Travel – And Make A Difference
I took a tour round the Luxury Travel Fair, held at one of the exhibition halls at London’s Olympia.
It was good to escape for an hour or so from the damp and cold of a London November and be immersed in exotic locations from Marrakech to the Maldives.
One stand I found particularly interesting was for a company called GoPhilanthropic (www.GoPhilanthropic.com), which operates under the banner ‘meaningful intelligent travel.’
It offers tailor-made luxury travel options but couples this with support for social and conservation projects worldwide. So, while on vacation you could spend an afternoon donating books or a water well, funding a school or helping an orphanage.
The company pledges to support hotels and other suppliers who are committed to sustainable tourism practices, to buy carbon credits to cover the entire trip and to donate 10 per cent of its profits to efficiently-run environmental projects.
A survey we conducted here at Luxique just over a year ago suggested that holidaymakers left their green concerns at home when they set off. But with an exciting new era about to begin in the United States and a feeling that real change is in the air, maybe the philanthropic path is one to which we should all aspire.
by Andy Moreton
