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The Boom in Impact Travel - Catch Me at the Women in Travel Summit!

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For the second year in a row, I'll be speaking at the Women in Travel Summit on behalf of Operation Groundswell. This time around, I'll be unpacking the rise of responsible and ethical travel alongside other women in the social impact space. Here's what you can expect: 

  • A birds-eye view of the impact travel industry, from voluntourism to ecotourism
  • How impact travel is driving purchase decisions, and what travel entrepreneurs should know about it
  • What influencers can do to make responsible and ethical travel the reality and the norm
  • How to support local economies in productive ways
  • How to tell representative stories of the places you visit
  • How to examine the ethical issues volunteer travel creates and decide when an impact trip will create value

Join me in Milwaukee from April 21 - 23rd for what's sure to be an incredible opportunity to connect with like-minded, adventurous, and self-starting women! Learn more.

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Solutions to Mainstream Sustainable Tourism

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A couple of weeks ago, I had the unique experience of representing Operation Groundswell at the Travel+Social Good Global Summit. Taking place at the United Nations Headquarters, OG joined a number of other leaders within the travel and tourism space to develop a realistic road map that would push our industry towards creating deeper positive impact and social change.

Continue reading...

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Paving the Way for Ethical Travel & Responsible Volunteering

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Paving the Way for Ethical Travel & Responsible Volunteering

It's already been two months since the Women in Travel Summit but with all the buzz and interaction still happening between all the attendees, you'd think we were all still right there in sunny Irvine, California! 

Speaking of Voluntourism

This was my very first WITS experience and as if that wasn't enough of a thrill, I also had the unique opportunity to speak and share a piece of the travel industry that's so important to me. On behalf of Operation Groundswell, I ran a session unpacking the complexity of the voluntourism industry - both its pitfalls and opportunities - while also sharing some concrete tools on how to critically assess a volunteer travel organization. 

In case you didn't already know, WITS by Wanderful is the premier event for women bloggers and influencers, global explorers, and travel industry entrepreneurs. Now, I've done speaking engagements before but mostly for other non-profits or post-secondary institutions. This was an entirely new audience for me. What was the travel blogging community like? Who were these influencers? Would anyone even be interested in what I had to say? Did they care? 

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I'm Speaking at the Women in Travel Summit!

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I am so incredibly excited to announce that I'll be speaking at the Women in Travel Summit this coming March!! WITS is the first and only travel blogging summit by and for women, organized by the folks at Wanderful. With an expected 500 women bloggers, global explorers, and travel industry entrepreneurs, WITS aims to create an empowering and supportive environment for women to gather, network, and exchange ideas around travel entrepreneurship.

If you know me at all, you know that I'm all about supporting initiatives and organizations that seek to empower women in all stages of life and from all sorts of different backgrounds to carve their own place in this big ol' world of ours. That's why I'm so excited to be a part of this incredible summit! I'm doubly excited to be speaking about a topic near and dear to my heart - volunteering and traveling. I'll be running a session called "Backpacking with a Purpose: Paving the Way for Ethical Travel & Responsible Volunteering" where I aim to uncover the pressing ethical issues surrounding the voluntourism industry while also highlighting its potential for true cross-cultural exchange. I hope to give attendees a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the current voluntourism landscape, as well as the tools to create meaningful social change through their travels. 

It's going to be such an incredible opportunity to connect with like-minded, adventurous, and self-starting women while kickin' back and relaxin' in sunny California, baby! I hope you'll join me for what's sure to be a jam-packed, inspiring, and thought-provoking weekend. And hey! I've even got my own handy dandy promo code to help you get there. Just use the code JUSTINE10 to get 10% off tickets (active til Jan. 31st, so get on it!).

March 18-20. Irivine, California. Everything you need to know at www.witsummit.com.

Hope to see you there!