Tour companies that give back to society.
These firms offer inviting excursions, value and give back in various ways to the destinations they visit.
When John and Betty Price thought about taking a vacation trip with a tour company, they decided to do some good at the same time that they enjoyed themselves. They searched the Internet for firms that offer inviting excursions, value, and give back in various ways to the destinations they visit.
Overseas Adventure Travel, part of the Grand Circle Corporation, fit well into their preferences. Grand Circle offers small group tours worldwide, and is recognized as a leader in philanthropic tourism.
Having fun and doing good
It is one of several tour companies that emphasize improving lives, protecting the environment, and providing other benefits to people and places where they travel.
Those who go around the United States or the world with these organizations return home with more than fond memories. They also have the pleasure of knowing that they played a part in improving people's lives and helping to make the Earth a better place.
OAT’s Grande Circle Foundation does grand work
Among many projects that OAT and Grand Circle Travel have supported at destinations around the world are providing clean water and lavatories in communities and schools visited on their itineraries; furnishing computers, desks, books, and other supplies to students, and funding relief efforts following natural disasters in Haiti, Japan, Nepal, and other countries.
These efforts are funded by the Grand Circle Foundation and another non-profit organization that focuses on improving the well-being of people in the areas that OAT visits. They have donated $225 million throughout the world to fund these projects. (oattravel.com)
Untours: Live like the locals and love helping them
Another leader in philanthropy is UnTours, which combines benefits of individual travel with helpful support to allow participants to “Live like the locals.” Pleasant non-hotel accommodations, transportation and on-site assistance enable travelers to experience a destination much like its residents.
The company’s profits go to the UnTours Foundation, which funds activities that help solve global challenges. Examples include creating jobs for African people who transform ocean trash into works of art and supporting locally owned, environmentally friendly businesses in Ecuador.
Among other projects are enabling Himalayan tea growers, 90 percent of whom are women, to establish a farm-to-processing-to-marketing operation and helping to finance the purchase of climate-friendly hybrid sightseeing vehicles for a locally owned tour operator in Kenya.
One imaginative effort involved assisting cocoa growers in Ghana, who earn about $1 a day selling their product to the Divine Chocolate corporation, by gaining their representation on the company’s board of directors and providing a safety net for the unpredictability of farming. (untours.com
READ Global libraries offer much more than books
READ Global [Rural Education and Development] was founded as the non-profit arm of the Myths & Mountains adventure travel company. It partners with rural villages in India, Nepal, and Bhutan to build community libraries and resource centers that offer a variety of literacy, women’s empowerment, and other knowledge and skills.
One READ center in Nepal alone has gone on to establish 170 school libraries and support a cooperative that provides hundreds of women access to credit which enables them to establish micro-businesses. Like all centers, it is self-supporting through storefront rentals, community radio stations, and other enterprises.
READ’s stated goal is “Inspiring Rural Prosperity.” Its achievements have earned the organization grants and awards from the Gates Foundation and other groups. (readglobal.org)
Road Scholar is the self-proclaimed “Leader in Educational Travel for Adults”
Trips offered by aptly named Road Scholar, the self-proclaimed “Leader in Educational Travel for Adults,” are focused on learning, exchanging ideas with people around the world, and providing financial support for local communities and individuals. Among my service-related experiences are volunteering at Navajo Nation schools and working to preserve offshore barrier islands.
Cuba also has been a beneficiary of Road Scholar projects, which provide tuition to participate in its programs, support local organizations, and assist trip participants to bring gifts of hard-to-obtain items, like computers and printers, to people of that country. Road Scholar offers financial assistance to help educators, caregivers, and others to participate in its programs. (roadscholar.org)
Discover Corps grew out of the Peace Corps
“Vacations with Purpose” are promised by Discover Corps, which is not surprising because a former Peace Corps volunteer founded it. The company espouses the idea that “you can travel on a meaningful vacation and still have fun.”
Trip itineraries are designed to connect travelers with local communities in a meaningful way. For example, the company partners with organizations that advance women’s rights, support community development and contribute to environmental protection and wildlife conservation.
That translates to activities like generating income for women in Kenya through making beads, helping to care for Thailand’s dwindling elephant population, hosting educational projects in Peru, and providing food security and learning opportunities for young people in South Africa. (discovercorps.com)
Look out for elephants, help African farmers, or donate a computer
Looking out for elephants, assisting African farmers or giving a computer you no longer use to a student in Cuba may not be high on your wish list when planning a vacation. But those who take part in these kinds of activities, or travel with a tour company that does, return home with more than treasured memories of visiting another part of the world.
They also have the pleasure of knowing that they played a part in improving the lives of people, protecting endangered wildlife, or in some other way helping to make things a bit better for the planet we share and for those of us who live on it.
Victor Block
After gallivanting throughout the United States and to more than 75 other countries worldwide and writing about what he sees, does, and learns, Victor Block retains the travel bug. He believes that travel is the best possible education and claims he still has much to learn. He loves to explore new destinations and cultures, and his stories about them have won many writing awards.
