RESPONSIBLE TOURISM IN THE CARIBBEAN
Our Caribbean Vacations
Cuba tailor made vacation, 8 days
Fantastic immersive 8 day trip, highlights and hidden gems
Cuba adventure tours
Authentic Cuba using guesthouses and local guides
Classic Cuba vacation, 11 days
Get into the Cuban swing over just ten days.
Cuba salsa dance vacation
Learn to salsa with the pros in Santiago de Cuba, tuition, day trips and nights out
Tobago beach accommodation
17 beautiful accommodations in unique eco resort
Cuba highlights and beach vacation
Balance Cuba’s culture & natural beauty with sunny paradise.
Trekking vacation in Cuba
Hiking and exploring the unspoiled national parks of Cuba
Cuba cultural vacation
Immerse yourself in Cuban culture on this 8 day adventure
Cuba homestay vacation
Go local in Cuba staying in friendly family B&Bs throughout
Cuba cultural tour, 9 days
Fun and legal tour for American travelers
Skyline Trail cycling tour in Western Cuba
Cycle the spectacular Skyline Trail through Western Cuba
Cuba vacation, West to East
Cuba travel 23 days from West to East
Modern Cuba culture vacation, Hip Havana
Dive into the New Cuba: music, art and social enterprise
Self drive Cuba family vacation
Family vacation Cuba for parents & children
Cuba vacation, culture and nature
A mix of nature and culture; discover what makes Cuba tick.
Haiti vacation, small group
Discover Haiti on this tour to the Caribbean's hidden gem
St Lucia B&B accommodation, Marigot Bay
Waterfront B&B in the most loved & beautiful Caribbean, bay!
Classic Cuba biking vacation
Cycle Cuba - Beaches, Mountains and Revolution!
Luxury resort in Saint Lucia, Jade Mountain
A cornucopia of organic architecture celebrating nature.
Scuba diving and tour in Cuba
Scuba diving and roundtrip Cuba with homestays and/or hotels
Hiking vacation in St Lucia
Guided walking on this beautiful tear drop island
Small group tours to Cuba
Explore off the beaten track locations
Help rebuild Dominica after hurricane Maria
Help rebuild an eco lodge and a local community,
Jamaica tour, Jamaica Discovery
Venture beyond the tourist trail of Jamaica
Cuba highlights vacation
Explore Havana, visit tobacco hills & doze on dreamy beaches
Small group tour to Cuba
Discover the fascinating diversity of Cuba
Cuba tour, The Revolutionary Trail
Follow in the footsteps of the revolutionaries
PEOPLE & CULTURE IN THE CARIBBEAN
All inclusive & cruise ships
Two of the least responsible tourism models exist in the Caribbean – all inclusive resorts and cruise ships. Both contribute huge numbers of people to the region, but with limited benefits to the local economy. All inclusive resorts generally create limited local economic benefits and have a large environmental footprint. They sometimes have beaches that are reserved exclusively for tourist use, with fences and security keeping local people out. The worst offending resorts my even warn tourists about the ‘security threat’ posed by local people – which may or may not exist – and recommend that they stay within the resort. Tourism Concern reports that in the Dominican Republic, all inclusive vacations have been blamed for restaurant closures and increased negative attitude towards tourists. Read more about our stance on all inclusive resorts around the world. Through research into employment standards in all inclusive around the world, Tourism Concern also found numerous employment issues, including failure to recognise workers’ rights to join a trade union; lack of training; being pressurised into working a considerable amount of unpaid overtime; and not earning a living wage.Large cruise ships are another mass tourism offender. There are numerous ways in which these floating cities impact negatively on the destinations they visit and on the oceans themselves. They disgorge thousands of tourists to ports which stresses infrastructure but delivers little economic benefit. They are polluting and often have a bad record when it comes to treatment of staff. Find out more about these huge vessels and why we don’t support or market vacations on large cruise ships.
If you like the idea of a resort, seek out those that operate responsibly. The best resorts build a loyal and skilled local workforce, reduce energy costs and waste, source fresh local produce and offer an exciting range of sensitively planned excursions. This model benefits the destination, the local people and the tourist.
You won’t struggle to find small, locally run accommodation in the Caribbean either, so do seek that out as an alternative to resorts and all inclusives. These not only keep money within the local community, they deliver a really personal and intimate experience of the destination – win-win, in fact.
If cruising floats your boat, pick a small cruise ship or yacht and take to the waves with a clean conscience, on a clean, non-polluting vessel that supports local people and docks at small harbours that can’t be reached by large liners, spreading the economic benefits of tourism wider and keeping them respectful, too.
Wildlife & environment
Captive wildlife
Sadly, though, the Caribbean islands are simultaneously home to some really questionable captive animal centers. There are several dolphinariums around the region, where tourists can swim with, pet or watch dolphins perform. And there is also the Cayman Turtle Centre in the Cayman Islands, where visitors can hug and pass around young turtles and can swim with adult turtles in a lagoon. The Centre markets this as a rare chance to be in contact with endangered green sea turtles, which are in decline due to egg poaching, habitat degradation and entanglement with fishing nets. What most visitors don’t realise is that this is also a farm, where the turtles are bred in captivity and then killed for their meat, which is traditionally eaten here. The way the turtles are kept is also a source of deep concern. These solitary animals are kept in tanks containing hundreds of turtles. In the wild, they can dive to 150m, but in the farm are kept in shallow tanks. This is farming with the worst animal welfare standards, all dressed up as a unique tourist opportunity.
At Responsible Travel we believe keeping dolphins, whales and turtles in captivity is morally and ethically wrong. We don’t promote any tours that include zoo visits either and we encourage travelers to enjoy seeing wildlife in the wild, where it belongs, in ways that support conservation of habitats and species.
What you can do
World Animal Protection has a campaign to stop sea turtle farming. Join its online petition to urge a global cruise line to stop sending tens of thousands of its passengers to the Cayman Turtle Centre each year.