The Thompson Okanagan looks and feels different than much of the rest of British Columbia. The Okanagan Valley is a popular vacation destination and fast-growing region centered on the 155-km-long Okanagan Lake. The region is known for its dry, sunny climate, dry landscapes, and lakeshore communities and a particular lifestyle.
Home to over 90 communities and over 200 licensed wineries, the landscape is as varied as the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies to the semi-arid climate of the Okanagan Desert. It is a region rich in Indigenous culture, sun-soaked valleys surrounded by sweeping grasslands and connected throughout by water.
Thompson Okanagan Region was officially certified as the first destination in the Americas to have successfully achieved the Biosphere Tourism Destination Certification from the Responsible Tourism Institute.
Thompson Okanagan becomes the first Sustainable Destination in the Americas
Twenty regions around the world have received recognition from the Responsible Tourism Institute, most of which are located in Europe.
Sustainable tourism is measured by examining how a destination manages itself from several perspectives, including environmental, social and cultural perspectives.
The region also features world-class wineries, inventive, fresh fare, and rich indigenous culture that leaves a lasting mark. Besides the main activities like golf, powder skiing, lake sports, and wine, the region also offers peaceful fishing holes, remote horseback rides, and a selection of farm-fresh culinary treasures.
More than three million people visit the Thompson Okanagan each year, according to the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association.
Photo credit: Dick Thompson Flickr
In 2018, the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association was named the year’s winner of the prestigious Tourism for Tomorrow Destination Award during the World Travel and Tourism Council Summit in Argentina.
Some of the responsibilities are a guarantee an economic, socio-cultural and environmental balance, satisfying the current needs of tourists and host regions, reporting significant benefits for the entity, society and the environment, and protecting and improving future prospects.
Building a responsible and sustainable destination
Treetop Flyers
Sustainability is at the core of Treetop Flyers business. From repurposed shipping containers for offices and installing the only solar-powered drop swing, they are setting the mark for taking responsibility for their footprint.
BC Wildlife Park
BC Wildlife Rescue – Fawcett Family Wildlife Health Centre is a nonprofit organization committed to rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife.
Ogopogo Tours
Committed to sustaining the beautiful landscape in BC, Ogopogo Tours has energy-efficient hybrid vehicles to reduce their harm to the environment.
Myra Canyon Ranch
Surrounded by Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park and 20 minutes from Kelowna, Myra Canyon Ranch is a lodge and horseback riding facility that guests call “a magic place”.
The ways in which the tourism industry could promote sustainable tourism and practices, rather than damage local environments and cultures, are getting explored more and more from non-governmental organizations, industry, trade unions, local authorities and governments.
The regular traveler needs to be more involved into the eco-travel and sustainable idea and adopting to increase sustainability; be it to the environment, local community projects or initiatives, through animal experiences and especially when sourcing hotels.
Worldwide tourism accounted for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions from 2009 to 2013, new research finds, making the sector a bigger polluter than the construction industry.
The global tourism industry has been growing at an annual rate of around 5 percent, outpacing the growth of international trade.
What is Sustainable Tourism?
Sustainable Tourism is a traveling system that is deemed to have a more positive impact on the environment than the negative impacts. Sustainable travel is becoming a popular venture where tourists get inspired to partake the eco-tours, which are fun and adventurous.
Tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world and is a major source of income for many countries. Tourism also provides many jobs which have helped restore local economies.
Most people like traveling, going on a holiday, but tourism can also cause serious problems, such as loss of cultural heritage, economic dependence, and ecological degradation.
Learning about the impacts of tourism has led many people to find more responsible holidays. These include various forms of alternative or sustainable tourism such as: ‘nature-based tourism’, ‘ecotourism’ and ‘cultural tourism’. Sustainable tourism is becoming so popular recently.
According to the World Tourism Organization, sustainable tourism is “Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities”
How to travel Better and Sustainably
As tourists, we should be mindful of how we travel and our impact when we arrive in a destination.
