Is Community Tourism the Future of Travel?

Whilst thrusting my arms in the air to form a giant ‘Y’ shape I became acutely aware that I’d sweated through my shirt. I was drenched. I was grinning too.

Henry committing to every aspect of Peruvian culture

My exuberant dad moves had gotten the better of me once again, but who gives a damn when you’re in a Cusco nightclub singing YMCA with a 72-year-old on stage wearing leather chaps?

Two likely questions arise here – what am I doing in a Peruvian club? Can I see a photo of a 72-year-old in leather chaps?

Let’s start with the first one.

The First Annual World Community Tourism Summit

In September 2023, G Adventures and Planeterra brought together the global travel industry to celebrate the power of community tourism.

It was a first-of-its-kind event and I was lucky enough to wangle an invite and join in the shenanigans.

I joined a limited edition G Adventures tour through Peruvian paradise, connecting community tourism projects established by Planeterra – a non-profit that uses community tourism to change lives.

Community tourism is a phrase I’ve heard but struggled to fully contextualise. Travel has transformed my life but how can it transform the lives of others? How can it not just be sustainable, but actually regenerate the planet?

This was an opportunity to immerse myself in it and see firsthand how travel has immensely positive impacts on our world.

The Power of Community Tourism

Hiking through the Sacred Valley. Is there a more appealing collection of words in the English language?

As our small group of international media folk rambled through mountains, our objective was to visit community tourism projects set up by G Adventures.

But before I go any further, it’s probably worth defining what community tourism even is.

Essentially, community tourism refers to travel experiences owned, led, and run by communities – non-profits, cooperatives, and social enterprises.

G Adventures integrates with local communities to establish and launch initiatives with them, but once it’s up and running smoothly, they step back and the locals own and run it themselves.

No loans to pay back. No sneaky small print. Locals are taught how to run a business and are supported through that whole process.

They’re empowered to take ownership and often very successfully with transformative impacts on these communities. I saw it firsthand.

Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-Op

Lying around 25km north-east of Cusco you’ll find the Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-Op.

Tucked deep in the Sacred Valley beneath the 6000m Andean mountains, it’s a spectacular example of how tourism can create a unique experience, whilst also preserving culture and traditions, to inject prosperity back into a community.

On arrival, we snaked through the mud brick dwelling to be greeted by a throng of vibrantly dressed women dancing with gigantic smiles.

Before I could really register what was happening a hand grabbed mine and I was throwing down dodgy dance moves. Any sense of awkwardness evaporated once I was enveloped by a throng of laughter.

Bruce Poon Tip – who founded G Adventures back in 1990 – happened to be here for the special occasion.

I remember listening to his audiobook back in 2016 and being impressed by his approach to building business, so it was pretty cool to see him here explaining the history of the co-op.

What began with three ambitious women is now a cooperative owned by 46 women. Training programs have brought back traditional weaving and dying techniques, the result being a bountiful supply of goodies to purchase (safe to say, my family will be wearing alpaca for the foreseeable future).

The co-op has lifted the community out of poverty and re-energised it through creativity, commerce, and youth.

Potatoes and Empanadas

We ventured on through the valley over the coming days, visiting three more projects established by GA and Planeterra.

Parque de la Papa (Potato Park for non-bilinguals like me) is, as you can imagine, a shrine to the glorious earth apple. This remote rural outpost is run by 16 women and brings more than 7,000 indigenous members together through agro-tourism programs that preserve 1,336 varieties of potatoes.

Ooft! All this time I was thinking King Edwards made the ultimate roast tats, but it’d appear I’m just another ignorant westerner with some experimentation to do.

We made empanadas and handicrafts at the Tinkuy project, and then feasted on the finest Andean food at Parwa, a community-run restaurant in Huchuy Qosqo; a place that generated 40 jobs and enough revenue to create clean water projects and a computer lab for the locals.

Peruvian Paradise

A highlight of my time in Peru was diving deep into the fascinating Inca culture. To immerse myself in it on foot through the lens of Inca guides and literally camping within Inca ruins themselves, it really was an insane experience.

While the Inca empire was a relatively short-lived one, its achievements were nothing short of impressive. Life was led for many at over 4000m, yet they established intricate and innovative societies.

They were a hardcore civilization, and ambitious too. The rope bridges they built would sometimes cross entire valleys in a way that would even have Indiana Jones questioning the OH&S.

Nowhere is Inca magnificence more on display than at Machu Picchu – the only settlement not invaded by the Spanish. It’s breathtaking in every sense of the word; one of those places you could just sit and watch for hours, marveling at the sheer grit and determination of humans.

Community Tourism Closer to Home

Most people don’t go to Mumbai slums on their honeymoon, preferring the flop-and-drop beach vibes with a finger wag for cocktail refills.

And you know what, fair enough, I get why that appeals to people.

So when I dragged my newly-ringed wife through the gates of the world’s largest slum on a sticky Mumbai morning, she was right to raise an eyebrow.

Dharavi is however one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever visited. The ingenuity and self-organisation within what, on the surface, was just dirt and utter chaos, blew me away.

We were on a guided tour by slum inhabitants, with 80% of the cash we paid going straight back into education programs within the slum. It was my first taste of community tourism.

So is community tourism something that happens only in the developing world?

The answer is absolutely not. Projects of varying scale exist throughout the Western world, with many dotted across Australia and New Zealand each with a shared purpose to give back and support the local community.

In the Northern Territory, locals from the Gunbalanya community run guided tours to Injalak Hill to share with visitors their sacred sites and centuries-old rock art.

The Silo Art Trail in Victoria’s Wimmera/Mallee region guides travellers through wheat silos that have been brought to life by renowned Australian street artists.

Once a tired regional town in the Hunter region of NSW, Dugong has been reinvigorated through passionate locals working tirelessly to build and maintain bike tracks which now draw keen mountain bikers from far afield.

The idea of tourism giving back as much or more than it takes is spreading. In recent years there’s been a surge in appetite for enriching travel experiences that restore and regenerate destinations.

We want to feel more a part of the communities we explore; we’re far more conscious of how our dollars are spent and who it’s actually benefiting.

In fact, according to our recent We Are Explorers travel survey over 85% of the 2500+ readers polled said they were willing to spend more on sustainable and indigenous-focused experiences.

Travel as a Force for Good

Anyone who reads We Are Explorers will know we’re big advocates of keeping adventure local. Having this mindset can turn overlooked places in your backyard into playgrounds that are riddled with fun possibilities.

But exploring further afield is also a human instinct. Taking ourselves to faraway lands is what feeds our imaginations, and these overseas experiences can change our lives. It certainly has for me.

Whilst I will forever grapple with the conundrum of guilt that comes with hurtling through the sky in a fuel-guzzling jet plane, I also know that changing the way I explore once I land can offset the harm.

Human-powered exploring is one way, but I’ve seen firsthand that choosing to spend money on experiences that are actually improving local people’s lives and the planet is game-changing. That’s a philosophy travel companies like G Adventures have built entire businesses around.

As I steer WAE into the next ten years, my experience in Peru has evolved my thinking and got me excited for the future of our storytelling and the impact that inspiring a life of meaningful, purposeful travel can have for us individually, but also for the big beautiful world around us.