Responsible Tourism Awards: Paul Theroux on why the awards matter and notes Maine Lobstering

Telegraph Com United Kingdom, April 2, 2009

Nominations are now open for this year’s Responsible Tourism Awards, sponsored by Virgin Holidays and organised by responsibletravel.com. Paul Theroux, the veteran travel writer, explains why the awards matter, and singles out some countries that deserve to be among the winners

Why are you supporting The Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards?
In the past, awards were given for Best Meal, Best View, Most Grovelling Staff, Biggest Ballroom, or whatever. It's encouraging that someone is being rewarded for doing something that is ethically right or supporting a position that will help the planet. That's the greatest lesson of travel: it is a very small and easily bruised planet.

Of all the places you have been, which stand out for you as having maintained a strong sense of place – a distinctive local character as opposed to an identity assigned to them for tourism purposes?

I would single out Bali, the people of the Trobriand Islands, many of the villages in Vanuatu (New Hebrides), the remoter parts of Scotland and the lobstering communities on the coast of Maine. People who are proud of their traditions, who have faith, and who have retained their language and their special skills – agricultural or nautical, or artistic skills – survive as happy people and tend not to envy what others possess. I would say also that these people tend to be the most responsible in environmental terms.

FMI