Selene Orellana

Each year World Tourism Day is celebrated on September 27. This year the official World Tourism Day celebration will be held in Bali, Indonesia and focus on the theme: ‘Rethinking Tourism’. 

Putting communities at the centre of the conversation is something Planeterra has been doing since our inception and on the occasion of World Tourism Day, we are celebrating how the travel industry is reshaping the roles of communities in tourism. We truly believe that the potential for tourism to be a force for good is infinite and we welcome the opportunity for our approximately 450 community tourism partners to be at the forefront of a reimagined tourism industry. 

Through our Global Community Tourism Network (GCTN), we are helping the industry to build back better and in a more inclusive way that engages thousands of local people all over the world. 

While it has been an unimaginably difficult couple of years, Planeterra has been working to help our community partners to recover and prepare to receive travellers once again. Although many partners are fully operational, for others, the road to recovery has been more difficult and they are still working to be ready to welcome their first visitors. 

With the World Tourism Day celebration taking place in Indonesia this year, we’d like to take this opportunity to spotlight two of Planeterra’s community partners from this beautiful country that are working to create a positive impact:

Ngadas Community Homestay – Java, Indonesia

The village of Ngadas is home to the Tengger tribe. This community acts as the protectors of Mount Bromo Volcano, one of the most sacred sites in Indonesia. By working with the Tengger tribe, we created a homestay and community tour program that is fully owned and managed by them.

The program benefits 498 households with ripple effects supporting many micro-enterprises that include: local farmers, local guides, drivers, tour guides, and homestay hosts.

The homestay program is located inside of Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park and allows the older generation to diversify their income. It also creates opportunities to employ the next generation of Tenngerese enabling them to stay in their local community. Travellers have a chance to meet and stay in a traditional Tengger home and explore the surroundings on a community-developed hike.

Learn more about Ngadas Community Homestay, here.

Senang Hati – Bali, Indonesia 

The Senang Hati Foundation provides programs to develop self-confidence, and physical and economic independence as well as to create awareness for the rights of differently-abled adults in Ubud, Bali. The centre provides skills training that enables members to become self-supporting through jobs related to hospitality, painting, sewing, and woodworking. Every year, 30 students benefit from the program, moving on to start their own businesses and families.

Planeterra supported Senang Hati in renovating their dream kitchen. This kitchen is fully accessible with counters, sinks, shelves, and working spaces customized for those using mobility devices. 

When visiting them, travellers enjoy a traditional Balinese lunch that is prepped, cooked, and served by the members at Senang Hati.

Learn more about Senang Hati, here.

Tourism is an $8 trillion global industry, but many local businesses and communities do not benefit from it. There are some forms of tourism where $0 reaches the hands of local people. Planeterra is working to change that.

Each year World Tourism Day (WTD) is celebrated on September 27 to spread awareness about the importance of tourism and its impact. This year’s WTD invites us to “Rethink Tourism”, to collectively reflect on where our sector is going, what have we all learned in the last couple of years having experienced the impact of the pandemic, where we want to go and most importantly, how we get there without leaving anyone behind.

It has been an unimaginably difficult couple of years for the tourism sector due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The road to recovery has not been easy, though as the world opens up again, travelers are slowly returning to our partners and we can take the lessons learned to strengthen our impact on the future.

Planeterra cannot think of a better way to celebrate tourism than by continuing to amplify the voices of communities, finding the best ways to put people at the center of key discussions and supporting community tourism enterprises that have big social and environmental goals. This way, tourism dollars stay in the community, creating jobs and training opportunities, with profits invested into community development and environmental programs locally. 

We also wanted to share that over the past few months, we have been working on our flagship initiative, Project 100, in which we plan to incorporate 100 community tourism experiences into G Adventures tours. As countries have been opening back up, new community experiences have been integrated into these exciting tours and we are so close to reaching our milestone!

Today, we want to introduce you to two community enterprises that are part of Project 100. These businesses are making a difference in their communities by working with travelers and giving them the chance to experience the local culture and create lasting memories. 

