INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY: GLOBAL

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND

THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY:

GLOBAL GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES

CONTENTS

The Need for Global Guidelines

Our Approach

How to Use The Guidelines

Guiding Principles of Responsible Indigenous Tourism

Guidelines for Developing Tourism Experiences

(guidelines 1–8)

Guidelines for Operating Tourism Experiences

(guidelines 9–15)

Guidelines for Marketing Tourism Experiences

(guidelines 16–18)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A number of individuals contributed to the guidelines.

They included project leads Jamie Sweeting, President of

the Planeterra Foundation and Vice President for Social

Enterprise & Sustainability at G Adventures, and Seleni

Matus, Executive Director of the International Institute of

Tourism Studies at the George Washington University, who

both recognized the need for, and oversaw the creation of,

a practical guide that would be useful to travel companies

involved with Indigenous tourism. Project management was

provided by Kelly Galaski, Director of Global Programs at

Planeterra and additional research and support was provided

by Anna Barrera, International Institute of Tourism Studies

Research Scholar; and George Washington University

graduate students Elizabeth Jordan, Gabriela Aguerrevere

Yanes and Jill Christmas.

Leah Shelly, Director of Global Engagement for

GAdventures, contributed the research from her Master’s

major research paper, Working Better with Indigenous

Tourism Suppliers, which provided ﬁrst-person insights

from Indigenous entrepreneurs that helped to provide the

community perspective for the guidelines. Pilar (Pitu)

Espeso-Molinero, University of Alicante, PhD in Tourism

Planning and Management, provided feedback on the

research methodology.

The expert review panel included Keith Henry, President

& CEO, and Casey Vanden Heuval, Director of Business

Development & Partnerships, Indigenous Tourism Association

of Canada; Ben Sherman, Chairman, World Indigenous

Tourism Alliance; Camille Ferguson, Executive Director,

American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association; Jaranya

Daengnoy, Director, Thailand Community Based Tourism

Institute; Edward Hall III, Transportation Specialist & Tourism

Coordinator, Bureau of Indian Aairs, U.S. Department of

Interior; John King, Chairman, Southern Travel Holdings

Ltd.; and Judy Kepher Gona, Founder, Sustainable Travel and

Tourism Agenda.

Additional stakeholder review was provided by Hannah

Messerli, Eisenhower Professor of Tourism Policy and Chair

of the International Institute of Tourism Studies at the

George Washington University and Planeterra sta members

Adrienne Lee, Panot (Tung) Pakongsup, Joel Callañaupa,

Alanna Wallace and Rhea Simms. Reviewers from the

GAdventures team included Jackie Garrity, Sarah Miginiac,

Julie Fitzgerald, Yves Marceau and Andrea Giroux. Evidence

Ndhlovu, Community Project Manager at African Impact and

Shiva Dhaka, Founder & Rajju Maskey, Manager of Sales and

Operations, Royal Mountain Travel also reviewed the content.

Cover photo:

A member of the Santiago de Agencha

community in Bolivia stands proudly in

front of the newly renovated Jukil Lodge.

President of the

San Antonio

Women’s Group

in Belize paints

Mayan pottery.

The cultural survival of the world’s 370 million Indigenous

people hangs in the balance. Caught between the pressures

to modernize and conform to dominant societies, many

of these often-isolated communities have an increasingly

compromised relationship to their rich cultural traditions,

histories and languages. Not only are they threatened

culturally, but often, Indigenous communities are among the

world’s most impoverished and disenfranchised people. With

few options, Indigenous people often choose to develop their

precious natural resources as a means of economic survival.

Tourism can provide a viable alternative—a way of ensuring

the cultural fabric and environmental resources of Indigenous

communities remain intact for themselves and their children

while serving as an incentive to protect their business assets.

Travel companies that interact with Indigenous communities

have a special responsibility to help them safeguard their

resources and can play a key role in helping to do so.

