Catherine at la Renardiere Treehouse, Normandy

Welcome to Ethical Traveller. I created this website in response to my regular column in the Go travel section of The Irish Times, called, funnily enough, Ethical Traveller, which I wrote for four years.

I have been writing about ethical, responsible, eco, sustainable travel, call it what you will, for the last five years,  after completing a Masters degree in Responsible Tourism Management. During this time I have written about the issues of ethical travel not only in my column, but also in  UK newspapers and magazines, including The Observer and The Guardian,  where I am given an opportunity to share some of my travel experiences and tell you about some of the inspiring people I have met on the way. These people are totally committed to improving the impacts of travel around the world, and have created some exemplary, exciting tourism products. Giving these people a voice is what I care about most, as they are the ones making a difference and so it was a great honour to win the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Award for Best in Responsible Tourism Writing 2011 at this year’s World Travel Market in London. I was also very chuffed to have been picked out by The Ecologist magazine as being one of their top ten green travel blogs this year. Read more here.

Although a few of the short articles may have more relevance to a reader based in Ireland, I hope that the majority will be of interest to anyone who finds their way to the site, and that they might provide a useful source of information for your travels. I am also now regular columnist in  The Green Parent magazine and have just launched an iPhone app, called Ireland Green Travel, which you can also follow on its own Twitter page or Facebook. My most recent trips have taken me to some beautiful yurts in Lanzarote, staying in stunning yurts overlooking The Atlantic on Cape Clear Island in Ireland, swimming from island to island in Croatia,  and strolling along the pink granite coast of Brittany.

Trips planned for 2012 include responsible tourism ventures in Palestine, Morocco, South Africa, Lanzarote, Catalonia, Sweden, France, UK and Ireland.

Thanks  for checking out Ethical Traveller. For frequent news of my travels or general eco travel updates, please check out my own Twitter page.  Most recent Twitter updates listed below.

Happy travelling

Catherine