Now more than ever, travel seems to have become a necessity in our society, serving to alleviate the stress brought about by a frenetic and wearing lifestyle. Increased ease of travel has made vacations to far off and exotic locations extremely popular. Enticed perhaps by these exotic getaways or by economically convenient vacation packages offered by tour operators, more and more people are becoming attracted to the world’s developing South.

Examined as a whole, present-day tourism is a complex, yet important, phenomenon. It should be analyzed to determine its environmental, cultural, social and economic consequences on the “host” societies.

The modern tourism industry, is in fact devastating to Third-World host countries.  In these developing countries tourism can bring about the loss of local values and traditions, the consumption of precious resources and an increase of social marginalization. Furthermore, these societies are not minimally compensated; income generated is not equitably distributed, but is instead pocketed in large part by a few multinational corporations in the sector. 

The possibility of cultural exchange between tourists and local populations is, at best, false or limited to “protected” routes. This form of tourism results in artificial and rushed encounters, that is often disrespectful of local cultures.
In light of the troubling tourism situation in the Third World, the Erythros Association for the promotion and Defense of Human and Social Rights created a project to develop an alternative form of tourism.
Our association has been active since 1977 in the promotion and organization of solidarity tourism trips to Ethiopia and Eritrea. With the aim of establishing a formula for sustainable and respectful tourism, the Erythros-managed program actually represents much more than just a vacation.

Beyond guaranteeing direct contact between the informed tourist and the local community, we seek to develop in the latter the role of semiprofessional hospitality. Moreover, this project is associated with our programs of long-distance adoption. These particular adoptions involve orphans over the age of eighteen who participate in our training courses, in collaboration with a few other NGOs, to prepare them for insertion into the solidarity tourism market. Youth are engaged in various activities as part of our alternative hospitality program, helping them to secure a measure of self-sustained social and employment autonomy.

From 1993 to 2001, the Erythros Association has assisted, in Ethiopia and Eritrea, roughly 3,700 minors. For those who were successfully inserted into the professional training process at the age of majority, employment in the field of solidarity tourism has often represented the only feasible employment opportunity for the social context in which they live.

Due to the scenic beauty and the dynamic traditions and customs in our countries of experience, interest has been high among those who are excited and at the same time curious to discover a “new world,” a distant reality, as well as sensitive to the extremely difficult social conditions.

We have set a goal for ourselves not to engage in mere charity for charity’s sake, neither do we want to simply pursue an easy business opportunity. Rather, we seek to stimulate a policy of assisted self-reliance in those affected by our projects such that they themselves may become entrepreneurs and perhaps make steps toward providing employment third parties, not directly involved in Erythros projects. For example, we anticipate that this project will provide incentives for local artisans, whose products could be placed on sale through the mechanisms of free-trade.
The process described above is what we call a “policy of compensation,” whereby the initial activity of social assistance develops automatically into a brilliantly entrepreneurial project, which in turn gives way for other activities of humanitarian nature, and so on.

With this double objective of social emancipation and economic development, Erythros, until the break out of the tragic war between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998, has involved over 50 disadvantaged families and approximately 80 orphans in its responsible tourism program. One group of these beneficiaries provide hospitality directly in their own homes,  offering bed and breakfast accommodations.  A second group acts as tour guides trained in the history and architecture of their localities, and, more importantly, as cultural mediators allowing the tourist an unfiltered view of the cultural uniqueness of the area he or she is visiting. This system not only provides employment opportunities for local residents, but the “responsible tourist” is also given a unique opportunity to learn about the traditions and customs of a different culture in ways that would otherwise be impossible through regular tourist channels.

In light of the success of our previous experience, we would like to involve other associations interested in this initiative and thus create a network of those in Italy working on long-distance adoption, and those dedicated to the promotion of solidarity tourism.
Our objective is to spread this concept to other countries in the world’s South, creating employment and income-generating opportunities for resident populations, in particular for orphaned youth, indigent families, and the disabled – dramatically vulnerable entities living in contexts where there is no other existing form of social protection.

The network that we aim to create will allow for communication between local residents and the individual associations, providing thus the opportunity to not only exchange work experiences, but also to favor efficient organization, (for example, the best-suited entity to organize responsible tourist itineraries in various countries). In this way a unique organization will emerge at the national level that is able to completely satisfy the various needs of the tourist-traveler.  Thus, individual associations will structure themselves, while maintaining their independence, as active terminals of a single organism. Future opportunities for this network include the sale of airline tickets, the choice of localities as vacation spots, and planning of tourist excursions through a network of travel agencies, with humanitarian, economic and  educational ambitions.