Tropic Journeys in Nature - Fair Travel - Responsible Tourism Experiences & Consulting

Tropic receives National Geographic World Legacy Award

March 17, 2015 By Jeppe Leave a Comment

Fair Travel partner and represented company, Tropic Journeys in Nature (Tropic) from Ecuador, walked away from ITB Berlin in March as one of five winners in the 2015 National Geographic World Legacy Award.

Jascivan Carvalho, innovative entrepreneur and owner, accepted the award on behalf of Tropic that submitted its vision and strategy and results in the Engaging Communities category. A pioneer in community-based tourism in Ecuador, Tropic started working 20 years ago in the remote Ecuadorean Amazon with the indigenous Huaorani people. Today, Huaorani Ecolodge is operated by Huaorani community members who set their own wages and manage the day-to-day business, sharing the skills they have learned with other Huaorani indigenous communities. Tropic is now continuing its successful community-based tourism model on Floreana Island in the Galápagos.

The Engaging Communities award recognizes direct and tangible economic and social benefits that improve local livelihoods, including training and capacity building, fair wages and benefits, community development, health care and education.

Fair Travel is proud and happy for this amazing achievement of Tropic! Congratulations!

Meet our partners at ITB

February 27, 2015 By Jeppe Leave a Comment

Another ITB expo in Berlin is coming up and when the doors swing open on Wednesday next week at the Messe Berlin for the 49th edition of the event, you will meet with providers from over 180 countries.

Fair Travel partners The Blue Yonder, EcoTraining, Tropic Journeys in Nature and Wilderness Explorers will be present. Should you wish to meet with them to hear more about the exciting news that they have to share, please be quick and make an appointment right away. Read more about each partner below and send a meeting request here and we’ll do what we can to set up a meeting for you!

See you all in Berlin at “The World’s Leading Travel Trade Show”!

Tropic selected as Finalist in NG World Legacy Awards!

February 26, 2015 By Jeppe Leave a Comment

Represented company Tropic Journeys in Nature from Ecuador has been selected as Finalists in the New National Geographic Society 2014 World Legacy Awards, where the winners will be announced at the ITB Berlin expo next week.

The five award categories are: Earth Changers – Recognizing cutting edge leadership in environmentally friendly business practices; Sense of Place – Recognizing excellence in enhancing cultural authenticity; Conserving the Natural World – Recognizing outstanding support for the preservation of nature; Engaging Communities – Recognizing economic and social benefits that improve local livelihoods; and Destination Leadership – Including protection of cultural and natural heritage and educating travelers on responsible tourism.

Tropic was selected in the Engaging Communities Category of the National Geographic Travel World Legacy Awards targeting the three pillars of sustainable tourism: environmentally friendly operations, protection of natural and cultural heritage and support for the well-being of local communities. Tropic engages communities, recognizes direct and tangible economic and social benefits that improve local livelihoods, including training and capacity building, fair wages and benefits, community development, health care and education.

The World Legacy Awards is a new initiative of the National Geographic Society, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious non-profit scientific, educational, and travel organizations, reaches more than 60 million people worldwide, in partnership with ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel gathering. The awards honor the companies, destinations and organizations that are driving the positive transformation of the global tourism industry, showcasing leaders and visionaries in sustainable tourism best practices and sharing their stories with millions of travelers. Being selected as a Finalist by National Geographic’s panel of international expert judges is no small achievement. More than 150 Award entries were received from 56 countries on six continents.

Tropic also recently announced a new venture related to their work with local communities creating libraries for children in two diverse and remote communities that visitors may engage with while exploring Ecuador – Two libraries will be established in Ecuador’s Amazon jungle for children of the Huaorani, an indigenous people that until 1956 had no contact with the outside world. A third library will serve the Floreana Island community in the Galapagos. To help facilitate the creation of an inventory of books, Tropic is teaming up with Pack for a Purpose, a nonprofit organization that suggests to travelers what kinds of supplies will be meaningful to bring to villages and communities they plan to visit.

Fair Travel is proud of its partnership with Tropic and hope that next weeks announcement will provide them with a much deserved win for their hard work!

Meet Tropic at TMLA2014

August 12, 2014 By Jeppe Leave a Comment

Jascivan Carvalho, owner of the Quito-headquartered award-winning ecotourism company, Tropic will be represented at the TMLA2014 Expo in Salta, Argentina, on the 17th-19th September 2014. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet with owner Jascivan Carvalho as there are some important news to be shared!

This year Tropic is celebrating its 20th anniversary as a leading ecotourism operator in Ecuador. Over two decades they’ve achieved over 10 international awards as well as multiple media features about their unique ventures in different regions of Ecuador.

