5.1 Unseen Tours
Unseen Tours is a social enterprise that trains people who have been homeless or in insecure housing to give tours of the parts of London that they know.
You can learn about Unseen Tours here: About us – Unseen Tours. The reason why the company chose this name is because homelessness or housing insecurity is often unseen. People experiencing it might not talk about it. Some live in their cars or stay with friends or family, for example, and may have regular work so it is not necessarily noticed by others. In the worst case, people have to live on the streets but even they can become unseen because if they are somewhere regularly they become expected and normalised. Unseen Tours tries to make homelessness both seen and discussed and this plays an important role within its tours.
Now you have found out about Unseen Tours, this page looks at the impact they have: Our impact – Unseen Tours. Here are some questions about how responsible Unseen Tours is. These questions will take about 20 minutes to answer.
1) How does Unseen Tours try to make tourism responsible looking at the Social aspect?
Discussion
The opportunity for those on the walk to consider problems experienced through homelessness would give greater understanding of lives of people in London and the issues they face. The community responsible for guiding these walks would have more pride and confidence in showing people the areas they are very knowledgeable about (and this might encourage others in the community to feel the same way). This should increase their wellbeing too. The people involved are able to make decisions about where they guide. It feels as if this would be an enjoyable experience for tourists and residents and there would likely be more connection and understanding between people than you might expect from a usual walking tour.
2) How does Unseen Tours try to make tourism responsible looking at the Economic aspect?
Discussion
The company enables those having experienced homelessness access to the tourism industry and gives them economic benefits directly. This is partly because the organisation uses its profits to expand the business and partly because it wants the bulk of its income to go to the guides. The guides will also recommend pubs and cafes in the local area so this would benefit businesses in the area too.
3) How does Unseen Tours try to make tourism responsible looking at the Environmental aspect?
Discussion
These tours are inclusive and can be adapted for wheelchairs and mobility scooters and Unseen will run tours for groups of different ages too. Cultural heritage is respected and, because of the nature of the tours, built heritage might be preserved. There is no energy (beyond person-powered) used on the walks and no food provided directly. To me, these walks use the environment in the best way possible.
OpenLearn - Can tourism be both responsible and sustainable?
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