2. Responsible Tourism

Since the 1980s, the international community has become aware of the negative effects produced by mass tourism and has started to introduce the concept of sustainable development in tourism too. Forms of tourism that are considered alternative to mass tourism, above all responsible tourism, have started to emerge and nowadays their development is considered an important contribution to the sustainability of tourism practices. Given the presence of several definitions and overlapping concepts, this chapter clarifies the meaning and implications of responsible tourism and its relationship with other forms of tourism, such as ecotourism, community-based tourism, fair-trade tourism, solidarity tourism. Although each form of tourism emphasises more one specific aspect than another (environmental preservation, fairness, support to local community, etc.), all of them can be considered as a responsible way of travelling. Therefore, responsible tourism includes all those forms of travelling that pay attention to the environmental (preservation and safeguard of natural resources), socio-cultural (central role of the host community in decisions regarding local tourism development and planning; understanding of local culture and promoting cultural exchange between tourists and local people, etc.) and economic issues (fair relationships with local providers, support to local development, etc.) produced by tourism.