Responsible travel turns 25: Looking back on a pioneering tourism company

Responsible travel has become a common motto for tourists, tourism companies and tourism boards as they seek to lessen their impact on the environment and local communities.

Now a phrase encapsulating everything from packing a reusable water bottle to avoiding overcrowded destinations, it was originally coined in 2000 by tourism pioneer Justin Francis.

Francis founded Responsible Travel as a groundbreaking holiday company seeking to drive change in the tourism industry.

Launched with the support of the late Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick, the business promoted an alternative type of travel aiming to reduce the negative impacts of tourism and maximise its benefits for local places and people.

As part of the UK’s 2025 New Year Honours, Francis was awarded an OBE for services to nature and the environment.

Euronews Travel looks back on 25 years of the world’s first responsible holiday company.

Responsible travel celebrates 25th anniversary

Responsible Travel started life as a research project for founder Francis while studying for an MSc in Tourism, Conservation and Sustainable Development at the University of Greenwich in 1999.

According to the company, it was a response to how the tourism industry had been packaging up ‘paradise’ for sale with little regard for local people or environmental impact.

This inspired Francis to found the Brighton-based activist holiday company a year later, alongside Professor Harold Goodwin.

“Responsible tourism is uniquely positioned to support a fairer transition to a nature-positive, low-carbon future,” says Francis, “generating vital conservation funding and income in the least advantaged communities and places of huge significance for biodiversity and carbon sequestration.”

To do so, Responsible Travel has screened its holiday partners from the start. The criteria include having a company-wide responsible tourism policy, a commitment to transparency, and a willingness to accept and engage with customer feedback.

Justin Francis wins OBE for services to nature

Since the launch of Responsible Travel, Francis has campaigned extensively on a range of human and animal rights issues, from orphanage tourism to cetaceans in captivity, as well as on accessibility and overtourism.

Starting in 2009, he has campaigned against voluntary