The Charitable Travel Fund has issued a plea for support from travel companies as it marks two years of supporting tourism communities in need.
The charity was announced in October 2020 and officially launched on November 1, 2020, by a group of travel industry figures who want to support tourism workers in destinations where their revenue has dried up.
It has already helped projects in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and the west African country of Guinea. It is now working with initiatives in Ukraine and Sri Lanka (main picture).
Melissa Tilling, trustee at the Charitable Travel Foundation which administers the fund, said: “We need corporate partnerships from travel agencies, tour operators and airlines, who can make small regular donations such as £1 per passenger.
“This can build a fund so we can deploy help to communities in need – that is our biggest call now.
“Those micro-pledges and corporate support will really make a difference.
“Tour guides bring destinations to life, so we want to support them. We want to give back to those who have helped us and our customers.”
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She said there are six volunteer trustees who run the fund and they have raised £25,000 over the past two years.
The fund has support from across the travel trade, from brands such as The Villa Collection, The Travel Connection Group, Unite Marketing & Promotions, Sanderson Phillips, Pata and Jacobs Media Group’s annual Global Travel Week.
“When we set up the fund, we wanted to work with the travel trade and tap into their sense of community and social justice,” she said.
“We forged our careers, income and wealth thanks to the products of these communities.
“I have had a fantastic travel career and I want to support people who need support, because they have supported me.
“We also need volunteers and help with fundraising to expand our work.”
She said the fund has helped 100 Ukrainian refugees at four events in Odessa. Each event costs £500 to host, in partnership with the National Tourism Organisation of Ukraine.
They have helped refugees from Mariupol and Kherson to visit the Odessa Literary Museum and Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre – supporting the venues, staff and guides, and providing activities and snacks for the visitors.
The visit to the opera included a performance of Kateryna by Ukrainian composer Mykola Mykolayovych Arkas which features folk songs from Ukraine.
“We are showing the restorative power of tourism, with the heritage of Odessa,” said Tilling.
“It was a much-needed boost to the refugees’ mental health by engaging in something normal such as access to the arts and heritage. It also made them even more proud of their homeland.”
The project in Sri Lanka supports self-employed drivers in national parks, such as Udawalawe National Park, whose livelihood depends on tourists who have not been able to visit amid recent political turmoil.
“There were no tourists, no income and no state support – their kids have not got money for food, books or clothes,” said Tilling.
“We dispensed hardship funds to enable the drivers to support their families.”
She said tourists are now returning to Sri Lanka so she hopes the drivers will no longer need support by early 2023.
