A few years ago I visited around 200 ecolodges, homestays, community run guests houses etc around the world as part of my research for a book on the best in sustainable tourism. As a result of my experiences, I knew I would always seek out these places for my own holidays. Not just because of their ethics, but because I had a much better time. I met more inspiring people, got closer to wildlife, stayed in more remarkable places. Over the last two months I have been exploring what has happened … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2015
Innovator Spotlight: exploring India’s wilderness with Wild Navigator
Wild Navigator is a new company set up to connect responsible travellers to authentic wilderness experiences across the Indian Subcontinent. Jeremy Smith spoke to its founder, Abishek Behl about the challenges of building a responsible business in such a competitive market. What inspired you to create your business? My inspiration was partly was to do with me being in the travel industry for over 16 years and out of these years, have been very lucky to be traveling / researching to the best … [Read more...]
Which is more revolutionary – Airbnb or a caravan park?
The cover of Time magazine for February 9, 2015 is an article by Joel Stein called 'Tales From The Sharing Economy'. It looks at how various companies are disrupting entire sectors, from Uber for taxis to Yerdle for unwanted home goods. For tourism the big name here is Airbnb, founded in 2008, but already operating in 190 countries, with more than 425,000 people using it every night, and valued at more than $13 billion. Over the last month I have stayed in three Airbnb properties in Australia. … [Read more...]