The Greenloons Eco Travel Blog

Tourism is the largest industry in the world and, as such, has the power to (positively or negatively) change lives and impact communities.  Along with that, Greenloons has consistently advocated the values of authentic ecotourism, namely, sustainable or responsible tourism activities that uphold community: 

• social empowerment to protect against homogenization and marginalization
• economic viability to promote collective pride of ownership and poverty alleviation and
• environmental responsibility to preserve ecosystems for generations

As a further testament to how the tourism industry is galvanizing its resources for the better, the Adventure Travel Trade Association (of which Greenloons is a member) just announced its Value Statement this week.  Working with international organizations such as the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, the United Nations World Travel Organization and ECPAT (End Child Pornography/Prostitution and Trafficking), the Value Statement encourages each of its 900 members to operate their travel businesses in a socially, economically and environmentally responsible manner.  

We applaud the ATTA for this effort and will continue to do our part to increase awareness and make it easy for customers to choose authentic eco travel.

The ATTA Value Statement:

As an organization, we formally adopt the Values Statement declared by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). The ATTA, of which we are a member, is an organization that nurtures and professionalizes the responsible and sustainable development of the adventure travel industry.  In defining the adventure travel sector, the ATTA believes adventure tourism contains three main components for the traveler: 1) physical activity, 2) a connection to nature and the environment and 3) an immersive cultural experience. As tourism is one of the largest employers on the planet, it has a major impact on peoples' economic well-being and the planet's health. Furthermore, adventure tourism is inextricably dependent on human- and nature-capital; protection and promotion of these resources is key.

As an ATTA member, we are part of a community that supports and engenders these efforts. While we believe that no organization is perfect in its actions regarding responsibility and sustainability, it is our intent to move towards such goals. Thus, we and the ATTA declare our affirmation and support of the following key issues:

TOURISM ETHICS
We affirm and agree with the UNWTO's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism

PROTECTION OF CHILDREN
We believes in the protection of children from harmful effects of tourism and is a signatory of TheCode.org

RESPONSIBILITY
We believe in the universal standards put forth by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (Based on the UNWTO's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism), and that tourism businesses and destinations should adopt the criteria specifically in these four areas:

• „ Demonstrating effective sustainable management
• „ Maximizing social and economic benefits to the local community and minimizing negative impacts
• „ Maximizing benefits to cultural heritage and minimizing negative impacts
• „ Maximizing benefits to the environment and minimizing negative impacts

COMMUNITY PRINCIPLES
ATTA Members — when working under the auspices as aforementioned — treat each other and travelers with respect and professionalism and conduct business with safety, honesty and integrity.  As a community, we will do our part to seek to improve our own organization's compliance with the points noted above. As a community, we will wherever possible seek to assist other organizations and professionals within the association to achieve success- both in the pursuit of the values noted above and in business. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
UNWTO Global Code of Tourism Ethics
ECPAT Programs
Global Sustainable Tourism Council Criteria