The following practical guidelines—developed over the

course of a year by the George Washington University

International Institute of Tourism Studies, G Adventures and

the Planeterra Foundation—are intended for use by travel

companies that work with Indigenous communities around

the world. They are meant to encourage responsible conduct

and guide good business practices that serve and protect the

interests of Indigenous communities and travel companies

as well as produce visitor experiences that are authentic,

respectful and rewarding.

THE NEED FOR

GLOBAL GUIDELINES

The George Washington University International Institute

of Tourism Studies, GAdventures and the Planeterra

Foundation worked together to deﬁne good practices for

travel companies. Over the course of a year, we:

1. Reviewed literature and existing declarations and

codes established by Indigenous communities,

associations, and NGOs

2. Conducted primary research with Indigenous tourism

suppliers and travelers

3. Developed guiding principles for respectful business

practices

OUR APPROACH TO

DEVELOPING GOOD GUIDANCE

4. Established a set of guidelines with corresponding

concrete actions

5. Engaged an expert review panel of Indigenous tourism

experts and tour operations professionals to provide

feedback on draft guidelines

6. Incorporated feedback to produce ﬁnal guidelines.

Project partners will work with travel companies over

the next 12 months to pilot test the guidelines and ensure

their applicability. The results of the pilot testing will be

incorporated into a ﬁnal document.

A guide at Parque de la Papa, shares his knowledge

of potato species native to his community.

A member of the Santiago de Agencha community in Bolivia prepares a meal for visitors.

Maasai women

welcome tourists to

their community.

HOW TO USE

THESE GUIDELINES

The guidelines are intended to provide a framework for good

business practices. It is important to note that the guidelines

are not standards but meant to inform good, responsible and

culturally sensitive business behavior. They are meant to be

scaled, adapted to ﬁt local conditions and adjusted over time.

Some of these guidelines may need to be tailored based on

the size of the tour company, the availability of resources and

whether or not the primary relationship is between the travel

company and an Indigenous community or an entrepreneur

providing tourism products and services. In certain cases,

travel companies may want to consider working with partners

in the NGO and consulting communities to operationalize

the guidelines.

While all of the guidelines are applicable to communities

with limited or no tourism, companies bringing visitors to

communities with extensive tourism experience will need

to modify the guidelines accordingly. For instance, a travel

company bringing a small group of visitors to a community

every six months to enjoy a locally-owned restaurant will not

need to spend nearly as much time researching community

governance, laws and customs as a company developing

community infrastructure in order to bring in hundreds of

visitors on a regular basis. Even the conditions of neighboring

communities may dier greatly, depending on their size,

experience, the number of visitors they are hosting and

the scale of their tourism enterprises. In some cases,

political conditions and the marginalization of Indigenous

people may impact the adoption and implementation of

particular guidelines.

When determining whether a guideline is applicable to a

particular situation, travel companies can gain objectivity

by asking themselves whether a third party, for example,

would agree that the guideline in question had been applied

in a reasonable manner. In other words, does the guideline

correspond with the situation? Does the situation justify the

application of the guideline? The guidelines are divided into

three subsections: developing, operating and marketing

tourism experiences. Travel company sta may focus on

one or more of these sections as applicable, and use the

corresponding key actions as a check list.

A homestay meal

being prepared by

a host in Thailand.

The following principles are to be used as the basis for

developing new tourism products and experiences.

They serve as the foundation for the guidelines outlined

throughout the document.

Full and Eective Participation

Ensure that Indigenous communities and suppliers participate

in all strategic discussions and share decision-making based

on the dictates of their traditional laws and customs. Travel

companies should keep Indigenous communities and

suppliers well-informed of all relevant business decisions.

Equitable Engagement

Make certain that Indigenous communities are treated

as equal business partners and clearly understand the

implications of all arrangements to ensure equitable

participation. The Indigenous communities themselves, rather

than the travel company, should determine the level of their

involvement in tourism activities.

