Passengers on an EasyJet flight cheered, clapped, and chanted as police escorted two disruptive fellow fliers off the plane.
23.04.2024 - 09:26 / cntraveler.com
How to Travel Better is a monthly column with Condé Nast Traveler’s sustainability editor Juliet Kinsman. In this series, Juliet introduces us to the sustainability heroes she meets, signposts the experiences that are enhancing our world, and shares the little and big ways we can all travel better.
My favorite memories from my travels as a sustainability editor come, not from stays at beautiful eco hotels and lodges (although who doesn’t love those), but the unplanned conversations I get to have with purpose-driven, passionate individuals around the world. Meeting Dutch-Malaysian artist Skaii, for instance, on a sweltering day in Langkawi, as she built beautiful pirate ships from plastic waste with preschoolers; my chats with Roque Sevilla, a former mayor of Quito turned sustainability champion, about the preservation of the páramo, a grassland ecosystem in Ecuador; or bumping along in a 4x4 through Knepp Estate’s rewilded thickets in West Sussex with Ned Burrell, looking out for free-roaming English longhorn cattle.
When it comes to the wellbeing of our planet, there’s so much to consider, and it relies on each of us trying to make a difference—big or small. In an industry dominated by large travel corporations, these 11 Earth Day heroes are leading inspiring grassroots initiatives that are leaving a more positive, equitable, and lasting impact on our planet—and our travels.
Kristin Canning is helping hospitality hit net zero targets through Rainforest Rescue, her initiative that fights to protect Daintree's delicate ecosystem. Believing that businesses have the power to be significant changemakers, this NGO has been a nature-based solution partner to The Travel Corporation’s Climate Action Plan for over a decade, working towards safeguarding the fragmented lowland rainforest while supporting Indigenous practices and knowledge sharing.
“Lowland habitats are some of the most at-risk areas, as they are prime for agriculture and development, yet are home to precious flora and fauna not found anywhere else,” Canning says. Covering less than 1% of Australia’s surface, Daintree’s rainforests are among its most biodiverse regions, housing 40% of its bird species, 35% of its mammals, and 60% of its butterflies. Despite this, it remains under-protected—and Rainforest Rescue helps fix carbon, improve soil, and stitch habitats back together. “Sustainable, green, and regenerative tourism is going beyond a trend—it’s a movement where people are consciously deciding to give back to the places they choose to visit,” says Canning.
Lydia Eva Mpanga is a social worker, lawyer, and safari expert who founded Nkuringo Safaris in 2007 when there were just 880 mountain gorillas left in the world—a species that was headed
Passengers on an EasyJet flight cheered, clapped, and chanted as police escorted two disruptive fellow fliers off the plane.
The arrival of enormous ships, like the 7,000 passenger/3000 crew member Icon of the Seas, is an effective way to promote the cruise industry. But cruise companies are also launching smaller vessels designed to give passengers more individual attention, like the new Explora I from Explora Journeys.
Depending on age and leisure time for traveling, when talking about gap years for “older generations” there are two basic types: adult gap years and golden gap years, also known as silver or middle-aged gap years, and gray or boomers gap years.
The airline industry is betting big on sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF—a fuel alternative made from renewable biomass and waste products. Dozens of airlines around the globe are experimenting with it; in November, headlines buzzed following the first fully SAF-powered transatlantic flight on a commercial airline (British carrier Virgin Atlantic). But while the emissions-heavy airline sector is heralding SAF as a silver bullet to its decarbonization goals, experts say environmental pitfalls and other obstacles abound.
Venice is among many cities grappling with the effects of overtourism as the number of visitors bounced back from pandemic lows.
My overriding memories of crossing countries by train, on a trip from London to Albania, are of half-empty carriages and countryside sweeping past windows bathed in the soft orange glow of sunset. I remember cypress trees, red-roofed villages with square churches, farmland in neat strips and row upon row of vineyards.
I'm an American from Philadelphia who has spent the better part of four years living in and traveling through Australia.
Experience Turks and Caicos is thrilled to announce a significant surge in air arrivals from the United Kingdom to the Turks and Caicos Islands, marking a positive turn in our tourism landscape. While the United States remains our primary tourism source, the rise in visitors from the UK during the initial months of this year is truly encouraging. From January to March 2024, we welcomed 3,946 arrivals from the UK and Europe, representing a remarkable 105.4% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This surge can largely be attributed to the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s non-stop flight from Heathrow, London to Providenciales on November 4th, 2023.
Halo Space was founded in 2021 with the goal of improving access to space tourism.
Can’t impress mom with your cooking? Try scoring a special reservation to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 12. Of course, brunch is the move here and so many New York City restaurants are pulling out the stops to celebrate moms, grandmothers, step-moms, dog moms - whoever wants to indulge in special mid-morning through mid-afternoon meals. Here’s where to treat mom to a top notch meal this spring.
Lake Como is glitzy, glamorous and engulfed by tourism.
Could human waste power the future of air travel? Wizz Air hopes so.