 |
Costas Christ, President
Adventure Council
Mission
Our mission is to actively promote and grow Adventure Travel that is responsible and sustainable and in so doing, help to protect the character, authenticity and diversity of adventure destinations worldwide.
A Brief Biography
In addition to his role as President of the Adventure Council, Costas Christ serves as Chairman of the Adventures in Travel Expo Conferences and also writes a monthly travel column for National Geographic Adventure magazine. His desire for exploration has led him to more than 100 countries including expeditions to some of the world’s most remote wilderness regions and archeological sites. Along the way, he has worked for Dr. Richard Leakey in Africa, joined National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Dr. Sylvia Earle, in helping to establish a new marine reserve in Belize, and got to know legendary British explorer, Wilfred Thesiger, to name a few of the extraordinary people he has met in his life.
An internationally recognized expert on sustainable tourism, Costas also serves as the Chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, which recognizes leading examples from around the world of environmentally and socially responsible travel. He is a founding member and former Chairman of the Board of The International Ecotourism Society and was appointed the Peace Corps Director in Uganda where he worked on community-based tourism as an economic development strategy. As the Senior Director for Ecotourism at Conservation International, Costas supervised projects in 18 countries.
In addition to his monthly travel column in National Geographic Adventure, Costas' articles and essays on travel and tourism have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe and Sunday Times of London. He is the lead author of Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism’s Global Footprint and a contributing author in Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places. Costas has appeared many times on television and radio, including CNN, BBC, National Public Radio, ABC News, and PBS to talk about adventure travel.
December 15, 2008
Beyond Green Travel with Costas Christ
Top Ten Worst Green Travel Destinations
When NBC's TODAY Show Travel Editor Peter Greenberg asked me to contribute a list of the top 10 places people should avoid when they travel, to include in his new book, Don't Go There! (www.PeterGreenberg.com), I was a little reluctant at first. I am a firm believer that travel, no matter the destination, can be a powerful learning experience. In fact, some of my worst trips have been among the most interesting. They are the places I still tell stories about. But when looked through the lens of sustainable tourism principles—being environmentally friendly, helping to protect cultural and natural heritage, supporting the well-being of local people—there are some places that stand out, and its not for the better. So here is my top 10 must-avoid travel destinations list (or at least consider this warning so that you know what you are getting into before you go).
Cancun, Mexico - In the 1970s, Cancun was a small, coastal island with fishermen, local merchants and a few small pensions. Today it is a stretch of high-rises sporting some 30,000 hotel rooms. Mangrove forests were cut to accommodate this megadevelopment, clear-water lagoons were filled in, and wildlife disappeared, along with any sense that you are still in Mexico. Stand on Cancun's miracle mile of tourism and wet T-shirt contests and Jell-o shot bars pass for today's local culture. Mexico is one of the greatest travel destinations in the world, but Cancun is pure generic mass tourism.
Santorini, Greece - One of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean has become a text book example of paving paradise. Sure, it has amazing views and spectacular sunsets—just be prepared to share them with as many as 15,000 cruise ship passengers, all off-loading at the same time during the summer and pushing past each other for the best spot to take a photo. Condo, hotel, and tourist sprawl are spreading like a fungus over the landscape. Talk about killing the goose that lays the golden egg—find your Greece island inspiration elsewhere.
Orlando, Florida - It really is a small world after all. Every family in America would do better to experience it first hand by having a genuine cross-cultural experience of learning and discovery, rather than get taken for a ride by the marketing engine of overdeveloped and environmentally unfriendly theme parks.
Kuta, Bali - Take an unspoiled tropical beach, add a vibrant ancient culture, cap it off with friendly local villagers eager to share their rich heritage, and then trample it all with a parade of western brands such as Hard Rock Cafe, T.G.I. Friday's, and KFC. Certainly, tourism destinations change over time, but that does not mean they should be trashed beyond recognition. Skip this one and instead consider Bali's artistic capital, Ubud, where a more balanced path embraces the local culture rather than conquers it.
Dubai City, United Arab Emirates - Just one of Dubai's golf courses requires a million gallons of desalinated water a day to keep the grass green under the scorching desert sun. And it takes more than a gallon of crude to make one gallon of desalinated water. And that is before powering the air-conditioned indoor ski slopes, the gilded shopping malls, and the giant man-made islands shaped like palm trees just off shore that are causing sedimentation runoff onto fragile coral reefs. Is this really the way to make the desert bloom? Seek an alternative.
Myanmar - Aung San Suu Kyi, the only Noble Peace Prize winner living under house arrest for courageously opposing one of the most brutal military regimes in history, has called for international travelers to boycott Myanmar. Nelson Mandela did the same while under arrest during the height of apartheid rule in South Africa. Some tour operators run trips to Myanmar (formerly Burma) with the justification that giving the local people an opportunity to interact with the outside world is a good thing; meanwhile, they are making a business profit. Follow the real leaders and respect the travel boycott.
Antarctica - This is a "must see" on everyone's travel list, and that's the problem. Rapidly increasing tourism—some 40,000 tourists in 2008—to one of the most fragile and untouched environments on the planet could have a devastating impact. For instance, 49,000 gallons of fuel spilled into the waters of Antarctica when one cruise ship sank. (No one was hurt.) Another ship ran aground. Now major cruise companies want to bring in even more tourists on ever larger ships—Princess Cruises' Star Princess carries 3,800 passengers to Antarctica in one voyage. Time to call on the 46-nation Antarctic Treaty System to set limits before it's too late. Until then, think twice before making the trip.
China Beach, Vietnam - Local and foreign investors have scooped up nearly the entire vast tract of beautiful China Beach in central Vietnam, including ancestral burial grounds found there. Villagers have been forced to break open the coffins of their ancestors and take out the remains before the bulldozers level and bury the place, all in the name of building a parade of new mass tourism resorts. Do you really want to sleep in a hotel built right on top of a traditional burial ground where villagers honored dead ancestors for centuries and then, grief-stricken, were forced to remove their remains? Things did not have to go this route, so let's not reward it.
Costa Rica's Over-Developed Coast - There is a battle going on in Costa Rica, once the darling of ecotourism. The battle is between those who are working overtime to make the country a true green travel destination, and unscrupulous developers who like marketing the green label, but couldn't care less about practicing the principles. The latter are winning in Tamarindo, Jaco, and a string of other coastal areas that have succeeded in carving up the landscape into large condos and megahotels. Your travel choice makes a difference in this struggle. The Costa Rican Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) helps identify the good guys.
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania - Definitely stay on the crater rim in one of the great safari lodges and sip a gin and tonic while looking down into what naturalists have called the Eighth Wonder of the World—an ancient, unflooded, collapsed caldera that forms a natural zoological garden—if it survives, that is. Don't drive into the crater, unless you like your wildlife viewing in a parade of 4x4 vehicles. Save the up-close wildlife encounters for the 5,700 square miles of neighboring Serengeti National Park and let the inner crater have time to heal from tourism's wounds.
Do you agree with these selects? Do you have destinations to add? Let us know by posting your comments below.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2873266/37090742
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Beyond Green Travel with Costas Christ
Top Ten Worst Green Travel Destinations:
Just wanted to point out something about Costa Rica as someone who has lived there and works for an organization that specializes in green travel to Costa Rica and other countries in Central America (GreenSpot.travel). I agree that as travelers who are concerned about biodiversity, conservation and local livelihoods, supporting ecolodges and locally-owned establishments that contribute to conservation and local communities is essential. Let's support those waging the battle against mis-managed and unsustainable development and celebrate those people and places keeping Costa Rica a beautiful and green country!