Mongolia's appeal is precisely what tourism puts at risk: an intact landscape, a living nomadic culture, genuine absence of homogenised infrastructure. The question is not whether to visit, but how.
The Rara Avis Team
Mongolia's appeal rests on qualities that are fragile and finite. The steppe remains vast and relatively wild. The nomadic culture continues to function, not as a museum piece but as a lived reality. Tourism roughly tripled in the decade before the pandemic. The question is not whether to visit Mongolia; it is how to visit in a way that does not accelerate the erosion of the very things that make it worth visiting.
The single most important decision you can make about responsible travel to Mongolia is the choice of operator. Everything else follows from this. Ask questions: Are the guides themselves Mongolian? Are the ger camps locally owned? Do local staff receive fair wages? Does the company have relationships with the communities it visits, or are the interactions transactional? A good operator welcomes these questions. Rara Avis operates with community relationships and environmental principle at the centre of the work, not as a separate sustainability initiative added on.
Mongolia faces a significant litter problem, particularly around popular sites where years of tourist activity has created accumulation. Pack out what you bring in. Carry a cloth bag. Refuse single-use plastic when offered; carry your own water bottle and refill it. Do not leave rubbish, ever, even small items like bottle caps.
Always ask before photographing people. If someone says no, respect that. Do not photograph children without explicit parental consent. Do not reduce people to props or exoticisms to be displayed on social media. The Eagle Festival and Naadam are genuine cultural occasions that visitors are permitted to witness. They are not performances staged for cameras.
Visit the Tsaatan only through operators with established community relationships. Agree on photography guidelines in advance. Agree on time limits before arriving, and keep to them. Do not arrive unannounced. Buy crafts directly from families at fair prices. The Tsaatan are generous hosts, but they are not a tourist attraction; they are a living community with legitimate boundaries around their own privacy and time.
Maintain respectful distances from wild animals. Do not attempt to feed them. Do not buy wildlife products: eagle feathers, big cat pelts, bones carved into jewellery, anything made from protected species. CITES, the international convention regulating the trade in endangered species, applies globally. Do not break it.
Flying to Mongolia has a significant carbon footprint. Many tour operators, including Rara Avis, participate in carbon offset programmes to offset the emissions generated by the flights their guests take. Consider staying longer: a two-week itinerary is half the carbon footprint per day of a one-week itinerary.
Your operator shapes whether your presence in Mongolia is a gift or a burden to the communities and environments you visit. Responsible tourism begins with choosing an operator that has already decided to do the work properly.