|
Next time you ’ re building a custom itinerary — or even marketing your meaningful travel services — keep these programs in mind as recommendations .
• Pack for a Purpose : Give back by traveling with supplies needed by community projects around the world . Some initiatives include education , health , child welfare and animal welfare . Since 2010 , Pack for a Purpose travelers have taken more than 450,000 pounds of supplies needed to meet essential needs in more than 55 countries .
• Elevate Destinations : Use this company to design a luxury vacation that includes conscientious
|
and ethical community interactions . They ’ ll custom design a trip suited for the travelers ’ values , skills and time frame , which may include a cultural exchange in Belize , volunteering with sea turtles in Costa Rica or helping with wildlife for a week in Sri Lanka .
• Malama Hawai ‘ i : The Malama Hawai ‘ i Program lists volunteer opportunities for visitors to experience Hawai ‘ i on a less casual and more involved level . Participate in a reforestation project , clean up a coastline or even help restore a battleship . Some volunteer activities offer a special discount or a free night at a participating hotel .
|
• Go Overseas : Search locations and project types to find a volunteer project abroad and make a positive impact in a local community while traveling the world . Programs include helping care for exotic animals in Guatemala , helping with refugee relief in Italy and working with special needs patients in Ireland .
• International Volunteer HQ : Read about volunteer trips for solo travelers , teenagers , those on a gap year , seniors , couples on an alternative honeymoon , first-time travelers , comfort-seeker travelers , budget travelers , medical students and more .
|
|||
|
individuals from overlooked communities to serve as the Locals .
“ The idea is that the locals can tell their story in their own words , whatever that story is ,” Ford said . “ So , if you are a local family and have kids Visitors , you play enjoy in the water local in park Mākena , and . your kids play in a soccer team , your profile will include that story : ‘ We ’ re a family . We ’ ve lived here for three generations , and our kids play soccer . Meet us at the park for a playdate with your family .’”
Perhaps the local will be someone who worked at a shipyard , and an inbound tourist wants to learn more about Navy ships and Naval history , she said . Or , maybe they ’ d like to meet someone from a local tribe and learn more about Indigenous culture .
She also hopes to work with military spouses as trained locals . “ Maybe a spouse is a retired architecture professor and would love to show travelers the architecture of this little shipyard town as it ’ s grown in the last 150 years ,” she said .
Ford said tourists coming into a city with her service — Seattle , to start — will view the profiles of locals trained in storytelling , arrange a meeting and pay for the service . “ It may be sitting and having a cup of coffee and taking a walk in the park . Or maybe spending time in nature and watching a beautiful
|
Ford with a local Bedouin man in Morocco ’ s Sahara Desert
sunset over the water . We ’ re not taking them on a tour to see monuments or historical markers unless that local has a connection to that . The local drives what the encounter looks like .”
Travel for Change
Heather Lane Chauny , founder and owner of Heather Lane Adventures , creates what she calls “ customized travel for authentic
|
experiences .”
“ I got into this industry because I wanted to not necessarily disrupt but be part of a change and have tourism be a source of good on the planet ,” she said . “ To use travel and tourism to connect people , to learn from each other and to create mutual understanding .”
She thinks of meaningful travel as being additive rather than extractive .
“ I see there being three different
|
TRACEY FORD |