Informed Consent

Inform Indigenous communities of any activities that may

aect their well-being and to ensure that they are free to

exercise their right to self-determination.

Business Values

Respect traditional values, customs and conventions in all

business transactions.

Local Purchasing

Give priority to Indigenous suppliers when purchasing and

oering goods and services. These suppliers should be

treated fairly and promoted appropriately.

Community Support

Ensure fair and equitable business relationships with

Indigenous communities or suppliers. Provide direct

employment and skills training opportunities to local

Indigenous communities.

Local Ownership

Ensure Indigenous community members own and derive

direct beneﬁts from tourism products and services.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF

RESPONSIBLE INDIGENOUS TOURISM

Decent Work

Respect labor rights, provide safe and secure working

environments for employees and ensure minimum payment

of a living wage (which is generally higher than minimum

wage and reﬂective of local costs of living), and oer

opportunities for advancement.

Customary Laws and Practices

Understand, respect and accept traditional norms, land

ownership rights and management systems.

Traditional Knowledge

Make every eort to ensure that traditional knowledge and

its representations—including artwork, crafts, ceremonies,

rituals, performing arts and all intangible assets— are

protected from commercial exploitation. Tour operators

should only use Indigenous communities’ traditional

knowledge with full community consent.

Protection of Cultural Heritage

Ensure that traditional lands, territories, sacred sites and

resources are used with communities’ full knowledge and

consent and protected against exploitation.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Travel companies should ensure a process is in place to track

the impacts of the business relationship in order to minimize

potential negative outcomes and ensure positive results. Also,

ensure a process is in place for resolving potential grievances.

Cultural Interaction

Promote respectful visitor-host interactions that foster

cross-cultural understanding and don’t disrupt daily routines.

Collaborative Interpretation

Ensure that all storytelling and narratives told about

Indigenous communities are accurate and deﬁned and

approved by the Indigenous community itself, with respect

and appreciation for traditional languages.

Stewardship of Heritage

Work toward conserving natural and cultural resources, and

assist Indigenous communities to steward and protect these

assets, which form the basis of their tourism businesses.

11Host welcoming visitors to Barauli Homestay, Nepal.

Celebrating San

culture at !Khwattu,

South Africa.

GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING

TOURISM EXPERIENCES

The following guidelines are intended for use by travel companies

when developing new relationships with Indigenous communities

and suppliers and in assessing existing relationships.

GUIDELINE 1

Depending on the scale and nature of the business

relationship with the Indigenous community, it is

recommended that travel companies conduct thorough

research on community organization and governance, prior

to engaging community members or suppliers in business

relationships. A comprehensive understanding of the various

aspects of traditional governance and organization is useful

in eective and culturally appropriate, communication and

in conducting meetings. Travel companies should familiarize

themselves with the following aspects of community

protocols and place-based factors.

› Traditional communications and decision-making

processes.

› Self-governance and Indigenous governing traditions

and leadership.

› Traditional/customary laws that may aect tour operations.

› Ownership of resources, including land or traditionally

claimed territories (where possible to determine).

› Cultural assets and intellectual property laws (if existing)

› Traditional customs and values associated to

conducting business.

› Historical and societal issues, such as poverty,

access to education, health, infrastructure and services,

and marginalization.

› The community’s level of business understanding and

knowledge, literacy, numeracy and language proﬁciency.

› Local economic conditions and wages.

KEY ACTIONS

When engaging with Indigenous communities new to tourism

or proposing a signiﬁcant scale-up of an existing experience:

› Deﬁne scope of research based on scale of new

business relationship. Travel companies can ensure

a thorough understanding of the organizational and

governance topics listed above through discussions

with the Indigenous community or supplier.

› Share information with all sta involved in the

planning process.

› Ensure that supplier contracts reﬂect the outcomes

of due diligence discussions.

For existing business relationships or small-scale initiatives:

› Share information with all sta engaged in the

planning process.

