On the Ethics of Travel
Kenzy Fahmy
The word ‘sustainable’ has become such a central part of our vocabulary in this new day and age. Movements are taking place on a global scale with a mission to bring the world back to some form of balance. Sustainable tourism has been hailed as the ‘tourism of the future’ and rightly so. But seldom do we talk about the ethics of travel and exploration, seldom do we address the effects tourism has on the communities and environments we visit. If we want to protect our planet, our heritage and our people, we need to bring ethics into the discussion.
Sustainability is all about preserving our environment, something the mass tourism industry failed at doing. Thankfully a shift in perceptions and priorities led to a new wave of conscientious travel as more and more people try to reduce their impact on the planet. But ethical tourism is about so much more than that, for it’s not just the environment that needs preserving. Now that people are paying attention, we’re beginning to realize and address the impact that tourism has on communities and their heritage as well as the environment.
The smuggling of Egypt’s antiquities during the late-19th and early-20th centuries was largely driven by a new and rising demand for the exotic artifacts that were scattered throughout the country. Following Napoleon’s failed invasion of Egypt, Europe was overcome by a fascination for ancient Egyptian history. The Louvre and the British Museum were practically built around the antiquities smuggled out of Egypt at the time. A massive influx of tourists, each wanting to take a piece of ancient Egypt back home, introduced for the first time a market for the trade of Egyptian antiquities. Everything from entire mummies to fragments of papyrus and gold jewelry were dug up by the locals and sold off to eager tourists.
Do we blame the locals, merely looking for a way to make a living, or the tourists who wanted to keep a souvenir of their travels? It was a different time, and the ethics of collecting antiquities hadn’t yet become a matter of ethics. We now know better, or at least we should. And we are trying to do better. But to change something that exists on such a large scale takes time and persistence, and above all, awareness.
Money makes the world go round, this much we know and most of us are distinctly aware of this fact. But we need to be asking ourselves, “Where is my money going, and what is it supporting?” So many countries rely on tourism as a major source of income, and Egypt is certainly no exception. Cities like Luxor and Sharm el Sheikh have been built around the revenue that comes from the countless travelers that pass through. What we don’t often realize though, is that this revenue actively shapes these cities and the communities that call them home.
Where you stay and what you buy can have a significant effect on everything from the local economy to the environment. Staying at smaller locally owned hotels and lodges creates a far smaller impact on the environment and usually means that the profits are filtered back into the local economy. Eco-lodges like Siwa’s Adrere Amellal not only strive to make little to no negative impact on the environment, they also make it their mission to highlight and preserve local customs and heritage. Whether it be ancient building techniques or traditional cuisines, places like these do a wonderful job of enlightening travelers and educating them about the rich heritage of the areas and communities they exist within. They are also a great example of what ethical tourism could look like, and the fact that it does work. You can be ethical and still make a profit.
There are a growing number of agencies and initiatives in Egypt that promote ethical travel. Wild Guanabana’s adventure and nature-filled trips are a great way to explore Egypt the Sinai Trail and Red Sea Mountain Trail that have brought together the tribes of the region in an effort to preserve their way of life. CSA also organizes trips, both inside Cairo and out, that highlight some of the amazing things the country has to offer, from discovering the city’s many gems to visiting the ancient Fayoum Oasis.
So how do we move forward? How do we become better tourists? We can start by being kind to the environment, to society, and to the economy. We need to minimize our harmful impact, and maximize our positive impact. It’s important that we make an effort to really get to know the cultures and stories of the places we visit, and it’s important that we respect both. We need to pay attention to who and what is being exploited in the name of tourism, and we need to make sure we aren’t contributing to that exploitation. We need education and awareness, on as large a scale as possible. We need to change the industry and introduce a whole new form of travel, one where we cease to exploit the places and people we visit and instead create a symbiotic relationship where we can all benefit.