BELL Tours and Travel

Dear reader:
For 40 years I have earned my living from the travel industry and I especially enjoy visiting cultures other than my own. However, I have always been troubled by the fact that when I visit a culture different from my own, I change it ever so slightly and thus destroy part of the reason I like to travel.
Below is the new Traveller's Code adopted by the Pacific Asia Travel Association and I feel it is worthy of your interest. Please read and heed it's recommendations for the benefit of all travellers.
George Bell
PATA Traveller’s Code
Sustaining Indigenous Cultures
“Travel is a passage through other people’s lives and other people’s places.”

1. Be Flexible
Are you prepared to accept cultures and practices different from your own?

2. Choose Responsibly
Have you elected to support businesses that clearly and actively address the cultural and environmental concerns of the locale you are visiting?

3. Do Your Homework
Have you done any research about the people and places you plan to visit so you may avoid what may innocently offend them or harm their environment?

4. Be Aware
Are you informed of the holidays, holy days, and general religious and social customs of the places you visit?

5. Support Local Enterprise
Have you made a commitment to contribute to the local economy by using businesses that economically support the community you are visiting, eating in local restaurants and buying locally made artisan crafts as remembrances of your trip?

6. Be Respectful and Observant
Are you willing to respect local laws that may include restrictions of your usage of or access to places and things that may harm or otherwise erode the environment or alter or run counter to the places you visit?

Copyright (c) 2002 by the Pacific Asia Travel Association. This code may be reproduced freely with full credit to the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

Bell Travel Services- Providing Custom Travel Services for 24 Years.
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