Category: culture + trends
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Travel responsibly means conserving natural resources, supporting local cultures and making a positive impact on the places we visit. Whether you take big steps or small ones, they all make a difference. National Geographic Traveler put together the Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel offering 50 tips. The tips are great and you should check them […]
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Americans are living in a time when being green and eco-friendly are not only trendy, but becoming a way of life. Traveling green will generally cost more and there are fewer travel choices, for now. Research done by travelhorizons™ in July found that more Americans are aware of eco-friendly travel (which confirms the general perception), […]
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A recent study done by VISA (Australia) reveals that “one in three respondents look to travel blogs when planning a trip” compared to consulting family and friends or travel agents. According to the study, 34% of respondents prefer travel blogs for choosing their travel options, 24% use family and friends, and 13% go to travel […]
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Travel businesses could flourish even in today’s down economy if they sell the right experiences. At the national Tourism Futures conference in Australia, trend spotter Daniel Levine told attendees that tourism businesses need to tap travelers’ growing desire for social responsibility and self-improvement. He sees a “seismic shift” in travelers’ attitudes. The focus now is […]
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Celebrating its 8th year, WorldHum recently republished a marvelous essay by Pico Iyer on Why We Travel. The essay explored the transformative nature of travel – breaking down prejudices and assumptions, self-discovery, connections, and other inner journey discoveries. Iyer painted wonderful imageries of how our souls are re-awakened and challenged and our minds opened. So […]
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The Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) has released a guide helping travelers figure out how to minimize “unintended consequences” of giving while on vacation. Travelers’ intention to help, interact and learn are all good, but sometimes “misguided contributions can perpetuate cycles of dependency, cause corruption, burden communities with unwanted or inappropriate donations, and require recipients […]
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A growing phenomenon in travel these days is short term volunteer travel vacations, also known as “voluntourism,” “travel philanthropy,” “charity vacation,” or “traveling for good.” It’s to travel someplace and serve as a volunteer or add on a volunteer element to your holiday or vacation. A less hands on approach includes supporting local concerns either […]