As a keen advocates of the Intrepid Foundation, we have been really impressed with the range of organisations and individuals being supported across the globe.

We first became involved in the Foundation after visiting the Blue Dragon childrens' charity in Vietnam with Intrepid and were so impressed not only with the children but also the staff and voluteers, as well as those at Intrepid who were really passionate about making a difference to their community.

It is fantastic that Intrepid travellers are able to make a really positive impact on the places they visit and I wish the Foundation luck with the competition - recognition that is well deserved!

Best regards
Sarah

I have been involved in supporting the Intrepid Foundation for many years and wish you a lot of luck for the competition. I was first involved through supporting the Braille Without Borders project in Tibet. I found that Intrepid Travellers really recognised how tourists can make a positive impact on small projects like this by not only contributing through the foundation but by visiting the projects and helping them directly. We would buy braille paper in Beijing and carry huge wads of the paper to Tibet with us and this became a valuable supply of braille paper for the amazing students at the school.

Well done Intrepid for the ongoing support for this and all of the other amazing projects around the world. Long may it continue.

Cheers
Jeff

What a great way for travellers to contribute meaningfully to a community they have visited, knowing that the projects are legit and can be trusted. Being able to visit the projects as well means travellers can really engage with the issue and gain a greater understanding of what is required. Well done Intrepid!

Wow what an incredible organsiation. I can't believe the work done raising the money from the tsunami!
With people on the ground everywhere they really have insight into these communitys. We should all get behind organisations like this.

It's rare for me to be so drawn into what I find online: but I've spent the last half hour reading both about changemakers and about the Intrepid entry. Great work. Just goes to show what you can achieve when you bring worthwhile aims into the ethos of a company. You've obviously thought carefully about who you'd like to support as well - run by local communities and to be self-sustaining within three years - fantastic.

It is becoming increasingly apparent everyday that modern companies are required - and have the desire - to contribute toward society and the preservation of the natural world, as well as to their own bottom line. This has always been part of the culture at Virgin and so we are very pleased to form a partnership with Intrepid Travel and wholeheartedly support the Intrepid Foundation and it's entry into this competition.

Jon Winfield, Responsible Business Exec, Virgin Holidays

Intrepid Travel not only offers incredible experiences to travellers all over the World but also has some excellent ideas how to make the World a better place to be for everyone. And what is the most important- puts those ideas into practice. It is really great to observe that 'sustainable tourism' and 'sustainable development' are not myths but that they become reality. Many thanks to Intrepid Travel and Intrepid Foundation for all their efforts and good luck with achieving the goals that has been set up for the nearest future.

Hi Darrell,

You might be aware of them, but I thought it would still be a good idea to mention this group. They are Australian based, do quite a bit in New Zealand, but spread their work further afield too. Maybe their work can be a resource to you or others for geotourism challenges. Not sure how to sum up what they do, but maybe along these lines: community based improvements of rural towns and places from within. Their website offers lots of ideas and help (http://www.bankofideas.com.au/resources_frames.html). Here is a link to one of the many topics they handle/involve themselves with, in this case related to East Timor and very current (only one small page to read): http://www.bankofideas.com.au/Newsletter/Apr08/Downloads/East_Timor.pdf. Whilst I met Peter Kenyon (a driving force within Bank of ideas) only once at a meeting where he gave a memorable speech, he left me with a very positive and inspiring impression. Regards Robert Haas

The Amani Children's Home is one of the beneficiaries of The Intrepid Foundation. The video clip includes mention of Guerba Expeditions. Just to clarify...two years ago Guerba joined Intrepid Travel and now many Intrepid travellers to Tanzania visit and support Amani. Intrepid was delighted to continue the great relationship Guerba had built up with Amani and we hope our support for their marvellous work with former street kids will grow into the future.

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Jane Crouch
www.theintrepidfoundation.com

Hi Geoff and Darrell,

It is amazing to read about all these entries including yours, offering so many benefits to the local people. But what did strike me as well was the question of resilience. How are all these projects coping in case the tourists stay away for what ever reasons (the military putsch in Fiji, or the bombings in Bali come readily to mind, but then with world-wide recession fears a tourism slowdown is possible, or more long-term, but rather real is the Climate Change discussion, which quite likely can trigger an increase of air travel cost = higher costs to tourists, thereby diverting money into other areas, right down to making travel availability a crucial issue = tourists stay away all together).
You are seeing many projects, what are your perceptions, are there real risks for their viability in the future, do they get enough support to handle them? Are they planning for an intrinsic resilience in the projects? Can the tourists still help, even when they already left, and might not be able to come back for many years?

Regards

Robert Haas

Intrepid Travel is an amazing company who puts their money where their mouth is by setting up The Intrepid Foundation, and matching all donations dollar for dollar as well as covering all administrative fees. Many of my family & friends have traveled with Intrepid and each person has commented on how the visit to a local project Intrepid was supporting was life-changing. Recently friends visited the Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand and were inspired to do more in the world to make a difference. Intrepid inspires people and the Foundation channels a way for their inspriation and genorisity to be shared appropriately with the world. In additon, I am thrilled that Intrepid has such a responsible tourism philosophy and that they deliver on this every day. Intrepir Travel, and The Intrepid Foundation, sets benchmarks for the rest of the world to follow in achieving a better world for all in which to live.