Small group adventure tour operator Explore has launched a charitable foundation, initially supporting community projects in Tanzania and Laos.
The Explore Foundation aims to have a positive impact the lives of communities around the world by supporting grassroots projects that target poverty, increase access to education and healthcare, and promote conservation.
News of the launch follows an Explore survey of 5,000 Brits which found that the biggest barriers to travellers supporting local communities include lack of knowledge (30%), awareness of community needs (29%) and lack of information on how to give back to the communities visited (28%).
The foundation is managed by an independent board of trustees and benefits from Explore’s community of overseas partners and contacts to help identify and support projects in countries featured by the operator.
Michael Edwards, managing director of Explore, said: “A foundation has been a long-standing goal of Explore’s, and it has been several months in the making.
“We’re incredibly proud of what we do at Explore, giving travellers a fantastic time and memories that last a lifetime.
“But this, launching a foundation, is probably one of the single things that we’re most proud of in our 41-year history.
“We’re a company that puts purpose alongside profit, and we know that travel can be a real force for good in the world.”
The first two projects are schemes which Explore has worked with for several years: Lone Buffalo in Laos, and One Bike in Tanzania.
Lone Buffalo has a programme called Develop Together, which aims to give secondary school students access to learning opportunities and expert workshops.
The Tanzanian scheme, at at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, is a social enterprise that uses bicycles to help the local community through education, environmental awareness and promoting sustainable tourism.
Edwards added: “The Explore Foundation has a really important role to play in bridging the gap between travellers and the lives and communities of the places they visit.
“We know that 87% of people think it’s important to give back to communities they visit, so being able to facilitate communication and education between these groups of people is a huge part of it.”
To celebrate the launch, Explore will be matching all One Bike donations in July up to the value of 25 new bikes.
With an initial donation of 50 bikes already provided by the foundation, the firm hopes to fund 100 new bikes this month.