Travel Topics
Like the glorious sunsets, silence is golden in the Flinders Ranges Australia. Black eagles wheel over 600-million-year-old landscapes, patrolling the skies where pioneering tourism families and traditional owners preserve this special part of South Australia for the future…
Kyrgyzstan has a reputation for offering homestays and lodgings in small guesthouses, or bed-and-breakfast-style accommodation. Mike East went to experience the community-based tourism in Kyrgyzstan and was impressed. Experiencing community-based tourism in…
Mark Bibby Jackson visits Paphos Cyprus to discover a wonderful approach to conservation and great antiquity. On the way to the turtle museum in the hills near Paphos Cyprus, we…
First the man blindfolds me, then he spins me around a few times to ensure I am totally disorientated. He pushes me gently in the right direction before releasing me…
I am halfway up my ascent of the Gros Piton Saint Lucia when I reach my moment of truth. My guide Trannie looks at me and asks if I want…
Mark Bibby Jackson explores some community tourism in Saint Lucia while staying at Coco Palm Resort Rodney Bay. The sign on the gate says we are entering the Coal Pit…
Do the phrases global warming and carbon footprint prick your conscience about going on holiday? On a recent visit to the Dominican Republic, I learnt how people holidaying on this…
On his visit to the Colombian city, Mike East takes a tour of Comuna 13 Medellin (la comuna 13 Medellin), and discovers it to be a wonderful example of community-based…
In the first of a series of articles covering his trip to Sri Lanka, Mark Bibby Jackson goes on an elephant safari, sees the wonderful cave paintings at Dambulla and…
For all the young adventure seekers out there, C4 Adventures has unveiled its C4 Summer Camps 2023 programme. So, if exploring the jungle and getting up close to the wildlife…
Cambodia boasts an abundance of untapped ecotourism potential, which is being unlocked by a $55 million project. Cambodia is home to a kaleidoscope of landscapes that range from soaring plains…
Fancy conquering Cambodia’s highest peak? If so, then sign up for C4 Aural Mountain Ascent, a three-day adventure from forest to jungle. If you haven’t got any plans for the…
Cambodia is slated to host the Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF) in Sihanoukville from April 25 to 27. Ahead of the event, which is expected to attract hundreds of regional stakeholders…
It’s been a tough few years for the Cambodia tourism industry, but with borders now open and travel rebounding, hopes are high that 2023 will breathe new life into the…
Mark Bibby Jackson returns to the German capital to go on a walking tour in Berlin through Spreefeld, Spreeacker and Teepee Land. We are standing in the remains of the…
Mark Bibby Jackson takes an alternative view of tourism in the Austrian capital, going on a tour looking at sustainable things to do in Vienna. It is towards the end…
After spending 22 years ferrying visitors to the temples of Angkor Wat, a group of elephants have found a new home at Kulen Elephant Forest at the foothills of Siem…
Marissa Carruthers has called Cambodia home since 2012, but when the pandemic hit, she was faced with the huge dilemma of surviving covid in Cambodia and whether to stay or…
The predominantly rural north-eastern province of Kratie is gaining momentum with visitors, thanks in most part to its riverine celebrities – a pocket of critically-endangered Irrawaddy dolphins…
After completing his UK road trip from Oxford to Edinburgh, Mark Bibby Jackson continues north to Inverness Scotland in search not of a mythical monster but a very real approach…
At Travel Begins at 40, we beleive it is important to highlight organisations that have sustainable tourism at their heart. Today we highlight Rainforest Cruises which provides bespoke responsible and…
Mark Bibby Jackson gets in tune with his inner self as he goes on an eco-tour in the Cardamom Mountains spending three nights under canvas in Wild Cambodia. It was…
Mark Bibby Jackson talks with Willem Niemeijer founder of Khiri Travel, and CEO of YAANA Ventures about Slow Travel. The past few years have seen many people, companies and organisations…
Travel Begins at 40 chats with Belise Kariza, Chief Tourism Officer, Rwanda Development Board about Covid, Sustainable Tourism and the future of Rwanda travel. How badly has Rwanda been affected…
Responsible tourism has become very much in vogue in the last few years and community-based tourism has been at the vanguard of that movemennt. At Travel Begins at 40 we very much endorse the concept.
In essence community-based tourism means to ensure that the benefits of tourism are shared with the community that hosts the tourism activity. But it goes much further than that, including the concept that local communities should own tourism initiatives and shape the way that tourism evolves within their environment.
Also underlying the concept is the belief that we should all benefit from the tourist experience, travellers and hosts. We, as tourists benefit as much from the host’s knowledge and experiences as they do from ours.
Whether it is staying at a homestay in a remote village in Laos drinking the local firewater, getting off the beaten track in Myanmar, or staying in a ger in Mongolia, our pages are full of experiences where we have shared our travels with locals. Let us share them with you too.
