That Holiday Smile - Is It Fading?

Fair Trade Tourism may offer resort workers an escape from tourism poverty and powerlessness.

By 2010, the tourism industry will cater for over 1 billion international travellers spending hundreds of billions each year. About 1 in 10 of all global jobs are now related to tourism. The tourism business is now the world’s biggest industry, and it’s still growing fast. International charities even view tourism as an opportunity to eradicate poverty. But often all this activity provides little benefit to those who do the really hard work necessary for enjoyable holidays.
Quality, value and service are the watchwords of the very competitive global travel industry. Tourism has grown dramatically over the last 50 years by offering better and better deals - cheaper flights, more luxurious accommodation, more and more exotic destinations. Prices are easy to compare so the operator who delivers the best value gets the biggest market share. The less a tour operator pays, the less the holiday costs and the more profit the operator makes. So, successful operators pay less for accommodation and resort services, which means less money available in the resort to pay the staff who provide the holiday welcome.

Resorts are desperate to get tourists, hoping that rich holidaymakers will spend in their destination with local businesses, assisting the local economy . Often, however, holiday guests spend most of their time and money within the confines of their hotel and don’t venture into local markets, bars, restaurants and cafes.

The result is that, although tourists spend vast amounts of money on their travel arrangements, little of this actually gets into local hands. Hotel staff are often employed at near-poverty wage levels and conditions, are expected to work fatiguing hours during the season and aren’t paid or employed during the "Off-season". Hardly the conditions to expect a generous and kindly smile from a hotel waiter, barman or chambermaid, particularly when they see the amounts of money their guests have spent on their holiday and compare it with their starvation-level wages.

Added to this disharmony is that, in a search for both exotic and cheap holidays, tour operators are sourcing destinations that are further and further away, both in terms of distance and culture. From a holidaymaker’s point of view, grabbing a cheap deal to a faraway destination is a wonderful, easy, and affordable experience. From a resort inhabitant’s view, tourists bring little of value, spend little money and disparage their culture. They are, unfortunately, powerless over the annual influx.

Paradoxically, tourists often see their holiday as a return to human values of kindness and hospitality. What makes a holiday wonderful, after all, is the beauty of the natural surroundings and the kindliness and gentility of the service. To locals, this simply means THEIR beautiful home and THEIR beautiful culture - that they are providing FREE. It’s no wonder that tourists don’t respect it.

Fair trade produce is now an established part of our retail scene. You can buy fair trade chocolate, tea and coffee, bananas, clothes and much more guiltlessly, the list of fair trade goods is expanding all the time. The principle is simple - the wholesaler pays more than the market value for the goods, the extra money is helped to trickle down to the workers. Customers pay a little more for fair trade produce knowing that they are doing some good by their purchase. At the very least, the action of purchasing fair trade produce implies a little assistance and solidarity with those less fortunate.

So, why not fair trade in tourism? That’s the question that has been posed by Tourism Concern and others. The Fair Trade Labelling Organisation is investigating the situation and it is hoped that a "Fair Trade Tourism" label will be available within the next year or two.

In the meantime "it’s easy to avoid guilt trips" say Tourism Concern "Just follow our ten point plan:"

1. Be Aware
Start enjoying your travels before you leave. Think about what sort of clothing is appropriate for both men and women. If the locals are covered up, what sort of messages may you be sending out by exposing acres of flesh?

2. Be Open
Something may seem bizarre or odd to ‘you’, but it may be normal and just the way things are done to ‘them’. Try not to assume that the western way is right or best.

3. Our holidays - their homes
Ask before taking pictures of people, even children, and respect their wishes. Talk to local people. What do they think about our lifestyle, clothes and customs? Find out about theirs.

4. "One school pen"
Giving to children encourages begging. A donation to a project, health centre or school is more constructive.

5. Be fair
Try to put money into local hands. If you haggle for the lowest price, your bargain may be at the seller’s expense. Even if you pay a little over the odds, does it really matter?

6. Be adventurous
Use your guidebook or hotel as a starting point, not the only source of information. Find out what’s going on by talking to locals, then have your own adventures...

7. Ask questions
Write a letter to your tour operator about their responsible tourism policy. Tourism Concern will give a FREE COPY of their Ethical Travel Guide to the sender of the best (or worst) operator reply.

8. Think before you fly
Help repair the damage you do to the environment by flying less. The more and further you fly, the more you contribute to global warming and environmental destruction.

9. Be happy
By taking any, some, or all of these actions you are personally fighting tourism exploitation. Enjoy your guilt-free trip!

10. Help Us make it happen
Support Tourism Concern in their work to fight exploitation in tourism, a small monthly contribution helps us make all the difference. www.tourismconcern.org.uk