'Gringo Trails' and sustainable tourism

As part of Latest Trends and Innovations, seminar series about the current trends in the tourism industry, MU students were privileged to be the first to see the theatrical debut of the movie Gringo Trails in Austria.

Pegi Vail, anthropologist and associate director of New York University’s Center for Media, Culture, and History, and author of this thought-provoking documentary, along with Melvin Estrella, Director of Photography, were recent guests at MU, and spoke about the importance of responsible and sustainable traveling.

Entitled Gringo Trails, a term referring mostly to Western tourists who seek to find unique and authentic experiences and therefore use the less travelled routes through Asia, Africa and South America, Vail’s movie raises numerous questions about one of the largest global industries: tourism.

Bitten by the travel bug almost three decades ago, and a former avid backpacker, Veil collected footage from her trips to more than 70 countries since 1999. She interviewed not only tourists, but also guides, travel writers, and locals in order to discuss the shifts and impact that mass tourism, and in particular backpacker subculture, has made in countries like Bolivia, Thailand, and Mali.

Vail’s movie opens with Yossi Ghinsberg’s story, an Israeli adventurer who got lost with couple of friends in Bolivian jungle in 1981 and survived almost a month before being rescued. He wrote a book about those adventures, which became a trigger for hordes of backpackers from all over the world to follow in his footsteps seeking similarly harrowing experiences, and to make a pilgrimage to the small town of Rurrenabaque described in the book.

At almost the same time, at the other part of the planet, Yossi’s peer Costas Christ, an American backpacker, visited Thai island of Koh Pha Ngan and discovered Haad Rin Beach by chance. He revealed his secret only to a couple of fellow tourists, many years before thousands of festival lovers crowded formerly deserted beaches, nowadays known for ‘’Full Moon Parties’’ and hedonism.

Not just the environmental, but also social damage that has been done to those places has nearly destroyed these two communities. Nevertheless, it is not only backpackers who are to blame for this uncontrolled tourism. In their wish to create “authentic experience”, mostly fictional and based on traveler’s expectations, locals also tend to undermine issues like indigenous culture, economy, infrastructure, and ultimately, environment.

“It is not only tourists who need to act more responsible; it is also tourism industry leaders and governments that need to be included in planning. Furthermore, local communities need to set rules and regulations, and promote education. Tourism can be of great benefit, it can provide jobs and help economies, but there must be education on the workers and tourists on how to do it sustainably. Thirty years ago we did not have the hindsight to see what the impact was. In Thailand, no one could anticipate how quickly everything would happen. It is maybe too late for Haad Rin Beach, but we can prevent other places from being ruined by careless tourists,” explains Vail.

In her movie, Vail also shows two examples of successful model of sustainable tourism and places that are effective in their attempts to preserve culture and environment. For instance, tour guide from Amazonas understands that one monkey in the forest is more valuable alive for visitors to take photos of him, then one single meal. Similarly, the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan employs so-called “high value, low impact” policy for visitors. Tourists are charged an entrance fee of 250$ which covers lodging, a guide and all meals. In that way budget backpackers, who are trying to get the most out of every penny in developing countries, are kept out and only travelers who seriously respect the country are attracted.

“Soon there will be two billion tourists traveling internationally, and those numbers are only going to increase, so travelers should be aware of their carbon footprint abroad. Not traveling is obviously not an option, but instead be a self-aware and responsible traveler. Be aware of the fact that you are a privileged one who is able to travel the world in the first place. It costs nothing to research online and plan your trip ahead. Maybe cut your trip a little short, but be more environmentally sustainable. Leave your bucket list behind. Instead of checking off the list, check your motivation. Why are you going somewhere? Are you just going for the party because you heard you have to go to that party? Is it the exotic background that you want to check or is it actually getting to know the culture and the environment? Changing even a few habits can make a big change,” advises Vail.

This last lecture of this fall’s Latest Trends and Innovations series also coincided with the Sustainability Committee’s Sustainability Week, showcasing Sustainable Tourism-related topics and events with the lecture, movie night, poster competition, and a Quiz Night.