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Luxury Ecotourism:
Glorious, Green AND Upscale
Ecotravel comes in all shades of green. From primitive camping and sloshing through swamps to ecoresorts and swanky safaris, green travelers can find ecotours to match their comfort zone. Luxury ecotourism is indeed an option. I have friends who consider roughing it to be staying in a hotel without room service. And even they have found luxury ecotravel to satisfy their posh predilections.
Ecotravel doesn't have to involve tent camping... but camping sure helps you appreciate the posher options when you reward yourself.
Feeling Green and Rustic?
Check Into Ecolodges
Generally, ecolodges can be basic accommodations. The beauty of ecolodges is that they are good for the surrounding environment and good for the local economy, building a sustainable way of life for native people in balance and harmony with nature and with traditional culture. Most ecolodges provide lodging in fabulous natural surroundings, often in the style of traditional housing; they will use minimal electicity or alternate forms of power; the food will be grown locally; the lodge will be run by local people; waste will be minimized; and you will experience an incredible communion with nature and with a new culture.
Feeling Green and in Need of Pampering?
Check Into Ecoresorts
Ecoresorts tend to be a step or several steps above more rustic accommodations. For those who are looking for decadent green, luxury ecotourism is yours for the price. There are actually many 5-star ecoresorts that qualify as green while still offering traditional luxury touches like turn-down service, spa treatments, high thread-count bedding, and gourmet dining. And when you're trekking along in Morocco on day 5 as I was recently, and you spot an impressive lodge in the distance, which I was told was a 5-star ecoresort, I admit it... I pined for a little TLC.
Dining around a proper table is a fabulous treat after dining on the trail for days.
It is important, however, to check any luxury ecotravel lodge for its green qualifications. Simply changing the linens every other day to save water usage does not qualify as green. It helps. But to be truly green and luxury, an ecoresort must fit the practice and the spirit of ecotourism, as touched upon in the ecolodge description above. For tips on choosing ecotours and ecolodging, please read
Choosing Ecotours
for more detail. And if you have doubts about how absolute luxury can be green, please read the steps that
Whistler Ski Resort
has taken to green its operations.
For more tips on Luxury Ecotourism, check out Ecotourism Tips.
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