Top ten ethical destinations 2013 revealed in survey.
	Costa Rica

Travellers wishing to visit countries that support environmental protection, human rights and social welfare need look no further than Ethical Traveler’s top ten ethical destinations 2013.

Coinciding with International Human Rights Day, Ethical Traveler released its annual survey of the world’s most ethical tourism hotspots that combine best practices with superb scenic and cultural attractions.

The select nations were evaluated across a range of criteria covering ecosystem support, political rights, women’s equality, commitment to LGBT rights, press freedom, natural and cultural attractions and for the first time, terrestrial and marine area protection.  

The top ten ethical destinations 2013 were; Barbados, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Ghana, Latvia, Lithuania, Mauritius, Palau, Samoa and Uruguay. 

“They’re doing a great job showing the world that you can have a successful tourism industry along with sustainability and social justice,” Ethical Traveler executive director Jeff Greenwald said.

“Every dollar we spend is a statement about which countries and governments we choose to support.”

Ethical Traveler report co-author Christy Hoover outlined the reasoning behind some of the selections.

“Ghana maintains a high degree of freedom of the press, has a stable democracy which just re-elected a pro-environment President; about 15 percent of its territory is environmentally protected in some form,” Ms Hoover said.

“Latvia is well-rated for human rights and press freedom; it was also the most-improved country on the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) Environmental Performance Index (EPI).