Minimise Negative Impacts
We believe in promoting responsible tourism, namely minimizing negative impacts on three major aspects at travel destinations – environmental, social, and economic.
What can a traveler do?
Respecting local culture and heritage is important. Prior to departure, a traveler should do some homework to learn more about the history, culture, religion, and developmental issues on travel destination.
Respect Differences
Maintain an open-minded attitude when communicating with locals and accept differences with a positive attitude. We should not demand the locals to change their way of life for our convenience, but we should learn to adapt.
Equality
Interaction with locals should be done on an equal basis, we could learn from each other in the way of life and thinking could inspire each other. Do not take the locals’ hospitality and friendliness for granted, and refrain from imposing your own value and belief system on others.
Social Etiquette & Dress Code
In some destinations, especially in religious places, dressed modestly, avoid revealing clothes and cover your head with scarf if necessary. We agree that how one dressed is a personal choice and individual freedom, but we shall refrain from intentionally provoke or challenge the social norms in a host community.
Photography & Filming
Be sensitive to the feeling of the subject you are filming. If a subject declined to be photographed, please respect his/her wish. In addition, avoid giving money in exchange of photographing locals, this may encourage begging.
Environmental Conservation
Avoid polluting the nature. Clean up before you leave, take the waste with you until you reach a city with proper disposal system. You could help to cut generating less non-degradable waste by carrying your own recycle shopping bag, decline the use of plastic bags when shopping in travel destination.Conserve water, use water sparingly when taking showers, or doing laundry. Water is a precious commodity throughout the world. Do not use soap and shampoo in lakes, rivers, and hot springs; do not answer your “nature’s call” too close to the source of water when trekking in the nature.
Food & Shopping
Always consume local products in preference of imported goods. Dine in local restaurant, try out local cuisine and specialty, food is an integral part of local culture and by trying local food, you are directly supporting local economy. When shopping for souvenir, favor local markets, and best if you could buy handicrafts directly from the makers. Do not buy illegal/ protected/ endangered articles as souvenir, such as souvenir made of near extinct plant or animal. spending on local products and services instead.
Donation & Free Gifts
Avoid giving money, sweets, stationary, etc, to impoverish children, this could encourage begging. Dishing out money, donation, and free gifts carelessly would establish an unequal status between the giver and the receiver. The act may make the giver “feel good” for having done “good deeds”, but at the same time could be condescending to the “receiver”, and could perpetuate a dependency mentality in the later, and that will not help to solve poverty problem in host communities. Contribute to local economy by spending on local products and services instead.
