Tourism is never neutral: choices about travel, hospitality and economic partnerships also have a social and ethical dimension. This is why Ecobnb has joined the Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) campaign and gives accommodation providers the opportunity to communicate their participation, making it visible to travellers.
In recent years, the debate on sustainable tourism has developed beyond the environmental dimension alone. In fact, it is increasingly recognized that traveling, hosting and choosing tourist platforms and services also entails a social and ethical responsibility.
Tourism connects people, economies and territories. It can promote inclusion, decent work and the empowerment of local communities, but it can also contribute to issues such as labour exploitation, the displacement of residents from urban centres, overtourism and the excessive consumption of resources. In some contexts, tourism activities may also be implicated in dynamics involving territorial occupation and human rights violations.
Global tourism and the invisible impacts
Even a booking can have implications that are not immediately apparent to travellers. In recent years, human rights organisations and civil society movements have drawn attention to the role of certain tourism platforms in promoting accommodation located in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to a report by Amnesty International, economic activities linked to these settlements can contribute to their maintenance and expansion. This issue highlights how tourism is not merely an economic sector, but can have tangible consequences for local communities’ access to land, resources and rights. In this context, it is becoming increasingly important to reflect on our choices and promote forms of hospitality that take into account not only the environment, but also people and respect for human rights.
Ecobnb and the choice to adhere to the SPLAI – Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) campaign
In this context, Ecobnb has chosen to join the Spazi Liberi dall’Apartheid Israeliana (SPLAI) campaign, the Italian initiative within the international Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) movement, promoted in Italy by BDS Italia.
The campaign invites associations, businesses, cultural venues and other organisations to demonstrate their commitment to the rights of the Palestinian people through adherence to the campaign’s principles and guidelines, and by adopting forms of commercial, cultural and institutional boycott in accordance with the criteria established by the BDS movement.
For Ecobnb, this commitment is part of a vision of sustainable tourism that also encompasses social responsibility, justice and respect for human rights.
What is AFZ – Apartheid Free Zone?
AFZ – Apartheid Free Zone is the name of a campaign promoting the creation of a network of physical and virtual spaces that choose to support the rights of the Palestinian people and refrain, through their activities, from contributing to the practices and institutions identified by the campaign.
The initiative is part of the international BDS movement, which stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. Led by Palestinian civil society, the movement promotes non-violent forms of pressure in pursuit of freedom, justice and equality.
Those who join the campaign generally commit to:
- not buying or selling products from companies involved in the Israeli policies being challenged;
- not hosting events sponsored by Israeli institutions;
- sharing the campaign’s materials and initiatives.
To learn more about the campaign’s principles and how to join, visit the official campaign page on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement
How Can Your Accommodation Join the Apartheid Free Zone Campaign?
If you run an accommodation facility and share the principles of the SPLAI – Apartheid Free Zone campaign, you can join by following these steps:
- Fill in the official Apartheid Free Zone registration form: Select Hospitality AFZ, enter your accommodation’s details and contact information, provide its address and a brief description, and submit the registration.
- Confirm your commitment: When submitting the form, confirm that you are authorised to register the accommodation and that it commits to endorsing the demands of the BDS movement and respecting its anti-racist principles.
- Follow the campaign’s guidelines: Review the official Apartheid Free Zones page and its resources to understand the commitments involved and the steps towards becoming an Apartheid Free Zone.
How to Highlight Your Accommodation’s Participation in the Apartheid Free Zone Campaign on Ecobnb
Accommodation providers that have officially joined the Apartheid Free Zone campaign can notify Ecobnb to make their commitment visible to travellers looking for a place to stay. The process is simple: once they have officially joined the campaign, they just need to email Ecobnb to let us know.
Ecobnb will add the Apartheid Free Zone logo to the accommodation’s listing page, so that travellers can easily identify participating properties and learn more about the campaign.
Travellers can also use the dedicated search filter for AFZ participating accommodations to find places to stay that have chosen to make their commitment public.
This way, participation becomes more than a commitment made by an individual accommodation: it becomes information that travellers can use when making choices based on ethical and social considerations.
It is important to distinguish between the two steps: official participation in the campaign is arranged directly through BDS’s channels, while notifying Ecobnb ensures that this participation is visible on the platform.
No Room for Genocide: another initiative for ethical tourism
Alongside the Apartheid Free Zone campaign, BDS promotes No Room for Genocide, an international campaign launched in July 2025 to address the tourism industry’s links to human rights violations against Palestinians.
The campaign calls on governments to uphold their international legal obligations and urges tourism businesses and booking platforms to address their involvement in activities linked to violations of Palestinian rights. It also encourages hospitality businesses and travellers to take action in support of accountability, justice and human rights.
In Italy, the initiative also connects with Oasi di Pace, a network of hospitality businesses committed to ethical and sustainable tourism. Participating businesses pledge to respect human rights, reject racism and all forms of discrimination, protect local communities and their cultures, and promote environmentally responsible tourism.
To learn more about the campaign and the commitments for hospitality businesses, visit the official No Room for Genocide page on BDS Italia.
Tourism That Also Embraces Social Justice
Sustainable tourism is about more than reducing emissions, conserving water or protecting biodiversity. It also means considering how tourism businesses engage with people, local communities and human rights. Choosing where to stay, which activities to support and which organisations to work with can all be part of a broader reflection on the responsibility behind our choices.
By joining the AFZ – Apartheid Free Zone campaign and giving accommodation providers the opportunity to make their participation visible, Ecobnb aims to give travellers another way to make informed choices, while providing accommodation providers with a platform to communicate their commitment in a tangible way.
More responsible tourism also starts with transparency. Helping people understand the choices made by the businesses and organisations they encounter along the way is a step towards a more conscious tourism system — one that respects human rights and contributes to a fairer society.
Cover photo via Canva PRO