Five new community tourism projects designed to empower local women have been introduced by G Adventures and its non-profit partner Planeterra.
They support 444 women who help operate the social enterprises.
The additions, ahead of International Women’s Day on Friday, brings the total number of community enterprises G Adventures and Planeterra have designed to support local women to 28 in 19 countries.
The new projects include the Kirtipur Community Homestay in Newari, Nepal, which is run by local Indigenous women, Restaurante El Manglar in Izabel, Guatemala, founded by the Cayo Quemado Women’s Committee, and the Ban Ou Community Tourism Project in Luang Prabang, Laos, which will offer travellers experiences such as making Laos rice noodles and learning traditional weaving (pictured).
Other empowerment experiences being announced for travellers in 2024 are the Lady Tuk Tuk Driver Association in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and artisan cooperative, Mujeres Artesanas Zoológico Mágico, in Oaxaca, Mexico.
All projects are designed to empower local women to earn an income, share and preserve their local traditions, and uplift their local communities as a result.
Three of the projects were also funded by donations made during Planeterra’s 20th anniversary campaign and G Adventures’ inaugural GX community tourism summit, held in Cusco, Peru, last September.
G Adventures and Planeterra, with which the projects were developed, also recently announced an ambitious initiative – Project 300 – which will see 300 social enterprises built into G Adventures trips by 2030.