p56 tour 14 mar27 24/3/09 16:02 Page 56
knowledge touring
ttglive.com
Voluntourism
Main pic: The Adventure Company at work in Thailand
Clients are keen
Above: Intrepid travellers can help out in villages in Africa
Hands on Adventures fills “the gap between
volunteering and a normal holiday”. The Ad-
to lend a hand
ventures include just two or three days of
voluntary work.
Until now, The Adventure Company’s
involvement had been limited to the dona-
tion of money to projects around the world,
Voluntourism, or hands-on holidays, are now the fastest
and visiting the projects on a normal tour
growing areas of adventure touring, and the recession
itinerary. “People visited a project but then
felt, ‘OK, I’ve given a donation but I’d like to
might even boost it further. Philippa Jacks reports have done a bit more’,” explains Ingham.
GAP Adventures, meanwhile, has been
T
he popularity of volunteering who have perhaps lost their jobs or are very involved in community-based projects
holidays has soared in the last few keen to enhance their employability. ever since the company started. Travellers
years, and both The Adventure “Volunteering is actually an interesting visiting a local community on a tour fre-
Company and Intrepid launched option at this time, being able to put quently wanted to do more, and arranged
their first dedicated voluntourism pro- something on your CV when you get back. informally to return to volunteer their
grammes at the end of last year. It’s great for showing you can work as a services. In 2003, GAP created Planeterra,
Intrepid was one of many adventure team,” she says. a not-for-profit
specialists which exhibited at the recent Intrepid has found that clients often organisation which supports 30 sustainable
One Life Live show in London. “We gave away return to a place they have already visited community developments around the world.
four times as many of the new volunteering on holiday in order to do their volunteering. “GAP has always tended to be a pioneer,
brochures as we did any other product,” says Her advice to agents is therefore to use your and we’ve been doing voluntourism since
Gillian Pearsall, direct marketing manager. database to let clients know of projects in before it had a name,” says Richard Edwards,
Pearsall says that Intrepid’s biggest client locations you know they have been to before. director of Planeterra. “We’ve renewed a
demographic is the gap year, 18-22 year old Volunteering holidays vary in intensity. larger scale commitment to the programme,
sector. But interestingly, there’s been huge James Ingham, marketing manager at The and our vision is for Planeterra to become a
interest from older travellers too – people Adventure Company, says its new range of real voice in sustainable tourism policy.”
THE ADVENTURE COMPANY INTREPID ON THE GO TOURS
Offers “Hands On Adventures” across Europe, Asia, Africa Has volunteering projects in Africa, South America, Asia and Features a 10-day “Eco Egypt” tour which includes a visit
T
ORS
and Central America, including seven family itineraries – Fiji. They all involve building a school and teaching in a remote to a children’s home in Cairo, a day clearing rubbish from
some suitable for children as young as five. Two or three village, and are either 14, 28 or 42 days long. The programme the Nile and a visit to Cairo’s “rubbish city”. The tour was
days are spent on a community-based or conservation proj- was launched for 2009 with a standalone brochure. introduced in 2006 and departs twice a year.
ect, with the rest on a normal adventure tour. ■
intrepidtravel.com/agents ■
onthegotours.com/eco-egypt
■
adventurecompany.co.uk
GAP ADVENTURES IMAGINATIVE TRAVELLER
DRAGOMAN Offers 15 different trips, either community or conservation- Volunteering options in Africa and Asia, with projects
Offers six community building/teaching projects in Africa, based. Some are as short as eight days but average length ranging from school building to helping at an elephant park.
KEY OPERA
Peru and India, over two, four or six weeks. The programme is 14 days. There are plans to grow the programme and The volunteering element might take u 2 to 6 days of the
is new for 2009, but involvement goes back several years. possibly to create a standalone brochure next year. total itinerary, with normal touring for the rest.
■
dragoman.com ■
gapadventures.com ■
imaginative-traveller.com
56 27.03.2009
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