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by Angela Singleton, LPS staff correspondent

"Tourism is like fire. You can cook your supper with it, but it can also burn your house down." This saying, from an anonymous Asian source, is quoted in a recent report on ethical tourism and perfectly illustrates the two opposing sides to one of the fastest growing industries on the planet.

On the one hand, tourism can be hugely beneficial - and essential - to a developing country, but on the other hand those benefits often bypass poor people.

In 1950 about 25 million people travelled abroad. In 2000 that figure was nearly 700 million. The World Tourism Organisation has predicted that by 2020, 1.6 billion people will be undertaking foreign travel each year.

With record numbers of United Kingdom tourists taking holidays in Africa and Asia, research just published from Tearfund - a Christian relief and development agency - shows that 52 per cent would be more likely to book a holiday with a tour company with a written code guaranteeing good working conditions, protection of the environment and support for charities in tourist destinations.

Last year 10 per cent of holidays taken by UK people were to the developing world making a total of 4.3 million holidays. But some of the favourite new destinations are also among the least developed on the globe. Place such as India, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Mexico and The Gambia where millions struggle for survival on less than one pound sterling a day.

Graham Gordon, Tearfund's policy officer, said: "It is estimated that 60 per cent of Thailand's tourism revenues leave the country. While in The Gambia, each British holidaymaker spends hundreds of pounds but most of this stays in the all-inclusive hotels and does not reach local people.

"More of us are venturing further afield on our holidays to countries where people battle to feed their families and make a living. Our research indicates that we do not want our holidays to be at someone else's expense," he added.

Nearly two out of three people (65 per cent) surveyed by Tearfund also said they wanted to know from travel agents and tour operators how to behave more responsibility when on holiday by understanding local customs and politics, preserving the environment, supporting the economy and meeting indigenous people.

The report - World Apart, A Call To Responsible Global Tourism - states that UK tourists have a right to know how their holidays affect people in destinations, especially in the developing world. Tearfund is calling for tour operators to take their corporate social responsibility more seriously and to start by writing a clear policy and appointing a responsible-tourism staff member.

In a foreword to the report, Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop, writes: "Tourism cannot escape the ethical consumerism debate. In a world where more and more businesses are pursuing and reporting on ethical practices, the tourism industry has some way to go."

With a few exceptions, tourism has been one of the slowest industries to adopt corporate social responsibility practices. Research in 2001 by Tearfund revealed that of 65 tour companies, only half had responsible-tourism policies and many of these were so brief that they were 'virtually meaningless'.

Summing up, Graham Gordan said: "Responsible-tourism initiatives are emerging from groups such as the Association of Independent Tour Operators and Responsible travel.com. But the challenge before the whole tourism industry is to be bold enough to adopt a long-term view and become leaders of socially responsible British business in the 21st century."

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