Eco-Tourism
Diving ahead on eco-holidays
Diving operators are leading the way in meeting the growing demand for eco-friendly holidays. Red
Sea liveaboard operator and Responsible Tourism award-winner blue o two is even encouraging guests
to pick up litter on their diving holiday.
Eco-tourism is a term thrown around a lot in the travel market to try The judges said that blue o two had developed ‘a new business
to persuade the environmental conscious holidaymaker to part with approach to diving in the Red Sea, a highly competitive price-driven
their hard earned cash and feel good about it. However, the term market, demonstrating that responsible diving is possible for a
eco-friendly seems to have as much ambiguity surrounding it in the mainstream business and establishing a way of doing business.’
holiday market as the organic tag on supermarket food. What exactly As well as having marine experts on board various trips to help
constitutes an eco-friendly holiday? Can it mean as little in some educate guests about marine conservation specific to the Red Sea,
countries as recycled toilet paper in your hotel room? Problem is, as the company also works closely with the Hurghada Environmental
punters we rarely get to see behind the scenes and witness ‘eco- Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) on clean-ups and to
friendliness’ in action. draw up new operational procedures
and standards for all dive boats
For divers on the other hand, it is operating in the Red Sea. This, it says,
easier to quantify the eco-credentials is to try to prevent damage to the
of a holiday package. This is mostly marine environment by dive boats
down to the fact eco-tourism is and divers.
nothing new to the diving industry.
Tens of thousands of dedicated divers The major success of its campaign
over the last few decades have parted has been the clean-ups. British divers
with a lot of money to volunteer for have been happy to pay to take part
marine studies throughout the world, in a series of underwater clean-ups
particularly in education gap years. as part of their liveaboard holidays
Caring about the marine environment with blue o two. These trips are
is in our nature – not difficult to subsidised to help encourage guests
understand it’s in our best interest to to take part. They have now proved
protect and preserve what we enjoy underwater. so popular; the liveaboard operator is now running regular clean-up
For the second year running Red Sea British-owned liveaboard trips year-round.
operator blue o two has been recognised in the UK Responsible
Tourism Awards for its particular moves to encourage green diving ‘Simply by seeing that divers are prepared to spend time and money
tourism. In 2007 it won Best in a Marine Environment and was then on holiday to clean up the reefs makes a big impact on the boat crew
highly commended by judges in the 2008 awards. and encourages them to adopt more environmentally friendly ways of
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www.cdws.travel
Issue 1 June 2009
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