International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women — while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender balance. This year the theme is #BalanceforBetter raising awareness about how we can collectively create a more gender-balanced world.
For today’s post, I’ve partnered with Impact Travel Alliance to celebrate the bold and fearless women who are making a difference in the world of sustainable travel.
Impact Travel Alliance is the world’s largest community for impact-focused travelers. 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 travel.
Supporting female-led tourism around the world is one of the cornerstones of the brand, “Supporting women-led tourism initiatives means that as travelers, we’re able to find unique experiences and products, as well as play our part in having a positive impact on that woman’s career, her family’s livelihood and the well-being of her community.” Says Impact Travel Alliance’s Founder and Executive Director, Kelley Louise.
Kelley notes that supporting women in travel not only helps the women themselves but helps to grow the entire global economy, “When you empower a woman, you are helping to empower the entire community. Statistics show that investing in a woman has a ripple effect on an entire destination, helping to spur economic growth within a country.”
Impact Travel Alliance supports several women-led organizations that empower women through travel. Here are a few of those organizations and some thoughts from their fearless leaders about the impact of women in the travel industry.
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Purposeful Nomad
Purposeful Nomad runs female, small-group adventures around the world designed to empower women through responsible community engagement.
“Purposeful Nomad was created to inspire, challenge and bring together women from around the globe,” said Caitlin Murray, the tour operator’s co-founder. “Empowering women and offering a platform to connect and share is important because I know it won’t just end there. Women are the driving force in most communities and families around the world.”
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Lokal Travel
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.
“As travelers it’s important to keep in mind the amount of positive impact we can have with the money we spend on our vacations. By booking your trip through Lokal, responsible tour operators or directly with community businesses, we can make a big difference in our efforts to support women entrepreneurs all over the globe. There are a lot of amazing women-led tourism projects out there.” – Eytan Elterman, Lokal Travel co-founder
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Fernweh Fair Travel
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.
We are a women-led NGO developing rural travel in Indian Himalayas. Our team is consist of widows(can never marry again) and victims of domestic violence. The lives of these ladies have changed dramatically they have become smart independent women instead of coy and scared underprivileged women they were. Responsible travel is the best way to experience countries and culture as it supports the communities directly and that also in a very powerful way. – Poonam Rawat-Hahne, Fernweh Fair Travel Founder
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuhgxMYDFKI/
Andeana Hats
The female-owned Andeana Hats operates sustainable tours for travelers to support the Quechua weaving community in rural Peru.
Our passion and mission behind the creation of Andeana Hats is to empower women and help support global artisans to continue their vanishing crafts and enabling them to support themselves and lead their communities out of poverty. To the women of this community, passing their weaving traditions on and teaching their daughters to be able to recreate the ancient patterns of their people is so important so they won’t get lost. They usually weave a few hours a day mixed in with their other household responsibilities like taking care of the animals, cooking, cleaning and being home with the children. Now, many of the women are making more money than their husbands due to the success of selling their textiles. Rather than feel threatened, the men have positively embraced this shift in roles of the women becoming the breadwinner of the family and they have started to help take care of the kids and contribute in the daily chores. Both the men and women are proud that the women are earning more money, allowing them to help buy more things like clothes, food, school supplies, and medicine and it has positively shifted gender roles in their community. – Laura Grier, Andeana Hats cofounder
For more information about International Women’s Day, visit www.internationalwomensday.com
