This is a guest post from Daniela Papi of PEPY:
Our trips during our first few years at PEPY were all about service. We were enthusiastic about offering travelers a chance to give back to the places they visited, otherwise known as voluntourism. Tour participants taught classes at local schools, visited orphanages, and repaired educational buildings. Often times, the needs the travelers were filling were not the biggest needs for the projects we were partnering with but were instead the things they were able to physically contribute to. When our guests …
There has been considerable excitement (and press) about green travel certification initiatives. Everyone agrees that sustainable practices in tourism is important and good. But plenty of questions still need to be answered about global sustainability criteria, application and monitoring standards. Meanwhile, everyday more green travel products are being offered to travelers. Often, travelers buy travel offerings based on “good faith” because they have no way to evaluate providers’ green initiatives.
There has been efforts to develop a Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, but Professor Harold Goodwin of the International Center for …
We’ve rounded up some interesting news and stories around the Web this week:
Moscow on the Cheap (Los Angeles Times)
Giving back feels good: 600,000 signed up for Disney volunteer days (Gadling.com)
New Travel Stress: Facebook Oversharing (Budget Travel)
Vacations With a Heart: Voluntourism Opportunities Around the World (SmarterTravel.com)
The explosive growth of social media in the past year has changed the way many of us do things like shop, get our news, get deals or simply engage with an expanding circle of people like never before.
A recent travelhorizons survey of 2,200 U.S. adults conducted by Ypartnership and the U.S. Travel Association revealed the following:
We want to hear from you! Give us your thoughts on philanthropic and volunteer travel.
Would you like volunteering to be part of trip or entire trip?
Where would you like to travel to?
Have you taken a philanthropic or volunteer trip?
The growing popularity of “slum tours” has prompted media coverage and debates. We did a post, “Poverty Tours: Good or Bad?” exploring some of the questions last July.
Topics about the poor or disadvantaged in relations to the wealthy and advantaged often trigger heated opinions. Debate is good because it brings issues to the forefront and is productive if the underlying desire is for betterment rather than being right.
Critics of slum tours have long argued that tourists visiting the slums exploit and violate the dignity of slum dwellers. While supporters of …
Travelers are all too familiar with leaving behind half-used hotel shampoos and soaps after a hotel stay. Ever wonder “what happens to the reduced bar of soap and unused portion of shampoo at a hotel when a guest is done using it?” Do they go anywhere beside the trash? Could some good come from the leftover hotel soaps?
Clean the World (CTW), a non-profit, charitable organization founded in March 2009, has come up with a savvy social responsibility solution to left-over hotel toiletries. Its operating model is all about sustainability and …
We’ve rounded up some interesting news and stories around the Web this week:
The Era of the “Transforcation” (The Wall Street Journal)
Extreme Weather Shuts Down Machu Picchu (Matador)
Online Travel Agencies Step Up Efforts to Promote Green Hotels (Green Lodging News)
Tourism Group Criticizes Royal Carribean for Resuming Cruise Calls in Haiti (USA Today)
Intrepid Travel Group Among Stranded Tourist in Machu Picchu (Travel Weekly)
How to Find the Perfect Family Vacation (terracurve)
How to Travel Safely in the West Bank, Palestinian Territories (Matador)
