation of resources without limit -any limit.

What is common sense?

[vc_message type=”attention”] Whoever invests in a touristic activity, whatever it is, expects to make profit out of it on the medium and long term. Normal! [/vc_message]

In this context, one that expects to build sustainably an isolated country house, self-sufficient, independent of (eco) local system, where visitors come to enjoy the surroundings or service in place, strays heavily. 
Actually:

• To feed and satisfy visitors, don’t you need food resources -if possible good (organic?) and even sometimes typical (short circuits)? – see the good practices for Agriculture and catering.
  
• To offer a pleasant living environment, synonymous with clients loyalty, should we not cultivate healthy relationships with local populations (local development)? – see the good practices for Local Development.
  
• To allow visitors to wash in comfort, don’t we need a sustainable access to clean and safe water (water management)? – see the good practices for Water Management.
  
• To offer a “unique spot” with beautiful landscapes and beaches, synonymous with attractiveness, should we not preserve this environment (waste and water management, nature protection, landscape integration)? – see the good practices for Local Heritage and Biodiversity promotion.
  
• For visitors to live an authentic experience, full of discoveries, adding value to the facility, isn’t it necessary to preserve the local heritage, whether cultural (traditions, monuments, crafts …) or natural, and integrate it? – see the good practices for Local Heritage and Biodiversity promotion.
• To maximize the profitability of a facility, should we not make savings – water, energy? And to save energy, first as heating or air conditioning, nothing more effective than to limit the need (isolation with natural materials, thoughtful orientation of buildings) and / or to limit the cost (solar water heater, LED bulbs, solar panels …). – see the good practices for Water Management and Energy efficiency.
  

Nothing but good and common sense!
[vc_testimonial author=”Franck” company=”Camping Le Petit Liou (France)”] We managed to keep affordable prices, which have not increased for several years, controlling our energy expenditure through our investment in solar energy. [/vc_testimonial]

Want to be profitable? Be responsible!

[vc_message type=”attention”] Be responsible: you will save money, attract more customers, gain loyalty, and cultivate your profitability! [/vc_message]

There are various counter examples. Those which demonstrate that a sadly qualified as “conventional” tourism reaches its limits, sooner or later. These limits may be visible – natural and cultural local heritage destruction, spoilage of local people’s living conditions – or less visible – large contribution to marine and atmospheric pollution, and thus climate change. All of it invariably leading to a decrease of visitors, thus profitability of the activity, whith dramatic onsequences for territories and their population.
On the other hand, there also are numerous examples of good practices and facilities which, formalizing it or not (whether in intern or in their communication), note that good sense = more clients and more profitability.
[vc_testimonial author=”Gaspard” company=”owner of Cabanes des Grands Lacs and other successful facilities. (France)”] […] to offer a better tourism, and most of all that matches the needs of nowadays’ society. [/vc_testimonial]
We call it responsible or sustainable tourism. We talk about local development, cultural and social heritage promotion, energy efficiency, eco-construction or eco-renovation, eco-mobility, slow tourism, eco-tourism, green tourism…
Beside vocabulary, it seems pretty obvious to preserve and valorize Environment (with a capital “E” to include both social and natural environments, and the balance between both of them) in order to continue offering visitors / travellers / tourists to discover it and enjoy.
In a nutshell, in order to attract customers and make them want to come back! Globally, it’s as simple as that! (The rest is a matter of communication and raising awareness about the facility’s assets. But this is another issue.*)
[vc_message type=”attention”] Hopineo definitely commits to adding visibility to these numerous examples and share all these good practices which allow small and medium tourism entrepreneurs to ensure their activity’s sustainability; to be “responsible” in order to be profitable. [/vc_message]
Find hundreds of concrete solutions in the « Solutions » part of the website, specially thanks to the search engine for best practices, collected on the field by Hopineo Ambassadors.
PS: For the clarity of purpose and size of the article, we voluntarily removed from these lines a number of arguments and concepts, next to the only profitability, that advocate too the development of a better tourism: e.g. attachment to land or culture, public health and particularly the daily struggle for a more sustainable development of mankind, the eco-logical transition (the one that makes one take care of the ‘house’ in which he/she lives in order to continue to live there) – or maybe not…
[vc_message type=”info”] To go further :

• The WebDocumentary « Responsible Tourism, learn and understand”: several series of 1 minute videos to show concrete solutions and benefits of responsible tourism (French only -if you want to help translating, let us know ;-).
• *Responsible tourism, do we communicate?
• *Sustainable tourism providers? Marketing challenges?
• *Marketing e-book, designed and published by Florie Thielin, dedicated to small and medium tourism facilities. [/vc_message]