› If the business relationship is expanding, determine

the scope of research based on scale of the evolving

business relationship.

› Ensure the supplier contract is reﬂective of ﬁndings.

Relationship Creation

GUIDELINE 2

Identify, with Indigenous community or supplier, the

individuals and groups that are involved in the business

relationship or directly impacted by it.

KEY ACTIONS

When engaging with Indigenous communities new to tourism

or proposing a signiﬁcant scale-up of an existing experience:

› List the main individuals and groups that are involved with

and will be directly impacted by the business relationship,

to ensure the new tourism product will be shaped by all

relevant stakeholders, and that the product will reﬂect their

concerns and interests.

› Share stakeholder information with all sta involved in

planning, operation, marketing and monitoring.

For existing business relationships or small-scale initiatives:

› Determine if any new or previously unidentiﬁed

individuals or groups may be impacted by the ongoing

business relationship. This activity should occur periodically

in tandem with the contract renewal process.

› Share ﬁndings with sta involved in planning, operations,

marketing and monitoring.

GUIDELINE 3

Establish a process for ongoing communication that is in line

with methods regularly used by the Indigenous community

or supplier, takes into account available technology and

is clearly understood by all relevant stakeholders. The

communication process should focus on developing trust

and establishing mutual understanding of expectations.

KEY ACTIONS

› Discuss the communications process, methods (phone,

email, videoconferencing etc.) and schedule with

Indigenous tourism decision-makers as part of the initial

engagement discussions.

GUIDELINE 4

Deﬁne the objectives of the business relationship in

collaboration with the Indigenous community or supplier,

taking into account costs and beneﬁts. When engaging

with a whole community, and especially if tourism is being

developed for the ﬁrst time, this process requires consultation

with main stakeholders. Depending on the situation and scale

of the collaboration, the travel company may ﬁnd it useful

to engage a local third-party organization with particular

expertise in community development and stakeholder

consultation to facilitate these discussions.

KEY ACTIONS

When engaging with Indigenous communities new to tourism

or proposing a signiﬁcant scale-up of an existing experience:

› Engage the Indigenous community in a dialogue to

understand members’ vision and objectives for tourism

development, including a discussion of all potential impacts

and beneﬁts of tourism on the community.

› Discuss the beneﬁts and costs associated with the

proposed business relationship, to ensure a realistic

understanding of the potential prospects of the

tourism venture.

› Complete business planning exercises, identifying all

associated costs and establishing fair pricing for proﬁtability

and appropriateness for market.

For existing business relationships or small-scale initiatives:

› Review all existing costs and determine if any changes

are needed to pricing, to ensure fairness, proﬁtability and

market appropriateness.

Engagement

GUIDELINE 5

Consider, respond to, and where possible, resolve priority

issues and concerns that emerge from discussions with

community stakeholders.

KEY ACTIONS

› Maintain a log of discussions with stakeholders that

identiﬁes who has been consulted, date, topics discussed,

key issues raised, Indigenous community’s comments, and

travel company’s response to those issues.

GUIDELINE 6

Establish an agreement around the volume of visitors that

the Indigenous community can realistically accommodate.

This agreement should be reviewed periodically and revised

as needed.

KEY ACTIONS

When engaging with Indigenous communities new to tourism

or proposing a signiﬁcant scale-up of an existing experience:

› Initiate discussions with relevant community leaders to

determine the ideal number of visitors, frequency of tour

groups, and tour guide-to-guest ratios to ensure positive

results for both the community and the travel company,

and to prevent negative social and environmental impacts.

Travel companies may need the assistance of a third-party

organization to complete this activity depending on the

size and scale of the collaboration.

› Document main agreements both in the log that covers

discussions with stakeholders, and incorporate the

anticipated number of annual visitors in the contract with

Indigenous community or supplier.

For existing business relationships or small-scale initiatives:

› Number of annual visitors to the community should

be reﬂected in tour operator - supplier contract and

re-evaluated periodically at the time of contract renewal.

