“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” – Anatole France

Travelling pushes our limits and helps us in understanding the world from a different lens. Not only does it rejuvenates us but it also broadens our perspective. To travel is to experience things that you wouldn’t have otherwise. It is to experience the culture of people, understand their traditions, listen to their stories, try out their cuisines, and experience things that will forever stay a memory. It refers to the act of moving from one location to another. It can be long-distance travel, short-distance travel, overseas travel, domestic travel, and various other forms. Crucially, travel also includes both round trips and one-way journeys, and it covers a wide variety of different travel purposes. The travel industry, therefore, refers to the numerous aspects of the wider service industry which cater to the needs and desires of those who have travelled from one part of the world to another.

On the other hand, tourism is generally regarded as the act of travelling to a different location, for either business or recreation purposes. However, it has quite a specific definition: the act of travelling to another environment, for at least a day, but no longer than one year, for purposes related to business or leisure. By its very nature, tourism involves a round trip, rather than travel in one direction only. With this in mind, the tourism industry refers to all aspects of the service industry that cater to tourists.

The World Tourism Organisation defines sustainable tourism in the following manner: “Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems.”

Sustainable tourism should try to make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity. It also involves respecting the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance. We need to ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.

It is important to understand that sustainable tourism symbolizes travelling well. When we do the maximum good and least harm and have a memorable transformative experience it creates sustainable tourism. To travel well we need to support local communities, protect culture and heritage and do it all with as light of an environmental footprint as possible.

“Sustainable tourism is important because the alternative is unsustainable: polluted beaches full of plastic, dead coral reefs with no fish, increasing crime, unwelcoming locals, or disappearing cultures and wildlife,” said Paula Vlamings. On the other hand, mass tourism is responsible for environmental problems, cultural commodification, and a general decline in the living standards of the locals. Tourism on a large scale has been shown to increase pollution and be generally detrimental to the local natural environment. Residents of tourism hotspots, who may have welcomed the first influx of visitors, soon find that cheap travel doesn’t reduce their costs. Visitors cause land, food, water, housing, and infrastructure prices to increase at a rate closely correlated with the decline in tourism operators’ margins. Sadly, more tourism often means less benefit to the host communities.

For travel to be transformative, authentic, or even memorable, it must respect the natural resources and work in partnership with communities.
More importantly, however, tourists should revise their view of travelling. Rather than regarding their trip simply as vacation experiences and adventures, tourists should be more conscious of their impact as visitors and should be more appreciative of the cultural and natural heritage they are witnessing.

Le Frehindi- Paris is going to launch in September 2021 its unique program called EuHop which will be a game-changer for the tourism industry. 

EuHop is a brand promoted by Le Frehindi, an Atout-France licenced DMC & Tour operator based out of Paris.

We are going to launch our unique travel program called EuHop in September 2021. Gear up your bags and get ready to explore.

Visit EuHop for an adventurous experience today Or contact us at team@euhop.com

Happy Exploring!

Thanks and Regards,

Team EuHop