Difference between Sustainable and Responsible Tourism (With Table)

Tourism is the act and process of spending time away from home in pursuit of pleasure, recreation, and relaxation.

Many people usually make use of travel agencies and tour operators. This social arrangement is quite common among Europeans and Americans.

Tourism has a socioeconomic impact on the people and the planet. If you are into tourism, the chances of coming across ecotourism, sustainable, and responsible tourism is high.

So, what is the main difference between sustainable and responsible tourism? The former is a type of tourism that focuses on long-term changes whereas the latter on short-term changes.

Understanding the relationship between sustainable and responsible tourism is vital to enhance economic growth. We have also provided sustainable and responsible tourism examples for you.

This article provides further differences between sustainable and responsible tourism in a tabular form for better understanding. Take the time to read through and get to know the ideals of responsible tourism and sustainable tourism.

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Comparison Table (Sustainable Tourism vs Responsible Tourism)

Basic Terms	Sustainable Tourism	Responsible Tourism
Definition	It is a concept of traveling and exploring a destination as a tourist while respecting the culture, environment, and people of that destination.	It is a concept of creating better places for people to live in better places for people to visit.
Type of change	It focuses on global issues like climate change and attempts to change the tourism industry as a whole.	It focuses more on individual actions and individual destinations.
Length	It focuses on long-term changes.	It focuses on short-term changes.

What Is Sustainable Tourism?

Sustainable tourism is the act of traveling and exploring a destination as a tourist while respecting its culture, environment, and people of that destination.

It involves tourism that has a positive impact on the environment, society, and economy. It takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and the local community.

Sustainable tourism involves making the best use of environmental resources, maintaining essential ecological processes, and helping to protect biodiversity and natural resources in an area.

It also involves respecting the culture of the host community, protecting their heritage and traditional values, and contributing to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.

It guarantees long-term economic operations, Fair distribution of socio-economic benefits to the stakeholders, and stable income-earning opportunities hence alleviating poverty in the area.

What Is Responsible Tourism?

It involves creating better places for people to live in and to visit. It is the act of using tourism instead of it using people.

It concentrates on creating economic benefits to people rather than looking at the social and environmental impacts of tourism on the host community.

It focuses more on individual actions and individual destinations. It is responsible for identifying social, environmental, and economic issues which are locally significant.

It brings stakeholders together in order to exercise responsibility for the issues and take action.

It focuses on people, businesses and governments contribute to maximizing the positive economic, social, and environmental impacts of tourism.

It is more into positive interaction between the tourist industry and the host destination hence it is not concerned with how they react to the culture of the host.

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Main Difference between Sustainable and Responsible Tourism

Sustainable tourism focuses on long-term changes while responsible tourism focuses on short-term changes.
Sustainable tourism is the act of traveling and exploring a destination as a tourist while respecting the culture, environment, and people of that destination while responsible tourism is the act of creating better places for people to live in and to visit.
Sustainable tourism focuses on global issues while responsible tourism focuses on individual actions.

Similarities between Sustainable and Responsible Tourism

They both create sources of income.
They both involve people traveling for pleasure.
Both have focus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Difference between Mass Tourism and Sustainable Tourism

Mass tourism is a type of tourism where average travelers participate; it includes things like hotel tour packages, cruises, and huge beach parties. It mainly focuses on generating income.

On the other hand, sustainable tourism is the act of traveling and exploring an area while respecting the culture, environment, and people of that destination. It focuses on global issues.

Difference between Sustainable Tourism and Green Tourism

Sustainable tourism is the act of traveling and exploring a destination as a tourist while respecting the culture, environment, and people of that destination while green tourism is environmentally friendly tourism activities with various focuses and meanings.

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In Conclusion

Sustainable tourism is the act of traveling and exploring a destination while respecting the culture, environment, and people of that destination. It focuses on global issues hence long-term changes.

Responsible tourism is the act of creating better places for people to live in and travel. It focuses on individual actions hence short-term changes.

More Sources and References