Ethical Travelers Lists
Costa Rica In World's
Ten Best Ethical
Destinations for 2008
Ethical Traveler, the
first grass-roots
alliance uniting
adventurers, tourists,
travel agencies, and
outfitters — everyone
who loves to travel, and
sees travel as a
positive force in the
world - lists Costa Rica
number five in the
world's top ten best
ethical destinations.
According to Ethical
Traveler, ethical travel
is simply mindful
travel: an awareness of
our impact as we explore
the world.
Travel is now the
biggest industry on
Earth - even bigger than
oil - and the economic
clout of travelers is
enormous. Which
countries should we
visit? Where do we spend
our money once we get
there? How do our
interactions with our
hosts support
international goodwill,
and promote
cross-cultural
understanding? The way
we answer these
questions has a real
influence on the
environment, human
rights, and the way our
home country is viewed
abroad.
Each year, millions of
travelers pack their
bags and head for the
usual destinations:
Paris, Bangkok, San
Francisco, Rio, Beijing.
Countries in Latin
America make up half the
top 10 ethical travel
destinations for 2008 in
the list compiled by the
Ethical Traveler. To
create the list, Ethical
Traveler conducts a
study of the world's 70+
developing nations, from
Albania to Zimbabwe
looking at three general
categories:
Environmental
Protection, Social
Welfare, and Human
Rights.
Notably, half of the Top
10 Destinations are in
Latin America, perhaps
following the
sustainable tourism lead
of highly popular,
top-ranked Costa Rica.
Three other countries -
Belize, Peru, and
Ecuador - receive
honorable mentions as
well.
The inclusion of
Nicaragua came with a
caveat, though. Ethical
Traveler's website says:
"Though Nicaragua is
committed to fair trade
and sustainable tourism,
and maintains very low
CO2 emissions,
homosexuality remains
criminalized. Normally,
this is a deal-breaker
for us; but the law is
not enforced, and is the
subject of wide protest.
We sincerely hope that
our vote of confidence
will help persuade
Nicaragua's leaders to
repeal this backward
law."
The list in full, in
alphabetical order:
1. Argentina
2. Bolivia
3. Bulgaria
4. Chile
5. Costa Rica
6. Croatia
7. Estonia
8. Namibia
9. Nicaragua
10. South Africa |
