RESPONSIBLE tourism these days doesn’t mean confining yourself to a mud hut in Africa in your hair shirt. Take the five-star $440-a-night Banyan Tree in Phuket, which was built on reclaimed useless tin- mining land. The site now has an abundance of vegetation and provides local jobs. There are hundreds of eco-chic luxury hotels like this year’s First Choice Responsible Tourism Award winners Nihiwatu Resort in Indonesia and Bird Island in the Seychelles to choose from. There really is no excuse for not making your next holiday a responsible one.

Responsible tourism is about authentic holiday experiences that bring you closer to nature and local cultures, as well as benefit destinations and local people. It’s wrong to assume that we can’t have a great time on holiday as well as do the right thing.

In Kenya that means staying in a small lodge run in partnership with the Masai and going on a walking safari with proud tribal elders. They will inspire you with traditional stories and teach you wildlife tracking, rather than cramming you into a zebra-striped minivan and putting you up in a faceless, overseas-owned lodge.

On a cheap family holiday in Spain it means staying in a hotel that treats waste properly; pays staff a fair wage; provides chances for local staff to develop into managers; and sources fresh produce from nearby suppliers. It means choosing to spend a night out of the hotel eating at local restaurants or staying in locally owned accommodation.

In both cases the tourist enjoys a deeper travel experience, the local community gets a fair share of the benefits, and negative environmental impacts are minimised.

Let me disabuse you of any notions that tourism is a benign industry. On an all-inclusive holiday in the Dominican Republic, 89 per cent of the cost of your holiday stays in the UK. This leaves little for local hotel staff, who, although grateful for a job in such a poor country, barely earn a living wage before tips. A single cruise liner produces 210,000 gallons of sewage a week. Most is pumped directly into the sea, some treated and some not. The UN claims that at least 1 million children are sexually abused by tourists every year. Surely these are reasons enough to encourage more responsible tourism?

Those who argue that responsible tourists should never leave the UK miss the point that UK travellers spend £2 billion a year on holidays in developing countries, and that if we stopped travelling then both local economic development and conservation would be severely affected.

Justin Francis is the managing director of responsibletravel.com.

The top six places to flex your green credentials

The Banyan Tree, Phuket — resort developed from mining land. Villa only from £440 (01494 675636, www.banyantree.com).

Ecocabin, Obley, Shropshire — furnished with recycled materials. From £85 a night (01547 530183, www.ecocabin.co.uk).

Hotel Triton, San Francisco, US — featuring an energy-efficient “eco- suite”. Doubles from £78 (001 415 394 0500, www.hoteltriton.com).

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