The Retour Foundation

Mission

The Retour Foundation (in Dutch: 'stichting Retour") was founded in 1986 to promote what was known then as responsible tourism (REsponsible TOURism). For Retour this is tourism that is in line with the idea of sustainable development, safeguarding the preservation of ecological, social and economic resources needed by future generations. This idea of tourism over the years has been covered under many headings, e.g. alternative tourism, ethical tourism, acceptable tourism, community based tourism, eco-tourism and/or sustainable tourism. Although in our opinion these semantics can be important, we have not let this wide array of concepts interfere with our vision of what responsible tourism should accomplish. The main thrust of Retour is to promote tourism that contributes to sustainable development with special attention for the empowerment of local communities in tourism destinations. In the past 25 years we have carried out projects, supported organizations and projects in developing countries and lobbied for sustainable tourism in international fora and developed new ideas, trying to stay up front in the development of ideas leading to a more sustainable tourism. Our approach has been one of building bridges between the different stakeholders involved, but always giving voice to the interests that are the least heard at the tables where the important discussions take place. We have tried to share our work and our opinions through reports, articles and interviews.