To those who argue that social services should be left to the government and that creating employment is assistance enough, experts respond that even small measures can make a big difference. "We're not asking hotels to be Mother Teresa," says Lelei LeLaulu, president and CEO of Counterpart International, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit with sustainable development projects in more than 40 countries. "Just to give locals training and opportunities to advance—the tools they need to live a life of dignity."

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL
While many travelers say they would prefer to stay at hotels that support the local population, finding them can be a challenge: "A big part of why travelers don't know what hotels are doing for the community is that the hotels aren't telling them," says Professor Sallows. "People deliberately choose a luxury property to escape to, and hotels don't want to remind them of the harshness of the world or to ram all of this ethical business down their throats."

At the Evason Hideaway Hua Hin, a Six Senses resort about three hours by car south of Bangkok, any signs of want lie well out of sight of the tranquil grounds and the villas with private pools that command more than $500 a night. Unlike Shinta Mani and other hotels that freely announce their community involvement, the Evason Hideaway gives guests just one clue that it's helping to support the locals: a single page in the ample resort directory noting that any clothing guests choose to leave behind will be donated to needy families.

But whether guests are aware of it or not, each Six Senses property—there are 13 in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Maldives—has a comprehensive social-responsibility program that includes donating 0.5 percent of its revenue locally. "I think it's dangerous to make our social-responsibility program too much a part of the business," says Christopher Oakes, area manager of the Evason Hideaway Hua Hin and neighboring Evason Resort. "People spend their lives hammering away to succeed, and they go on vacation to be left alone." So, few guests know that the employees distributed nearly $77,000 last year for, among other things, scholarships, computers and sports equipment for schools, a prosthetic leg for a local student, and a trip to a national park for 100 children.

For Six Senses owner Sonu Shivdasani, the company's social-responsibility programs are as much about good business as they are about helping those in need. "I think any business has to help the community, but I also believe that for a resort to create a sense of place, a real experience for the guest, the staff must be more than employees. They must be hosts, with a sense of ownership. Our community projects help create that. We don't just give money away. Every project we're involved in has been chosen or created by our staff."

CLOSER TO HOME
Of course, American travelers don't have to venture to another continent to encounter grinding poverty: Popular vacation spots in the Caribbean and Central America are among the poorest in the world. Nearly half of the people in Honduras live on less than $2 a day, while nearly a third of the people in the Dominican Republic and some 20 percent of Jamaicans and Costa Ricans live below the poverty line set by their respective countries. The need may not be apparent from within the walls of a resort, but it is hard to miss in the international headlines: Last August, for instance, newspapers around the world reported that 50 people fleeing the Dominican Republic died of hunger and exposure when the ship they were on foundered in the waters between Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. Each passenger had paid $450—the equivalent of a year's income for most of them—for a chance to earn a better livelihood abroad. Sometimes the reminder is more personal: On Tobago, which relies heavily on tourism for employment, a housekeeper at an ultraluxury oceanfront property complained to me recently of the island's lack of adequate health care. "I've never had a mammogram," said the mother of three. "There's no place to get one on Tobago."