GUIDELINE 7

Obtain explicit approval from Indigenous community or

supplier, for use of natural and cultural assets, such as

traditional customs, music, art forms, dress, food, storytelling,

etc. Where an Indigenous community or supplier does not

have ownership rights, it is imperative that access rights are

clearly understood, and that all relevant external authorities

are consulted.

KEY ACTIONS

› Craft a formal agreement, such as a supplier contract or

Memorandum of Association, that outlines all key details

of the business relationship including but not limited to:

• Use of cultural assets, and Indigenous lands and

other resources.

• Volume of visitors on an annual basis, frequency

of tour groups, and tour guide to guest ratios.

• Costs and fair pricing for proﬁtability and

appropriateness for market.

• Avoidance of anti-competitive practices.

• Rules and/or code of conduct for visitors

to community.

› Ensure the agreement is understood by all parties and

translated into Indigenous language(s) and reviewed

together where necessary.

› Maintain formal agreements and permits.

Business Agreement

GUIDELINE 8

Depending on the nature and scale of the collaboration with

the community, it is recommended that companies engage

with Indigenous leaders and other key stakeholders at least

once a year to discuss shared vision and objectives as well as

impacts from and beneﬁts of tourism.

KEY ACTIONS

When engaging with Indigenous communities new to tourism

or proposing a signiﬁcant scale-up of an existing experience:

› Track impacts of the business relationship, prepare

summary report, and share ﬁndings with Indigenous

community and other stakeholders on an annual (or

biannual) basis. Use ﬁndings from monitoring activities

as a basis for this report. Make the report accessible to

Indigenous community or supplier. This may include

translating report into Indigenous language(s) and printing

for dissemination if necessary. In some cases where there

is either a high level of illiteracy or the local language is

verbal, it is important to agree with the community the

best way to illustrate ﬁndings.

For existing business relationships or small-scale initiatives:

› Use this annual (or biannual, or other period, based on

company’s contracting frequency) contracting period to

review business relationship and beneﬁts to both parties.

Contractors can ask questions such as:

• Is tourism resulting in net positive impacts in

the community?

• Is the volume of travelers optimal or are

there any risks of over-exposing community,

either culturally or in relation to use of natural

resources, such as water?

• How are costs and cash ﬂows for the Indigenous

business? And, is the price fair for both parties?

• In terms of tourist behavior, have there been any

concerns, any information that needs to be updated

regarding rules or conduct in the community?

› Determine if, and what, changes may be needed to the

business relationship and/or operation based on discussion

with Indigenous leaders or supplier.

Monitoring

GUIDELINES FOR OPERATING

TOURISM EXPERIENCES

GUIDELINE 9

Develop tourism experiences, including interpretive

elements, in a manner that presents the living (current)

culture, customs, language, connection to natural resources,

history and local sites consistent with the Indigenous

narrative (in their own voice), protocols and cultural

codes (customs) as is agreed to as relevant to the tourism

experience design.

KEY ACTIONS

› Request protocols and cultural codes and norms for

sharing cultural elements from the Indigenous tourism

supplier. For example, ask “Is the community involved in

the delivery of the cultural programming to the visitor?”

It should be from their perspective and voice, and should

only be aspects of the culture that the community wants

to share, in a way they want to share it.

› Assess whether the tourism experience complies with

any existing protocols and/or cultural codes and norms

developed by the Indigenous community to ensure

authenticity and safeguard culturally sensitive sites,

customs and resources. Address any gaps that may be

identiﬁed through the assessment.

› Provide description of the tourism experience elements,

including interpretation of those elements, to the traditional

leadership for review and recommendations, which are

then incorporated.

› Secure approval from traditional leadership for the

interpretation of cultural assets to be included in

tourism experience.

› Invite members of the Indigenous community to speak for

and represent themselves [ﬁrst-voice].

