This summer let’s travel slower!

Article by Georgia Bekridaki, Dock, Greece

Summer is already here, and with this article we would like to highlight some responsible practises on tourism and raise awareness for a more sustainable concept on travelling.

Ethical, sustainable, or even regenerative tourism means thinking about the consequences of your actions as a tourist on the environment, local people and local economy and, acting in a way to reduce negative impact or even to increase the positive one. This alternative tourism is a concept that has been developed in response to the critiques of mass tourism.

Some examples of ethical tourism practices could include the support to small local businesses to reduce the uneven income distribution that tourism industry engenders. Another element could be to reduce the waste, to travel slow using eco-friendly transportation options or take care of your effect in local culture. That means that travellers should be mindful of local cultures, religions and customs and try not to offend people during their travels.

A practise that could be presented as an example of ecological and sustainable tourism, is the Aegean Cargo Sailing, in Greece which combines the creation of a sustainable wind sailing transport of goods in combination with ecological tourism at Aegean sea among 22 small Greek islands. Aegean Cargo Sailing promotes and implements zero emissions sailing vacations while the travelers are visiting local producers and events. Currently the solar-electric sailing boat is travelling around the Cyclades islands. You can read ecological stories here. The crew and the passengers contact bio producers and exchange experience and network towards an Aegean wide cooperation and training schemes for quality centered production and marketing of natural food. Simultaneously with slow travel, the sessions among producers and consumers develop further zero carbon healthy food practices in Greece and contribute to the international efforts of Slow Food.

You can visit https://www.facebook.com/aegeancargosailing