I’m sure most of you have heard of the island of Madagascar, particularly since the release of the Madagascar animated films, and know that the country is home to numerous animal species that cannot be found anywhere else on earth. 10,000 of the islands 12,000 plant species, for example, are endemic, as are half of the …
Tag: responsible travel
Mar 25
Tourism in Cuba?
I’ve written a lot about the opening up of Myanmar and Bhutan and their possibilities for sustainable tourism, so today I thought I would look at another isolated country: Cuba. Travel between the United States and Cuba has been forbidden since February 8th, 1969, just a few months after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis. …
Dec 18
Doomsday Tourism
With the End of the World fast approaching, I thought it would be interesting to look at the impact fears of Earth’s imminent destruction are having on tourism. It may seem like an odd line of inquiry, but in fact many people have flocked to areas believed to be, for various reasons, the only place(s) …
Apr 05
Myanmar and the Politics of Tourism
Several months ago I wrote a post on the future of tourism in Myanmar (better known as Burma), which many groups were hoping to capitalize on in the coming years. Myanmar has been largely untouched by tourists thanks to a combination of government restrictions and sanctions imposed by countries like the US, and now that …
Mar 15
Holy Land Tourism
I had every intention of writing a follow-up piece to my much-discussed post on sustainable tourism in the Sinai Peninsula today, but while I was looking for news sources I came across something that I found very interesting: Holy Land tourism. So responsible tourism in Egypt will just have to wait for a another day, I …
Feb 23
World Tourism Day 2012
UN World Tourism Day occurs every September 27th, the start of the tourism season in the southern hemisphere and the end of the tourist season in the northern hemisphere, and this year the theme is “Tourism and Sustainable Energy: Powering Sustainable Development.” Now, September 27th is a long ways away, so it might seem a …
Feb 15
Deadly Voyage Home
The Hardanis family, made up of Mohammad, his wife and two young girls were among the approximately 250 people on board a people-smuggling boat headed to Australia. The vessel carrying the migrants sank during the journey. Only 47 people survived. One of his daughters was rescued by a fishing boat that was in close proximity. …
Feb 10
India Revisited
Most of you probably don’t know that back when I first started writing for the SISGI Group about 9 months ago one of my first blog posts was about an ecotourism initiative in India. Now, I like to think that my writing has improved a bit since then, but it was still a fairly good …
Jan 31
The Super Bowl and the Increase of Sex Trafficking
This week many people here in the US are going to be gearing up for the big Super Bowl game this weekend. With team rivalry flourishing between the New England Patriots and New York Giants, the game will be played out on Sunday in Indianapolis and thousands will be both in attendance or watch it …
Jan 25
Reflections on a Month in Colombia
This week, I got back from a month long trip working and traveling through Colombia. Since you are reading this article, clearly I have made it back in one piece, but apparently this was a shock to most of the people I told I would be traveling. Before leaving, I was subject to all sots …