Good Work Foundation – Hazyview, South Africa

The Kruger National Park is a well-known tourist destination and while it is a thriving financial hub and creates many job opportunities, in the villages that surround the glamorous fences of the park, thousands of people live in poverty, with no access to education and basic livelihood needs. This is where Good Work Foundation (GWF) comes into play.

GWF is a nonprofit organization that trains local youth in technology, conservation as well as Tourism and Hospitality. They provide opportunities in the tourism sector for youth in the villages bordering the Kruger National Park. Every year the GWF provides free training to 25 youth and bridges them into opportunities in the hotels and lodges in the area.

Thanks to the GWF, youth are gaining skills in entrepreneurship and tourism to break the cycle of poverty around the Kruger National Park by generating sources of income. Additionally, through the training provided by the GWF, youth are able to access much-needed education.

Planeterra partnered with the GWF and their Hospitality Academy to create an express Coffee Bar that serves delicious coffee and a tasty macadamia snack sourced locally to travellers who are visiting the Kruger National Park.

The Coffee Bar supports covering tuition and is also an opportunity for youth in the program to receive practical training in barista skills as well as earnings for their work. Tourism allows the GWF to reduce their dependency on grants to fund the academy, increase class sizes and train more youth.

To learn more about GWF, click here.

Safi Kitchen – Southern Ghawr, Jordan

Creating opportunities for women and youth and preserving the local culture and natural resources of the southern region of the Jordan Valley (Ghawr) inspired Safi Kitchen to open its doors at the end of 2019. This nonprofit organization invites locals to participate in an authentic farm and meal experience to showcase their traditions and culture through food.

By engaging in tourism activities, community members receive a much-needed income from the kitchen. Women can now make their own financial decisions and youth are leading up conservation activities in their communities. 

The community continues to value their environment and more businesses are being led by women. They are also sharing their culture authentically and are working to position their region as a tourist destination.

Through a partnership with Safi Kitchen, Planeterra facilitated a market connection to the tourism sector, where travellers enjoy an authentic meal experience and understand the traditional methods of farming in Jordan while seeing the fresh ingredients picked and used in their meals. They also get an opportunity to learn about how this community is using agriculture to preserve their environment.

Safi Kitchen provides a traditional lunch, tea and snacks to travellers. They also have an in-community bike trail for active travellers with a mountainous backdrop. The tour is led by youth from the community who are receiving an income from the tours.

To learn more about Safi Kitchen, click here.

Stay tuned to discover more community enterprises that will benefit from hosting travelers!

Over the past several weeks we have been receiving images and videos from our partners as they welcomed their first travelers since many had to shut down due to the pandemic.

Thanks to the support of our donors, we helped provide flexible grants to support and ensure several partners could be ready to once again welcome travelers and begin generating income for their communities.

The smiles on the faces of our partners and the travelers have been incredibly uplifting for our whole team. This is why we thought we would share and shine a spotlight on some of our partners who have begun welcoming travelers once more:

Salaam Baalak Trust – India

Salaam Baalak Trust is an Indian non-profit organization that provides safe housing, counselling, education, and support to over 5,000 children in New Delhi, as well as managing five safe homes across the city. They run a “City Walk” program, a youth-led walking tour that provides a different perspective on Delhi while allowing youth to gain new skills. 

Funds from the City Walk program are used to provide scholarships and job placements for youth, as well as resources for the shelters. By connecting the program to our tourism partners, they now have a reliable stream of income to support their education and social service work.

City Walk has not only given the youth a new set of skills but also helped boost their self-confidence by improving their communication skills and shaping their personality while interacting with tourists from across the globe.

Learn more here.

The GoodWork Foundation – South Africa

The GoodWork Foundation (GWF) is located on the route to the Phabeni Gate of Kruger National Park. They aim to provide learning opportunities to rural and marginalized communities in Africa. To achieve this, they work with young people from the villages around Kruger National Park to help them develop business and barista skills as well as tourism and hospitality training. 

