A Win-Win through Responsible Travel

Is there anything better than exploring local cultures, but have you considered paying it forward with more than just a thank you or a tip?

Food is usually front of mind (and stomach) when we travel. It’s a journey for our tastebuds, telling us about the people who eat it, their culture and cuisine. It also gifts us great destination dining, full bellies and delicious memories. Think on a fond holiday moment and it’s often paired with dining out at that favourite restaurant, where staff treated you like family.

 

Back to 2020 and dining has moved to take-out or in-house (iso-style), for some of us. Others still live in a world where cuisine is often experiential and even an art form – in line with social distancing of course. Our modern-day homage to food means it’s no surprise that many of us choose to ignore the origin of the dish placed in front of us. Where your meal was sourced and the distribution process that brought it from farm to fork. The reality might be less palatable than the plate of perfection served up for us.

 

Reality Bites

On a macro level it raises global concerns we may prefer to forget like the pressures of a global pandemic, ongoing conflict, weak economic growth, poverty and climate change. These are all contributors to world hunger, for instance, which affected 821 million people in 2018 and, according to the UN, these statistics are on the rise. Lost your appetite? Well perhaps instead remember that there are ways to help communities you visit with APT on a micro level. Ways in which every bit of aid really counts.

Responsible Travel

At APT, we’ve been around long enough to know the travel industry has a profound effect on the destinations and people we visit. Travel also has the power to change you and touch the lives of those around you. Responsible travel is about making future travel choices that respect and benefit the communities and environments you visit.

OneTomorrow Charitable Fund

Through initiatives undertaken by APT’s philanthropic arm OneTomorrow, our mission is responsible travel. We hope to achieve this by creating an immediate and long-term positive influence on the environmental and humanitarian causes we support globally and domestically. Here in Australia, one of those initiatives is our work with Rural Aid, who support the farmers and their communities responsible for the great produce we enjoy.

Rural Aid – Australia

Australia is a land of environmental extremes. During times of drought, flood and fire, farming and rural communities struggle to recover economically. With 10,000 farmers and 10 million farm animals affected by this year’s bushfires, and now in the midst of a global pandemic, the Australian rural community is facing some of its toughest times yet.

Rural Aid work to ensure that Australian farmers and rural communities are given financial and emotional support in times of severe hardship. Run entirely by volunteers, Rural Aid designs programs centred around rebuilding and repairing, providing economic and empathetic assistance to those who have lost land and livestock. You too can help safeguard Australian farmers and communities from devastation.

Indigenous Partnerships – Western Australia

Our Kimberley wilderness adventures in Australia’s remote northwest would not be possible without our longstanding Indigenous partnerships. OneTomorrow also offers a formalised approach to ensure local communities continue to thrive. Some of our partners include the Kimberley Foundation Australia, the Kandiwal Community, Wunan Foundation and the Imintji Community.

The Wunan Foundation works to give the Aboriginal people of the East Kimberley access to the opportunities they need to live independent and fulfilling lives. Wunan assists with initiatives from housing and employment to operating a wholly Aboriginal-owned and operated Bed and Breakfast.

 

The Imintji Community Store and Campground is located close to APT’s Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge. Once a rest stop for bullock drivers on the Gibb River Road, the Imintji (Ngarinyin) people now invite travellers to this welcome stop-over at the foot of the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges. Imintji Store offers fresh, basic staples and great coffee!

 

Make a Real Difference

As a guest of the APT Travel Group (ATG), you can now further immerse yourself in the places you visit. In the spirit of 2020, we’ve kept it local but OneTomorrow’s Guest Giving program allows you to support worthy projects in different regions around the world as well as domestically, with our matched funding doubling your impact.

Travel is a journey through all the senses and it’s one of life’s great pleasures and privileges to experience another culture. By making travel a force for good, we can still enjoy and indulge in the knowledge we are making a difference, however small. Working with you and the great causes we support, together we are creating a future where travel means more.