Responsible Travel

There’s not much to see out here. Rice paddies, villages, a few roadside stands selling fruit and eggs. You certainly wouldn’t expect a tourism project; a village-run community of homestays and activities for international travellers. But that’s exactly what you’ll find at Madi Valley.

“Please don’t walk around after dark,” Mohan, the village chief, tells us as he shows us around in the late afternoon sun. “We had an elephant come through last night.”

If you want to see the face of overtourism, take a plane to Phnom Penh and catch a bumpy five-hour bus to Sihanoukville – a once-sleepy town on a little peninsula in the Gulf of Thailand. Sihanoukville is the jewel of Cambodia’s tourism industry. Or at least it used to be.

We’re partnering with Offset Earth to create something different: we want to grow a travel-powered forest. And we want you to help us.

Carbon offsetting is definitely having a moment. But two questions are always asked about it: what is it, and does it actually work?

Today, at the 2019 UN Climate Conference, COP25, we made a historic commitment. A commitment in partnership with 500+ fellow B Corps to reach net zero by 2030.

It’s a trend that doesn’t get talked about much in travel brochures: as tourist numbers increase, particularly in developing countries, so do the number of orphanages. Not orphans, but orphanages.

Truly sustainable, responsible travel doesn’t start and end with the environment. It has a human face, too. One that’s all too easy to overlook.

Life today sees us navigating a world that is staring down the barrel of climate disaster. We see it every day in the rising sea levels, long-lasting heat waves, displaced animals and melting glaciers. We see it when we travel.