Travelers who visit the GWF Cafe on their way to the park enjoy a variety of hot coffee and macadamia-based snacks (Kruger National Park is also known for its macadamia, banana, and cashew farms). 

Learn more here. 

Thailand Hill-Tribes Trek – Mae Hong Son, Thailand

The Hilltribe trekking in Northern Thailand creates job opportunities for individuals in three communities Pha Mon (Red Lahu), Meung Pam (Red Karen), and Jabo (Black Lahu). This helps them to continue to stay in their home village, retaining culture, and preventing urban migration. 

Thanks to their community development plans, 10% of each tourism activity is invested in a wider community development fund. This fund benefits the greater communities’ needs such as the local school, and community environmental programs. The community can also use these funds to allocate loans to individuals looking to start their own businesses or to fund different emergencies.

Earlier this month, they hosted their first group of travelers since the pandemic started and we couldn’t be happier.

Learn more here. 

Osmose – Tonlé Sap Biosphere Reserve, Cambodia

Osmose is a non-governmental organization dedicated to the environmental preservation and the socio-economic development of the Prek Toal area, located in the Tonle Sap UNESCO Biosphere reserve.

Over the years, Osmose has developed more projects to support the local population to protect their incredible environment. One of the projects is their sustainable community tourism tours, accommodations, and handicrafts that work to support the conservation of the area. ⁠

A group of travelers recently visited the Saray water hyacinth handicraft workshop, where the village families fabricate and sell beautiful handicrafts made from dried water-hyacinth stems to supplement their incomes. They also learned how to make these handicrafts which is not only a great experience but also an opportunity to support this amazing project!

Learn more here.

Baracoa Community Tours, Baracoa – Cuba

We are very excited to see travelers enjoying the cultural immersion tour in Baracoa again. Planeterra has worked with the Baracoa Community to include visits to multiple family-owned micro-enterprises related to local cultural activities. Three villages are visited in this tour, resulting in 200 people being impacted by responsible tourism.⁠

When visiting the community, travelers have the opportunity to learn from local guides, participate in local living experiences and make some traditional delicacies. ⁠They can also purchase unique handicrafts as a souvenir, all supporting the women, men, and youth of Baracoa. 

Learn more here.

Puesta del Sol Association – Ometepe, Nicaragua

The Puesta del Sol Association is a community rural tourism initiative from the Community of La Palma in Nicaragua. Puesta del Sol has created new job opportunities which have strengthened the economy and quality of life of the community and they couldn’t be happier to host travelers!

The Association has created a community fund that allows them to provide scholarships, support the elderly and invest in community infrastructure (such as a local school, a local park, and others).

They have also developed a series of training programs related to tourism and new tourism initiatives. Planeterra helped introduce Puesta Del Sol to our tourism partners to help provide a steady stream of travelers. 

Learn more here.

Guneysinir Community Park – Guneysinir, Turkey

This almond plantation cooperative that doubles as a community park not only provides a source of shade and water retention but also a source of income – once the almonds can be harvested. Another added benefit is that it is becoming a place for families and visitors to enjoy together.

Planeterra provided the grant to plant the almond trees and has secured income for the community through corporate partners who bring travelers who visit the park and enjoy a snack made by a local family, supporting this budding social enterprise.

Learn more here.

 !Khwa ttu – Cape Town North, South Africa

!Khwa ttu is a San culture and education center based on a Nature Reserve near Cape Town. They have been one of our most resilient partners during the COVID-19 pandemic! They used our learning resources and pivoted their business by attracting more young local day travelers and campers. 

They cut out their biggest food supplier, a supermarket chain in South Africa, and started locally sourcing all their products. At the moment, they are working with over 30 local suppliers like gardeners and fishermen who are supplying fresh resources for their restaurant. And after a couple of rough years, they are stronger than ever!

Learn more here.