Hands Up Holidays, the award winning voluntourism travel operator who believes that travel can make a positive difference, has added to its trophy cabinet by being named the leading ‘innovation’ company in Travel + Leisure’s 2008 Global Vision awards, and was Runner-Up in the overall category.
Hands Up Holidays was described in the Travel + Leisure awards as:
“This high-end tour operator combines upscale hotels and traditional sightseeing activities with light volunteer work in needy communities around the world, helping to broaden the appeal of voluntourism to a wide group of leisure travelers. Up next, the company will be adding trips to Zambia, New Zealand, and Costa Rica.”
Managing Director Christopher Hill comments: “We are thrilled to be recognised by Travel + Leisure Magazine as an innovator in the responsible travel industry. This follows hot on the heels of our TravelMole award for ‘Best Responsible Tourism’ website, and affirms our vision to make volunteer travel accessible to young professionals, corporates, retirees and honeymoon volunteers. We do this by providing upmarket taste of volunteering trips that enable guests to make a positive impact whilst staying in high-end accommodation – locally owned and environmentally sustainable wherever possible.”
The most innovative voluntourism destinations offered by Hands Up Holidays are:
- Australia – working with Aboriginal rangers to conserve sea turtles - New Zealand – helping restore land to make it income generative for the ancestral Maori people - South Africa – helping in a community kitchen in a Cape Town township - Namibia/Botswana – helping create a community-run campsite - India – working alongside a remote Sunderbans community to create a conservation center
Soon to be released volunteer travel destinations include Costa Rica, Bolivia, Zambia and Slovakia.
For further media information, images, to discuss media visits, fact box and round up feature input, please contact: Christopher Hill, Managing Director, Hands Up Holidays (http://www.handsupholidays.com) – 0044 (0)208 871 0341, 0044 (0)776 501 3631, chris@handsupholidays.com
