A few weeks ago we donated this photo of a mural in the Cafe Museo Cafe in San Cristobal, Chiapas, to YES! Magazine for an article by Wendy Call about the rise of Mexico’s co-ops and grassroots associations as an answer to NAFTA, the free trade agreement which in 14 years has wrecked the country’s agriculture and deeply increased migration.

You can now read this interesting article - Reclaiming Corn and Culture - online. I did not know the magazine before, and it has been a very pleasant discovery. It is published in Seattle, WA and it offers interesting views on different themes related to the development of a more sustainable world.

Our views about NAFTA are in glocaltravel’s Fair Trade against Free Trade page.

Just a quick note to inform the gloCatravellers about our gloCal page on Facebook… We invite all people who have contacted us for suggestions, sent feedback about the site, booked a holiday with us, or who just share our views in displaying a link to us on their profile, by clicking on ‘Become a fan” on the above page.

This will help us immensely in spreading the gloCaltravel philosophy and in raising awareness about the impact of our travel choices on the local destinations, their environment and economy.

Nominations are open for the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2008, founded and organised by responsibletravel.com with UK media partners Telegraph Travel and Geographical Magazine, and World Travel Market, hosting the Awards ceremony in November 2008 in London. The deadline for the nominations is Monday 16 June.

Justin Francis, founder of Responsibletravel, announced that there are 13 categories this year including, for the first time, Best Responsible Cruise Operator. He said: ‘the cruise and ferry industry has received a great deal of attention recently concerning its impact on local environments and our aim is to encourage and reward positive and innovative changes’.

As I have commented on responsibletravel’s blog and Planeta’s Forum, I think the inclusion of this category in an award that ‘celebrates the future of travelling in a sensitive, sustainable way - that benefits local people and destinations’ is totally inappropriate. Even though some cruise operators are planning to improve their energy efficiency and waste management, the industry is still one of the most unsustainable examples of tourism, both for its heavy impact on the environment and for its all inclusive formula.

Francis said that if there is not a credible ‘winner’ they will not make an Award in this category, which would make a statement in its own right. I am wondering what sort of credible winner they are looking for.

There has been a 30% increase of cruise holidays in the past year and I don’t think this growth should be encouraged any further. I am not against rewarding positive changes, but including this industry in a responsible tourism award might sound a bit like legitimating green-washing.

I am not sure also about the category ‘Best in a marine environment’ (awarding an organisation related to a beach or other marine environment, such as turtle conservation or a marine eco-tourism trip) being sponsored by Royal Caribbean…