Every travel story we publish is also an invitation. It tells readers where to go, what to admire and how to behave once they arrive. In a world of overcrowded destinations and carefully staged “eco” campaigns, that responsibility has never weighed more. Sustainable travel journalism asks a simple but demanding question: are we telling stories that respect the places and people we write about, or are we quietly selling them out?
In a recent Open Class at the School of Travel Journalism, travel journalist Marck Guttman explored exactly that. Founder of the sustainability-focused blog Don Viajes and a contributor to titles such as National Geographic Latin America and Travel + Leisure, Guttman walked students through how to tell travel stories responsibly in a world shaped by mass tourism, greenwashing and cultural appropriation.
Why responsibility belongs at the centre of travel writing
A travel journalist is never just describing a place. We are directing attention, and attention moves people, money and expectations. When a single article or reel turns a quiet fishing village into a “hidden gem you have to visit,” thousands of readers may act on it. The story shapes the destination.
That influence is the starting point for sustainable travel journalism. It does not mean writing dull, cautious pieces. It means being aware that our words have consequences on the ground, and choosing to tell stories that leave a place, and the people who live in it, better off rather than worse.
Mass tourism: writing beyond the overcrowded postcard
One of the clearest tensions in modern travel media is the “must-see list.” The same handful of landmarks appear again and again, and each new feature adds pressure to places that are already saturated. The result is familiar: long queues, rising rents for locals and a landscape that starts to exist for the camera rather than for the community.
Responsible travel writing pushes in the opposite direction. Instead of sending every reader to the same viewpoint, it can:
- Spotlight lesser-known regions that genuinely benefit from visitors.
- Encourage travel in shoulder seasons to ease pressure on peak months.
- Favour depth over the checklist, one meaningful place explored well rather than ten ticked off.
- Be honest about fragility, telling readers when a site is under strain.
The goal is not to stop people from travelling. It is to spread the story more thoughtfully.
Greenwashing: how to see past the “eco” label
Sustainability sells, and that is exactly why it gets faked. Hotels, tour operators and even entire destinations increasingly wrap themselves in green language, sometimes backed by real work, sometimes by a single solar panel and a good PR team. This is greenwashing, and travel journalists are often the channel through which those claims reach the public.
Here the reporter’s basic toolkit matters more than ever. Before repeating a sustainability claim, ask for evidence. What is actually being measured? Who verifies it? What is left out of the brochure? A useful habit is to treat “eco,” “green” and “responsible” as claims to be checked, not adjectives to be copied. When a journalist amplifies an empty label, they lend it their credibility. When they interrogate it, they protect the reader.
Cultural appropriation versus cultural respect
Travel writing has a long, uncomfortable history of turning other cultures into scenery. Communities become backdrops, rituals become spectacle and local people appear as colourful extras in someone else’s adventure. Sustainable travel journalism tries to correct that balance.
The practical questions are direct. Whose voice is telling this story? Did the people portrayed consent to how they are represented? Are we crediting local knowledge, or borrowing it without acknowledgement? Respectful coverage gives space to the people who actually live a culture, pays and credits local collaborators, and resists the temptation to exoticise. It is the difference between writing about a community and writing with it.
Practical principles for sustainable travel journalism
The class distilled into a set of habits any travel journalist can adopt, whatever their beat:
- Verify sustainability claims before you publish them.
- Centre and credit local voices, especially when writing about their culture.
- Show trade-offs honestly, including a destination’s limits and vulnerabilities.
- Diversify the places you spotlight so pressure does not fall on the same few.
- Consider the footprint of the trips you promote.
- Be transparent about press trips, invitations and sponsorship.
None of these ideas require sacrificing craft. They simply add a layer of accountability to it.
Storytelling that still inspires
There is a myth that responsible travel writing has to be earnest and joyless. The opposite is closer to the truth. Stories that acknowledge complexity, that show a place as it really is rather than as a fantasy, tend to be richer and more memorable. A destination is more interesting when we understand what is at stake there, who protects it and what it costs to keep it alive.
Sustainable travel journalism, in that sense, is not a restriction. It is a higher standard of storytelling, one that trusts readers with the full picture and invites them to travel as guests rather than consumers.
Learn to tell these stories well
Marck Guttman’s Open Class is one example of how the School of Travel Journalism trains writers to combine strong narrative with real ethical awareness. If you want to build these skills systematically, our Master in Travel Journalism covers narrative, reporting, ethics and the digital tools of the profession, taught by working professionals from across the industry. You can explore the full programme and other options on the School of Travel Journalism website.
The world does not need more travel content. It needs better, more honest travel stories. That is a job worth training for.
This article summarises themes from an Open Class by Marck Guttman, a travel journalist with more than fifteen years of experience and founder of the sustainable tourism blog Don Viajes, whose work has appeared in National Geographic Latin America, Travel + Leisure, Forbes Mexico and Esquire Latin America, among others.
