Impact Travel Alliance Celebrates International Women's Day
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Photo courtesy of Lokal Travel
On March 8, International Women’s Day, Impact Travel Alliance celebrated the female traveler and the travel businesses that support women around the world with four global events.
Planned by four Impact Travel Chapters to bring together the women and men who are passionate about travel and lifting women up, the events focused on helping women to unleash their inner explorer.
Several extraordinary women-led travel businesses and operators with programs that empower women were highlighted at events in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Hong Kong; and Kathmandu, Nepal.
Photo courtesy of Community Homestay.
“Thankfully it’s possible to find companies like the women’s global travel operator Purposeful Nomad or Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Centre in Laos that allow us as travelers to support female-run businesses that are also doing their best to support women globally. It’s important to take this day to shine a light on their work,” said Kelley Louise, Impact Travel Alliance founder and executive director.
“We also wanted to celebrate female travelers. Our community is full of intrepid women dedicated to exploring and doing good as they travel. It’s not always easy to travel as a woman, but we persist.”
Several organizations in the ITA community focus on empowering women through travel:
• Community Homestay in Nepal collaborates with an NGO to provide local women the opportunity to become entrepreneurs and ready their homes to house guests.
• Fernweh Fair Travel is a women-led NGO working to empower women, mostly young widows, and bring sustainable development to communities in India through responsible tourism.
• Purposeful Nomad runs female, small-group adventures around the world designed to empower women through responsible community engagement.
• The female-owned Andeana Hats operates sustainable tours for travelers to support the Quechua weaving community in rural Peru.
• The community tourism platform and travel operator Lokal Travel features a range of women-owned lodges, female-guided tours and more, like Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Centre, that highlight women and support their work around the world.
• Many of Urban Adventures’ day tours are hosted by local women and support area organizations. “The Olive Tree of Istanbul” tour visits a community center that offers education and support to Syrian refugees, including a women’s social enterprise program.
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. For more information, visit www.internationalwomensday.com
Photo courtesy of Laura Grier
Impact Travel Alliance is the world's largest community for impact-focused travelers and travel professionals. Through education and advocacy around sustainable tourism, the organization aims to transform the travel industry into a force for good, and to help improve the world through business and leisure travel.
Impact Travel Alliance is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit with a highly engaged and active global community with 30 local chapters in cities around the world. For more information, visit impacttravelalliance.org.