PROTECT THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL: An Open Letter To The Conscious Travel Community

To the conscious travel community all around the world

All of you have been following the spread and impact of COVID-19 from your corner of the world. It is truly heartbreaking to see the entire tourism industry collapse, even more so the small sustainable businesses and communities that have been hit so hard.

Now, more than ever, we need to support small sustainable travel businesses! That little cafe in Colombia that sources their ingredients from local farmers only, the homestay in Vietnam that teaches the neighbourhood children English or the reef restoration project in Bali where you went diving a few months ago – these are the sort of community driven, sustainably conducted businesses that are struggling to survive presently. Their presence sends ripples of positive change throughout their communities and ecosystems. Their closure staggers the local economy and breaks the web of interdependence that benefits the whole community.

We need them to survive this pandemic and lead the way so that the net impact of travel can be positive – for visitors, for economies and for the planet as a whole.

Scattered as we are, across the globe, what unites us all as travellers is the love we have for these incredible travel gems that have added value to our journeys. We can support them in these difficult times. Normally, offering our patronage to them is enough, but given the circumstances, we need to try a different approach.

Gemtrack’s #SupportYourTravelGems campaign seeks to connect travellers with methods for supporting their favourite travel gems. Every travel gem that has a profile on Gemtrack’s website now contains information about the travel gem, as well as ways in which you can support them in this difficult period, whether it is by buying post dated vouchers or donating directly or simply sharing their profile widely so that they can gain more visitors once the crisis recedes. This kind of a solution-oriented focus helps them receive the funds to pay their staff even when they have to close down and make it through the crisis.

Join the #SupportYourTravelGem campaign!

You can be part of our mission! You can support your favourite travel gem on Gemtrack’s slow & sustainable travel platform, or sponsor a new profile for your favourite travel gem for a reduced price of €20 for a six month period. Your gem can be located anywhere in the world – as long as it is a small business that supports its community in some way and conducts itself in a sustainable way, there is a place for them on Gemtrack. We want to connect as many sustainable travel businesses as we can to conscious travellers like you who want to help. The revenue collected by Gemtrack in this period is reinvested into the campaign so they can continue growing it.

Whether you are able to sponsor a profile or not, it helps the campaign greatly to share this letter with our hashtag #SupportYourTravelGems widely. This way, we can reach a larger audience and connect more travellers with a way of helping their favourite travel gems through this difficult period. Thank you for your support – it takes the worst of times to bring out the best in us and we are amazed by the way humankind is coming together to get through this together. We look forward to protecting the future of travel with you!

With big love,
Gemtrack & Friends

Marie Fe & Jake Snow

Sonja Coates – Goa.me

Patricia & Miguel

Keira Mason

Bianca Caruana – The Altruistic Traveller

Ask & Mathilde – Sustainable Vagabonds

Gabi & Tyler Trout – Globe Trouters

Hayley & Chris – Ecolust Life

Plantbased Kate

CJ Sinclair – Go Travel And Talk

Christine & Sarah – Wellness Travelled

Wendy Werneth – The Nomadic Vegan

Inma & Jose – A World to Travel

Anto & Mati – Juntosporahí

Robyn Junaedi – MyLombokMag

Milena – Positive Travel

Hanna Anfelter – Reform Travel

Gina – Wanderlust Solo Women Tours

Jan Commandeur – Weather & Climate

Sergiu Jiduc – National Geographic

Rebecca Foreman

Bianca Rappaport

Amar – Mindful Travels

Sarah Reid – Ecotravelist