We at people and places are not great believers in codes of practice and kite marks – in my experience they are either prohibitively costly to police or meaningless and become too easily adopted by the “smoke and mirrors” charlatans.

That’s why  people and places opted for an independent audit – learn more about it here – simple –  someone independent came in and checked our promises and claims against the reality.

So why I hear you ask  (well those of you in the know anyway) did we participate in the research for a code of practice by the International Ecotourism Society (TIES)?

For me it was simple – if we don’t participate we don’t have a voice – and Harold Kate and I started people and places to campaign for responsible volunteering. The jury is still very much out for me  – TIES have not developed a code yet – they have just completed the research – who knows – never say never –  TIES may come up with a workable code. They did at least start from a consultative base.

And Kudos to them – the research is available publicly and we have been encouraged to share it – so here it is.…so I wait to see what the next step will be. powerful tool or toothless whitewash?