Progress in Responsible Tourism Vol 2(1) 5
tourists.’
4
It is a social phenomenon and the way we understand tourism and behave
can, and will, change it.
Second, Responsible Tourism is a diverse movement composed of, amongst others,
consumers and producers, holiday makers and locals, hosts and guests, local govern-
ment planners and businesses. Many people can change the way tourism works, the
impacts it has and who benefits from it. People are concerned about a wide range of
different economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism. The range of issues is
large and people focus on what matters most to them, in their place. The Responsible
Tourism agenda is broad and there is an acceptance within it that people will, and
should, define their own priorities. Tourism has to be managed in the destinations
where it occurs, and those destinations are diverse. Different issues matter in different
places. Responsible Tourism is defined by the willingness to take responsibility to make
tourism better, to use tourism to ‘create better places for people to live in and for people
to visit.’
5
Third, Responsible Tourism was broadly and permissively defined; there is no
prescriptive list of issues – the concept has not been copyrighted. People, locals and
visitors, determine the issues which matter in their destination, where tourism can be
managed. Inevitably there is conflict and debate about what matters, and about what
can be done about it. In Cape Town, the focus was on Responsible Tourism in Destina-
tions because it is in destinations that tourism has to be managed, although people in
originating, or source, markets can contribute too. The Cape Town Declaration placed
the emphasis on what can be done to make better forms of tourism; asserted that all
forms of tourism can be more responsible; and defined Responsible Tourism as having
a number of characteristics: minimising negative economic, environmental, and social
impacts; generating greater economic benefits for local people, enhancing the well-being
of host communities and improving working conditions; involving local people in
decision making about tourism; contributing to the conservation of natural and cultural
heritage, and to the maintenance of the world’s diversity; providing access for all; being
culturally sensitive, engendering respect between tourists and hosts, building local pride
and confidence; and providing more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more
meaningful connections with local people.
6
From the beginning, those promoting Responsible Tourism recognised that there was
synergy between the quest for authenticity and the growth of the experience economy
7
;
and acknowledged the willingness of consumers to accept responsibility for the impacts
4 Goodwin (2011):1
5 http://responsibletourismpartnership.org/CapeTown.html
6 http://responsibletourismpartnership.org/CapeTown.html
7 Goodwin (2011):71-78