Sustainable travel: how not to ruin the places you visit

Sustainable travel isn’t about ticking eco-friendly boxes or giving things up. It’s about making smarter choices that protect the places you visit without compromising the experience.

That means thinking about where your money goes, how you move through a place, and the kind of impact you leave behind, culturally, environmentally, and socially.

Tailor-made travel helps with that. When your trip is shaped around your interests by someone who understands the destination, it avoids waste, skips the generic routes, and supports the people who actually live there.

Sustainability isn’t a buzzword. It’s travel that respects the place, connects you to it, and makes sense for both you and the destination.

Why sustainable travel matters now more than ever

Tourism has grown fast. It reaches more places and more people than ever before. That brings real benefits, but also real pressure.

How do you keep exploring the world without damaging the places that make travel meaningful?

Sustainable travel is no longer a niche or a trend. It’s a necessary shift in how we think about movement, culture, and responsibility. The impact of mass tourism is already visible, and so is the need for change.

Making smarter choices now helps protect the experiences you value while giving something back to the people and places that make travel worth it. It starts with understanding what kind of traveler you are, and how your decisions shape the future of travel.

The impact of mass tourism

Tourism brings income, jobs, and investment. But when it grows without limits, the side effects are hard to ignore. It’s one of the key arguments in the tailor-made travel vs package tours debate: mass tourism often overwhelms destinations, while tailor-made trips can be more thoughtful, controlled, and locally beneficial.

You’ve probably seen them yourself:

• Cities overflowing with visitors
• Residential streets converted to short-term rentals
• Independent cafés replaced by souvenir shops and fast food
• Historic sites worn down by foot traffic
• Locals pushed out by rising prices
• Culture repackaged to suit tourists, not residents

None of this means travel has to stop. But how we travel needs to change.

When you:

• Support small, local businesses
• Avoid over-touristed destinations
• Respect natural and cultural limits

...you help protect the very things you came to experience.

Travelers’ growing responsibility

Travel has never been a private act. Every decision you make affects the people and places around you. That doesn’t mean you have to feel guilty, but it does mean you should pay attention.

That awareness is part of the difference from other types of travel, it’s not just about where you go, but how you go, and the impact you leave behind.

Simple choices make a difference:

• Buy from local shops, not international chains
• Learn a few words of the language
• Avoid peak times or overcrowded hotspots
• Choose accommodations that benefit the community
• Ask questions about who profits from your booking

Being a responsible traveler isn’t about being perfect. It’s about staying aware.

Ask yourself:

• Who benefits from this experience?
• Does it support the local economy or just serve my convenience?
• Will this place still be worth visiting if everyone travels like I do?

Tourism will always change places. The question is whether that change is positive.

If you care about people, culture, and the planet, you have the power to make travel better for all of them.

How Rough Guides defines true sustainable travel

Sustainability means different things to different people. For us, it starts with the choices you make: before, during, and after your trip.

That includes who you book with, where your money goes, and how you connect with the place once you’re there. At Rough Guides, sustainable travel is practical. It supports local people, respects culture, and helps protect the places that make travel worth doing. It’s also built into how Rough Guides tailor-made travel works, with local experts designing trips that are thoughtful, responsible, and rooted in real experiences.

Supporting local communities

Locally owned businesses are the backbone of any destination. When you stay in a guesthouse run by local residents, eat at family-run restaurants, or book with independent operators, more of your money stays in the community.

These choices help create lasting jobs, support local livelihoods, and protect the unique character of the places you came to experience.

Learning from cultural exchange

Good travel changes your perspective. It’s not just about seeing new places, it’s about talking with people, asking questions, and listening.

Often it’s not the major sights you remember, but a shared meal or a quiet conversation over coffee. These moments don’t just make a trip better; they make it matter.

Hiring certified local guides

A certified guide is more than someone who knows the route. They’re trained to share local culture, history, and ecology with insight and care.

When that guide is from the area, you hear stories rooted in lived experience, not rehearsed scripts. Hiring local guides supports jobs and gives you a deeper, more personal connection to the place, which is why choosing the right travel expert matters just as much as picking the right destination.

Ensuring money stays within the destination

When you book through large international platforms, most of your money leaves the destination before you arrive.

By working with local experts, Rough Guides keeps spending close to the ground. From accommodations and transport to tours and meals, we make sure the money flows to the people and communities you’re actually visiting. It’s a key part of how to plan a tailor-made trip that’s both meaningful and responsible.

Reducing over-tourism by visiting lesser-known places

Crowds aren’t just annoying; they cause real damage. Infrastructure strains. Prices rise. Local life gets pushed aside.

Big-name sights will always draw attention, but they’re not the only places worth visiting. Exploring lesser-known areas spreads tourism more evenly and often leads to more rewarding experiences. A local expert can guide you to places most visitors miss, and ease the strain on the ones they don’t.

Respecting wildlife

Wildlife experiences should never come at the animal’s expense. No riding, no feeding, no performing.

Responsible tours focus on observation, not entertainment. They follow strict guidelines that protect habitats and support conservation. When done well, wildlife travel can help keep wild places wild and give you a better understanding of why that matters.

Understanding local traditions

Culture isn’t a backdrop, it’s a living, daily reality.

That means knowing when to cover your head, take off your shoes, stay quiet, or step back. It means asking questions before taking photos. And it means respecting local customs, not just noticing them.

When you travel with curiosity and respect, you become more than just a visitor. You become part of the story.

Case studies: sustainable trips designed by Rough Guides

At Rough Guides, we believe sustainability should be at the heart of every journey, and our travelers agree. From choosing eco-conscious stays to supporting local communities, these tailor-made trips show how responsible travel can be both meaningful and memorable. Here’s how our travelers experienced it firsthand.

"Robert also arranged our excursions from hiking trips through the rainforest to paddling down the river viewing all sorts of wildlife. These tours included very experienced naturalist who guided through the jungle where we were able to see some amazing wildlife. They also made meal and dining recommendations to the local restaurants. Rough Guide takes the worry out of international travel. I wouldn't hesitate recommending them to friends nor would hesitate using them again."
Horace, October 2025

"Aziz also shared personal insights and stories that helped us connect with Morocco on a deeper level. We never felt rushed, and he always adjusted the pace to match our preferences. His care and professionalism turned what could have been a simple tour into a truly personal journey." 
Dusyant, September 2025

The tours all exceeded our expectations with top of the class tour guides. Julia at Somewhere We Know, fully understood what we were looking for and recommended the best tours at each of our stops. These tours guides all ha something in common, their expertise and love for their Greek Culture and History.
Thomas, October 2025

How tailor-made travel supports sustainable tourism

Not every traveler is the same. And no destination benefits from copy-paste tourism.

Tailor-made, authentic experiences offer a more personal, thoughtful way to explore. When a trip is built around your interests and shaped by local knowledge, it can support sustainability in ways that mass tourism often can’t.

It’s not a perfect solution, but it is a smarter one.

Get your tailor-made itinerary and travel in a way that fits your style, and respects the places you visit.