GUIDELINE 10

Meaningful cultural exchange between visitors and

hosts should be the goal of Indigenous tourism activities

including craft or cooking workshops or nature-based

experiences. Consider limiting group size and/or splitting

large groups in order for interactions to be meaningful.

Instructions to both hosts and visitors may be necessary

to create meaningful exchanges.

KEY ACTIONS

› Ensure the travelers are accompanied by one or more

members of the Indigenous host community, including

sta, local suppliers and heritage interpreters, at all times.

› Provide opportunities for travelers to engage with various

members of the community, including elders and youth,

when appropriate.

› Create unstructured or informal opportunities for

engagement between visitors and hosts, such as meals.

Interpretation

GUIDELINE 11

Provide preference in employment and procurement to

Indigenous community members.

KEY ACTIONS

› Whenever possible, establish an Indigenous employment

and procurement preference policy on all applications and

solicitations. Indigenous tourism experiences should always

be interpreted by an Indigenous person.

GUIDELINE 12

Pay fair wages and prices at or above market rates.

KEY ACTIONS

› Wages and prices must be stable and in line with, or higher

than, the local average (where the local average is too low

and not reﬂective of cost of living). This ﬁgure should be

based on research into the local economic conditions and

average wages in the country.

› Document research and stakeholder discussions

(see Guidelines 1, 2, 4 and 5).

› Cover the cost of food, accommodation and gear

for Indigenous employees and suppliers, where

appropriate, so that they do not have to cover these costs

out of their wages.

Employment & Growth

Visitor Education

GUIDELINE 13

Travel companies should provide Indigenous enterprise

managers, tour guides, hosts and suppliers with regularly

updated information about the anticipated type of visitors

and their expectations. For example, are they budget-style

backpackers who are ﬂexible and whose demands are

modest, or will they likely demand a higher level of comfort

and service? What language do they speak? How much do

they know about the Indigenous culture?

KEY ACTIONS

› During the initial engagement, travel companies should

share with the supplier or community clear descriptions

of who will be visiting as well as their anticipated service

standards, and needs.

› Guides and oces charged with reservations should

provide advance warnings directly to community

or supplier regarding food preferences, rooming

requirements, changes in visitor numbers, cancellations,

etc., so expectations can be anticipated and are managed.

GUIDELINE 14

Travel companies should establish a code of conduct for their

sta as well as for visitors in consultation with the Indigenous

community. Monitor and improve code of conduct over time

in collaboration with Indigenous community or supplier.

KEY ACTIONS

› Establish a general code of conduct that can be used by

sta and visitors engaging with Indigenous communities.

› Deﬁne protocol if a breach of the code of conduct should

occur and communicate it with sta and visitors.

› For each community, request from Indigenous supplier(s),

or traditional leadership a code of conduct that can be

provided to tour guides in trip-speciﬁc notes, which

includes guidance around the following issues as applicable:

• Photography, recording, ﬁlming, and sketching

• Dress

• Religion

• Litter

• Haggling/bargaining

• Tipping

• Business transactions

• Gift-giving

• Souvenirs

• Artifacts

• Water and energy use

• Public displays of aection

• Social structure & respect towards elders

• Eye contact and gestures

• Alcohol and drugs

• Meal norms

• Behavior at cultural activities

• Independent exploration

• O-limits areas

› Include codes of conduct in sta training manuals and

sessions and require written conﬁrmation of understanding

and compliance. This signed statement can be incorporated

into employee contracts along with company policies.

› Communicate codes of conduct clearly to visitors during

tour brieﬁng and obtain verbal or written commitment

that visitors have understood and are willing to abide

by the code.

GUIDELINE 15

Acknowledge the Indigenous community’s traditional

knowledge and customs, especially as pertaining to religious,

medicinal, plant and animal knowledge and actively work

with the community to prevent misuse, cultural appropriation,

and exploitation.

