After a year in which more than a billion tourists travelled across country lines, a non-profit group called Ethical Traveler wants to make sure people feel good about the places they’re visiting.
The organization, a project of journalist Jeff Greenwald and the Earth Island Institute, recently announced their annual list of the World’s Ten Best Ethical Destinations — or the places in which hosts are “promoting human rights, preserving their environment, and upholding civil society — all while creating a sustainable, community-based tourism industry.”
Check out the top 10 most ethical tourist destinations in the list below (in no particular order):
- Barbados
- Cape Verde
- Costa Rica
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Mauritius
- Palau
- Samoa
- Uruguay
To compile its list, Ethical Traveler analyzed hundreds of developing nations based on three general categories: environmental protection, social welfare, and human rights. Looking at data from the Socioeconomic Data and Application Center (SEDAC) Environmental Performance Index (EPI), UNICEF, and Amnesty International among others, the organization compiled its list, noting that Latvia and Lithuania scored especially high marks when it came to environmental protection.
The hope, according to ET, is that the list will help instill a worldwide sense of “mindful travel.” The authors write, “By choosing our destinations well and remembering our roles as citizen diplomats, we can create international goodwill and help change the world for the better.”
[via Grist]
Image: Ben124/Flickr
