ESCORTED TOURS PERU DESTINATIONS


RESPONSIBLE TOURISM PROJECTS


Collette Cares was founded in 1997 and now operates children’s education and nutrition projects in Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, Kenya, Ecuador, Peru, Poland, Costa Rica, India and South Africa. gocollette.com/collettecares


ABOVE: Parque de la Papa


one of G Adventures’ trips. Former CEO Ruben Diaz


was one of the first to seize the opportunity. Best Bite Peru runs food tours in Lima, visiting markets crammed with a head-spinning array of fruits and vegetables and offering cooking classes, teaching the secrets of Peruvian classics such as ceviche and pisco sours. “We establish only businesses


that are serving our business,” says Poon Tip, reiterating what he regards as the company’s point of difference. “We are not a charity. We are a for-profit business.” He believes this pragmatic


approach provides travellers with a “better experience”, introducing businesses run by those immersed in the brand. And it complements


Planeterra’s non-profit projects and partnerships with local communities, allowing them to share their knowledge and provide rich travel experiences. Bringing more tourists to particular attractions and areas also has a ripple effect. The popularity of the Parwa Community Restaurant, an hour from Cusco, for example, has spawned a new micro-industry of quail-egg farmers. Back in the Sacred Valley, we


took a tour of Parque de la Papa, or ‘Potato Park’. Part-funded by Planeterra, the project is dedicated to the preservation


Bringing more tourists to particular attractions and areas has a ripple effect


of potato seeds and Andean farming techniques. About 6,000 people from six Quechua villages work the land and conduct research.


Mariano Sota, one of the


project’s founding members, showed us around an impressive library of root vegetables: there are roughly 1,400 indigenous varieties of potato on the site. Sota plucked a puce-coloured specimen from a shelf and deftly sliced off the top, revealing vibrant cerise flesh. It was a particularly pretty


potato. Yet, seeing his grin as he angled it towards us, I suspected that Sota’s pride went beyond aesthetics. That small and bumpy oval seemed symbolic of the Andean techniques and traditions being preserved thanks, at least in part, to projects such as Parque de la Papa. It also represented a different model of tourism, with natural resources and communities sustained by visitors, rather than eroded by them.


The TreadRight Foundation – a joint initiative by The Travel Corporation brands including Insight Vacations and Trafalgar – has supported more than 50 sustainable tourism projects preserving local heritage and providing clean water. treadright.org


The Intrepid Foundation doubles every donation by guests of Intrepid Travel, and covers all administration costs. In total, nearly £4m has been donated to more than 100 community organisations since 2002. theintrepidfoundation.org


The Saga Charitable Trust, set up in 1985, funds projects in 17 countries, from schools in Sri Lanka, Guatemala and South Africa to healthcare in India, kids’ swimming lessons in Vietnam and teaching sign language in Nepal. saga.co.uk


Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy supports 41 projects in 18 countries, including elephant and rhino conservation, providing bikes for small communities in Africa, and housing and education for pregnant women in Thailand. abercrombiekent.co.uk


Exodus Travels works with UK charities that support international initiatives, including tiger conservation in India, education for Tanzanian porters, provision of clean water in Laos and


meals for underprivileged kids in Ethiopia. exodus.co.uk/responsible-travel


14 June 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 55


PICTURE: GAVIN HELLIER

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