Following a long summer, many people have packed their cases to go on holiday. Last year, almost a thousand million people travelled to international destinations, and this figure is forecast to rise to 1,600 million by 2020.

When we start to plan our long-awaited holiday, we could remember our pro-environmental commitments, in favour of social equity and respect for cultural diversity.

There is a huge variety of possibilities for organising the holiday period in a sustainable way.
Ecotourism and Rural Tourism offer a reunion with nature and local traditions and aid economic and social recovery in rural areas. The different types of agrotourism or ecotourism add the opportunity to experience contact with the land and animals plus the chance to find out about local jobs and activities. Solidarity Tourism offers the chance to go on holiday and get to know the reality of a country, encouraging cultural exchange, staying in accommodation that contributes to sustainable growth and, if you so wish, getting involved in local collaboration projects.

But if you have planned to go away on a conventional holiday, it is very important that you realise the negative impact it will have on the environment. Be very aware of the means of transport that you will be using and work out the CO2 emissions.

Get to know the local culture before you go in order to learn and integrate, and try to make your stay there as sustainable as possible by reducing your consumption and respecting the surroundings as much as you can. This way the world’s skin will be as protected as your own.