In our journey towards a more sustainable world, “impact travel” solutions can provide travellers with experiences that positively mark the destinations they visit.
However, there are a few considerations that are crucial to a major breakthrough in impact travel:
1. The paradox that “going mainstream” is not sustainable by its very nature (e.g. mass tourism)
2. Protecting the authentic essence and brand value of “impact travel” so it doesn’t become another marketing tagline
3. Moving beyond simple KPIs to ensure we make a measurable, positive change in the real lives of people
Do you think "impact travel" is feasible for the tourism industry to achieve at a wider scale? What other challenges does impact travel face to become a significant force and transform people's lives and society? Appreciate your feedback!
PS: If you are interested in this topic, we invite you to join the TravaPowa impact travel community (follow the links in my profile).
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Comments
The more people I speak to these days, the more I realise just how common burnout and fatigue is for people across the travel industry. There's obviously many reasons why we "burn out" — but I'd like to look for answers to help people.
👉 If you've got tips, resources or advice, please share here to support others.
I'll go first! 🙌
Here's a recent webinar titled "Offloading Our Baggage" hosted by @richard-taylor from the Travel Industry Club. It's a healthy discussion with real stories and insights from travel agents in the industry about mental and physical health.
Link is below (requires an email to watch)
vimeo.com/738175131/d2cee23e42
This is a great thread, Ian! Everyone's burnout is personal—it's not a one-size-fits-all. I was fortunate enough to take a 9-month (partially) paid soulbbatical. Best decision ever.
This is a great thread because it affects people in every industry. I am (was) actually a full-time novelist. Trying to keep up with churning out "the next book," editing, formatting, marketing, etc. made the process of writing no longer enjoyable. I turned to travel blogging as a diversion and find the different style of writing and the chance to travel has really revigorated me. I have really had to change gears, learn new things and step out of my comfort zone.
Travel blogging is a lot of work though, so I can see how bloggers would burn out. It's still new enough for me that it's fun!
Burnout is the reason I changed careers! I used to be a full-time fashion designer and the constant pressure of trying to come up with the latest design and trends 9 - 5 every week for 13 years finally took its toll! I would use every last day of annual leave to travel the world in seek of scuba diving and wildlife and that's when it finally hit me that I might just be able to do something different and turn my passion into a career!
I'm not saying I don't still get burned out as a travel blogger as some weeks you just get a complete writer's block and then there's SEO to think about etc. BUT changing careers is the best thing I ever did! I get burned out by something I love and not the daily 9-5 grind!
try to keep regular 'office hours', even though working from home. We are all becoming too 'available' on weekends and after-hours which leads to burnout and resentment. We're in travel... we're not brain surgeons!! :)
I have found that a masterminds group was the best things for us, we would all meet once a week and enjoy a few drinks and just decompress, we would each bring one topic, one issue or form of burnout we were dealing with and had a very open discussion to try and overcome those issues and reignite the love for travel and keep industry hopes high. The support is wonderful and let us know we were not alone.