Photo credit: Eberhard Grossgasteiger from Pexels
1. Take a nonstop flights
The number one easy green tip: book a nonstop flight. Look for the shortest flight path to your destination. Takeoffs and landings to cause most of a plane’s carbon emissions
Where possible book for direct flights, because use the least amount of fuel, it’s simple and efficient and you help to reduce the plane’s carbon emissions which are generated mostly from taking off and landing.
2. Research the accommodations.
If you plan to stay in a hotel, choose a place that holds itself to high environmental standards and ask the management to share their sustainability policy. They should be certified by a third party, such as Rainforest Alliance or the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Choose local places to stay, as opposed to a large foreign corporation. That way you help a greater portion of the profits to stay in the community.
3. Travel with reusables.
Create a habit to pack a reusable water bottle, a travel mug, a cloth shopping bag to use for grocery purchases, a metal straw, utensils, and a container for leftovers. If you have these with you, you’ll never need to use single-use disposables.
4. Support local restaurants.
Spend time and have a meal in restaurants that are run by locals and support their small businesses as opposed to having multiple meals at the hotel. This is a good reason to don’t choose All Inclusive. Supporting local restaurants usually means locally sourced ingredients and it is a great way to meet locals who are enthusiastic about you trying their traditional food. All-inclusive package holidays mean you pay up-front for your accommodation, food and activities. This means tourists have little incentive to go elsewhere and often do not go out to local restaurants
Photo credit: Artem Beliaikin from Pexels
5. Buy souvenirs from local stores.
If you have to purchase souvenirs – buy them from authentic artisans and purchase unique local handcrafted items. Avoid purchases that will get tossed in the trash eventually. Avoid imported souvenirs that have a larger carbon footprint. Check where an item is made; you want something that’s truly local. Invest in things with value, such as art, textiles, and ceramics.
6. Pack smart. Pack smart
It is important thing is to pack light. It will make your life so easier. A great quote from Oneika Raymond can remind you of the importance of luggage:
“For every hotel with a luggage cart and paved street, there’s a town on a mountaintop on the Italian coast with 150 stairs. Try rolling that bag then.”
Avoid plastic at all. Especially, plastic bags and bottles. Instead, bring a reusable water bottle that you can refill and carry your own linen bags. Many local sustainable accommodations can provide water fill-up stations as well as reusable bags in your room.
The global travel community can change the way we travel and help preserve a lot of the world’s resources. If we do not do the necessary steps, our future generations may not experience what we have been fortunate to see.
You can find laundry all over the world, so you don’t have to pack many clothes! Havier luggage contributes more to carbon emissions because the plane requires more fuel to carry the heavier loads.
Remember to carefully select your personal care products, especially sunscreen. Many products are packed with chemicals in that harm not only you but the environment too.
Try to use toiletries that come in paper packaging rather than plastic. You can find my eco-friendly travel packing list here.
7. Volunteer with NGOs and Join Community Tourism Projects.
Always research volunteering opportunities and the organizers to ensure that your time, money and resources are actually going to a good cause. Take opportunities to involve yourself in local projects and community tourism organizations. These may be volunteering opportunities or a chance to learn about local life and practices.
8. Use sustainable tour operators with green accreditations
Whenever you can ensure to walk instead of taking public transport. This is not only better for carbon emissions, but it has a lot of health benefits for you as well.
Choose places that aren’t so far, that you can reach without relying on need to use a car, or that is pedestrian- or bicycle-friendly.
9. Walking where possible
Before you book your tours, do research and look for accreditations such as GSTC, Green Globe, Rainforest Alliance, EarthCheck, Green Tourism Business Scheme (UK) and other regulatory bodies.
Read reviews on third party websites such as Google, TripAdvisor, and TrustPilot reviews. Read reviews and blog posts from travel bloggers who you trust.
10. Share your sustainable travel experiences
Share your responsible travel experiences and stories with your family, friends or even people you meet, on social media! The more you talk about the way you travel, the more you reinforce how important it is to eco-travel.