In this celebratory year, Tropic is pleased to report that in addition to developments in the Ecuadorian Amazon with the Huaorani Ecolodge and an upgraded Nenkepare Campsite and Research Center, proceedings with plans in the Galapagos on Floreana Island to expand the reach of the Floreana Lava Lodge through island hopping programs are ongoing. Tropic is also establishing a full-time office and staff in Puerto Ayora to assist with operations and logistics. Also, the newest addition to the expeditions family will be the first lodge-to-lodge trek in the Andes of Ecuador.

Last but not least, the most important decision made during this anniversary. Tropic is completely revamping and enhancing their business structure, system implementation, and B2B website to create a fresh approach that underscores the importance of the expanded DMC services and unique sustainable programs!

Lots to share, so make sure you request an appointment with Jasci at Travel Mart Latin America to see what a perfect match Tropic can be in support of your own programs!

Fair Travel represents Tropic in the Nordic market and you can find out more about Tropic Journeys in Nature here.

First Community-based Tourism Initiative in the Galapagos

June 19, 2014 By Jeppe Leave a Comment

Tropic is proud to announce the first community-based tourism initiative in the Galapagos. This island’s 100 residents have never enjoyed tourism’s benefits. The goal is to protect the island’s resources and life style by guiding tourism as a tool while not letting tourism change the island’s character.

Using the Huaorani Ecolodge experience we hope to build program, operational and organizational capacities with the local community to position Floreana Island as the ecotourism destination in the Galapagos. This would be a new sustainable tourism model to the world.

Floreana Island is famous for Post Office Bay and beautiful beaches with cavorting sea lions. Its residents, most of whom live near Floreana Lava Lodge, don’t interact with or benefit from tourism to Post Office Bay (on the far side of the island). The Galapagos National Park is permitting Floreana Island residents to offer a two to three-hour organized hike to Post Office Bay and to offer rentals of kayaking and snorkeling equipment at the Bay.

Floreana Lava Lodge, on Floreana Island has just received a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor. While this came as a delightful surprise, Tropic has been working hard to make things happen at the Lodge.

Find out more about the land based Galapagos programs offered by Tropic Journeys in Nature here.

Herping Adventures In Wilderness Ecuador

June 5, 2014 By Jeppe Leave a Comment

In the world of science, looking for creepy crawlies is called herping (defined as the act of searching for amphibians or reptiles). Now there are true-life Herping Adventures that one can join in the Amazon jungles and cloud forests of Ecuador thanks to Ecuador’s award-winning ecotourism company, Tropic Journeys in Nature, that since 1994 has led tours through the country’s most engaging landscapes.

This ecotourism program that combines science with active travel is a brand-new way to explore the rainforest while offering indigenous and local communities opportunities to learn more about their environment. For example, on a pioneer safari program the indigenous Huaorani learned that some snakes aren’t poisonous as their tradition had led them to believe.

Two safari and photography tour itineraries have been developed in partnership with professional biologists and photographers of Tropical Herping. The first involves a cooperative program between Tropic and the Huaorani, one of the world’s most isolated ethnic groups. A community of Huaorani will serve as hosts and guides on their ancestral turf, a rainforest region considered the world’s most biologically diverse and where explorations take place. (Since 2008 the partnership has been working to stabilize this ecologically threatened region.) The program includes all lodging, meals, services of English-speaking guides and instruction in the specialized field methods and photographic techniques for herpetology.

Find out more about Tropic Journeys in Nature here.

Tropic to represent sustainable tourism at TIES Conference

April 28, 2014 By Jeppe Leave a Comment

Jascivan Carvalho, owner of the Quito-headquartered award-winning ecotourism company, Tropic will represent his country at the April 27-30 Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC14) in Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

As the voice for Ecuador’s tourism industry nowadays one of the prioritized productive sectors for the Ecuadorian government, Carvalho will underscore this country’s biodiversity and conservation initiatives that include his own company’s work to develop community-based, sustainable tourism with the Huaorani, an indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest.As Ecuador’s ambassador to this 14th gathering of sponsored by the International Tourism Society (TIES), he will invite TIES to bring its next international conference to Ecuador. He will also underscore his country’s newly launched marketing campaign entitled “All You Need Is Ecuador.”

Ecuador is a country committed to promoting Conservation, supporting Communities, protecting local Cultures and ensuring fair Commerce. According to president Correa on a recent speech at the Harvard University Ecuador has it all and tourism is and will be an important tool to eradicate poverty from Ecuador.

This conference is expected to bring together 600 professionals from around the world. With a strong focus on highlighting and promoting ecotourism’s role in sustainable development, the ESTC14 aims to strengthen the industry’s commitment to the recent UN resolution, “Promotion of Ecotourism for Poverty Eradication and Environment Protection”, which recognizes ecotourism’s positive impact on sustainable community development efforts. For more information on the conference please check the website here.

Find out more about Tropic Journeys in Nature here.