KEY ACTIONS

› Ensure that the tourism experience complies with

existing protocols and/or cultural codes developed by

the Indigenous community and that culturally sensitive

sites, customs and resources are accurately represented

and safeguarded.

› Familiarize local sta with the protocols and codes and

implement an anonymous system for recognizing and

reporting suspected or observed violations of the code

to Indigenous leadership.

A member of Peru’s

Ccaccaccollo

Women’s

Weaving Co-op

demonstrates

traditional artisan

techniques.

Members of

Colombia’s Wiwa

community show

homemade crafts

to visitors.

GUIDELINES FOR MARKETING

TOURISM EXPERIENCES

This section provides guidance for marketing professionals

promoting experiences with Indigenous communities. These

guidelines are applicable to all situations where an Indigenous

community is represented to an external audience.

GUIDELINE 16

Provide Indigenous community stakeholders with the

opportunity to approve the use of images and text related to

their cultural assets for marketing purposes.

KEY ACTIONS

› Obtain written consent from the community to

publish or otherwise feature photographs, videos,

text and interviews.

› Obtain usage guidelines from Indigenous leadership for

use of such images and text with emphasis on sharing

and use of Indigenous images and art.

› Provide the community with examples of the kind of

images and text used in company’s marketing materials.

› Explicit approval for a featured article should be obtained;

for example, if one individual will be used in a promotion

for a tour, across web, print, etc., approval should be

obtained from that person. Where children are involved,

consent for images and use of images should be obtained

from parents or legal guardians or caretakers. See children-

speciﬁc guidelines in Child Welfare and the Travel Industry:

Global Good Practice Guidelines.

GUIDELINE 17

Educate visitors prior to arrival with the aim of informing

them about the host community, dispelling stereotypes and

promoting mutual respect.

KEY ACTIONS

› Request that the Indigenous host community

provide information — including history, customs,

basic phrases in the local language, a code of conduct,

and any other information leaders may wish to

communicate to visitors. This information should be

included in tour guide’s trip notes for discussion with

travelers before and/or upon arrival.

› Speciﬁc customs and rules that tourists should be

mindful of, such as dress codes, should be provided in

itineraries online and/or otherwise distributed prior to

community visits.

GUIDELINE 18

All promotional materials made available by tour operators

should accurately and respectfully represent the community’s

living culture, customs, language, connection to natural

resources, and history in a manner consistent with the

Indigenous narrative.

KEY ACTIONS

› Travel companies should request protocols and

cultural codes and customs for sharing information

from Indigenous supplier or community.

› Assess marketing materials against existing protocols

and cultural codes, particularly around the language

used to describe history, culture and place names.

› In cases where protocols and cultural codes are not

available, travel companies and suppliers should consult

publicly available marketing materials generated by the

community and/or supplier for guidance. Document

sources used.

GLOSSARY

Indigenous Tourism

Activities that take place in or around Indigenous

communities with the purpose of exposing

visitors to traditional customs and that provide the

communities themselves with the resources and

incentive to preserve their cultural and

natural resources.

Community-Based Tourism Enterprise

A service business operated by a community with

the purpose of providing visitors with authentic

learning experiences. While these businesses may

develop with public and private support, the goal

is that they become self-sustaining and generate

economic value for the community.

Indigenous Community

A community that has inherited and continues

to practice a unique set of cultural traditions,

which are distinct from those of the surrounding

dominant society and are characterized by

particular social, cultural, economic and

political norms.

Indigenous Supplier

A business owned and operated by members

of an Indigenous community that provides

goods and services such as food or guided tours

and activities.

Cultural Codes

Symbols and systems of meaning relevant to

members of a particular Indigenous community.

Cultural Appropriation

The taking or adopting of aspects of an

Indigenous culture without proper consultation,

agreement, and/or permission of that community.

Stakeholder

Any individual, group or organization with a

particular interest and/or concern around the

planning, impact and beneﬁts of tourism

activities and projects.