Sustainability and Eco-awareness are incredibly important topics – how have your travels/trips been influenced by this? I’d love to hear your thoughts on Sustainability and Eco-tourism? What do you do in support of reducing carbon emissions?
Photo credit: John Norton/Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari) Flying underwater
Ningaloo Reef is home to the world’s largest fringing reef and can easily be accessed within a few feet from the coast. This is the only place in the world where a large coral reef can be accessed so easily. Because of its incredible biodiversity, it is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Ningaloo Reef is home to more than 200 species of hard corals and 50 species of soft corals with over 520 species of fish. The reefs are easily accessible because it is the close distance from the shore. It is a popular destination for divers and snorkellers.
Coral reefs around the world are under increasing stress due to a combination of local and global factors.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps and it is the only living structure that can be seen from space.
This reef provides home for an astounding variety of marine life, plants and animals – from ancient sea turtles, reef fish and 134 species of sharks and rays, to 400 different hard and soft corals and a plethora of seaweeds. The Reef is far more than an economic resource.
Coral bleaching
Coral reefs need clean, clear water to survive. When sediment and other pollutants enter the water, they smother coral reefs, speed the growth of damaging algae, and lower water quality. Pollution can also make corals more susceptible to disease, impede coral growth and reproduction, and cause changes in food structures on the reef.
Small-scale bleaching is a common sight on the reef, but in the 1998 year that saw widespread bleaching, 42% of the reef turned white.
Farm pollution
Sediment and chemical runoff from farms is a major threat to inshore coral reefs and seagrass meadows in our Great Barrier Reef.
Nutrients from fertilizer pollution in the Reef’s waters also fuels massive outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish, which devour our coral reefs. Reducing fertilizer use will not only save money but will also reduce polluted runoff.
Fishing
Coral reef fish are a significant food source for over a billion people worldwide. Traps set too close to reefs and marine debris, such as ghost traps, lost nets, monofilament, and lines, can damage coral reefs, which take a long time to recover.
Overfishing cause reducing the numbers of grazing fish that keep corals clean of algal overgrowth.
On many of the cays, there are spectacular and globally important breeding colonies of seabirds and marine turtles, and Raine Island is the world’s largest green turtle breeding area.
Ningaloo Reef
This incredible, pristine wilderness offers the most affordable reef experience you are likely to find anywhere in the world. Ningaloo Reef is actually in fairly good health compare to the Great Barrier Reef.
There are many ways to enjoy the Ningaloo Reef and use ECO certified tour operators to ensure your trip is one that contributes to the protection of the reef in the long-term.
With easy access from Exmouth, the Turquoise Bay Drift Snorkel offers some of the best snorkeling just meters from the beach. The shallow edges of the reef provide perfect snorkeling conditions for people of all ages and mobility.
Three of the world’s seven marine turtle species, nest on mainland beaches and islands of Ningaloo Reef during the summer months from November to March. Here you may catch sight of loggerhead, green, hawksbill and flatback turtles as they embark on their epic annual journey. The loggerhead turtle is the most endangered species of sea turtle in the world.
Volunteers are required between December and January each year to monitor nesting beaches for turtle activity!
The bottom line
The Great Barrier Reef is very accessible if staying in Cairns or Port Douglas.
Compared to the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo is quite remote. Located off the coast of Western Australia, Ningaloo Reef requires a flight to Perth and a flight to Exmouth.
The diving and snorkeling sites of the Ningaloo are right along the coast with the Navy Pier, near the town of Exmouth, named as one of the best shore dives in the world.
The Ningaloo Reef is perhaps most famed for its whale sharks which feed there from March to June.
Ningaloo Reef facilitates intimate wildlife encounters – swimming with whale sharks and observing nesting turtles – and for accessibility and affordability it can’t be beaten
On the other hand, the Great Barrier Reef offers the diversity of indulgent five-star escapes, world-class dive sites, sailing trips, and budget island camping adventures, but you’ll have to pay more and your trip will end up more expensive. When Ningaloo Reef offers the joy of spending a night on the reef or some truly remote paradise.
