Responsible tourism is any form of tourism that includes socially responsible ways to interact successfully with the local people, traditions, customs, or social aspect of the visited country. This may range from medical missions to computer lab construction opportunities to environment-oriented excursions.

Volunteers are agents of transformation. Their activities provoke change in the social and natural environment they visit. It is fundamental to the development of any society to complete understand the benefits of volunteerism. Any person, no matter what their background, race or creed, can volunteer and make a difference in the world through responsible tourism.

Another aspect of responsible tourism is action travel, reportedly one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the travel industry. In this segment, one of the biggest adventure travel trends is the increase of older adults participation.