The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has underlined the importance of the tourism industry for the economies of many poorer countries around the world.
Commenting on the ongoing debate on the impact that tourism has on the environment, ABTA spokesperson Sean Tipton, agreed that it was the industry's responsibility to alleviate its effects.
"Travel is the same as any other activity – it will have an environmental impact and it is up to us to minimise that impact," he said.
However, the ABTA spokesman warned that while the environmental impact of tourism must be reduced, stopping people from going on holiday entirely also has its disadvantages.
"Holidays do cause damage but if we all stop going on foreign holidays tomorrow you would be talking about a very large percentage of very poor countries' economies collapsing overnight," he added.
Tipton used the current situation in Kenya following recent political unrest and the after-effects of tsunami in Thailand as examples of holiday locations that have suffered greatly from the resulting reductions in visitor numbers.
"The fact that people will avoid visiting a resort that has been damaged by careless tourist developments means that it makes sense for the industry to ensure that their work is as environmentally friendly as possible", he concluded.
In addition, new research carried out by TNS Online Omnibus, revealed that during 2007 two-thirds of travellers would not change their holiday plans to reduce the environmental impact of their travel .
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