For Immediate Release

(BERKELEY, USA ― January 2017) As travel consumers, we vote with our wallets each time we take a trip. By spending money at destinations with sustainable practices, we show our support in a measurable way.

If human rights and the environment are issues you support at home, consider factoring these issues into your vacation choices. The world is large, and travel options are plentiful. Why not support destinations which share our values, by enjoying the natural and cultural resources those destinations offer?

Each year, Berkeley-based nonprofit Ethical Traveler researches the policies and practices of the world’s developing nations. Using publicly available data from organizations ranging from Amnesty International to the United Nations, Ethical Traveler scours the globe to find the ten most ethical destinations. All ten winners are known not only for their forward-thinking policies, but also for their tourism infrastructure, natural beauty, and welcoming cultures.

The 2017 Ethical Destinations Awards winners (in alphabetical order, not ranked) are:

• Belize
• Cabo Verde
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• Dominica
• Mongolia
• Palau
• Tonga
• Uruguay
• Vanuatu

Half of this year’s winners are island nations. Climate change affects islands dramatically. Because they see the risks clearly, we theorize that island nations may put extra effort toward effective environmental policies.

The goal of the Ethical Destinations Awards is to encourage developing nations that have chosen to do the right thing, and to reward destinations where policies and actions protect human rights and the environment.

To read the full report, which contains much more detail than this press release, please visit www.ethicaltraveler.org/destinations . To see how this has changed over time, please note that all previous Ethical Destinations reports are available in the right column of that page.

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Ethical Traveler is an all-volunteer, non-profit project of the Earth Island Institute. Our mission is to use the power of tourism to protect human rights and the environment. No money or contributions are solicited or accepted in the preparing of our annual report. For more information, please visit www.ethicaltraveler.org .

Note: Interviews with Executive Director Jeff Greenwald and other members of Ethical Traveler are available upon request. For your convenience, a gallery of pre-cleared images (CC-licensed or royalty free for editorial use) for 2016 can be found at www.pinterest.com/ethicaltraveler .