Tourism and Social Enterprises

How Can Responsible Tourism Operators Successfully Adopt the Social Enterprise Model?

How can responsible tourism operators successfully adopt the social enterprise model? Learn from responsible tourism leaders who have successfully implemented the social business approach, achieving business success and positive community impact.
Amy McLoughlin
Amy McLoughlin

Co-Founder at Ayana Journeys

Gopinath Parayil
Gopinath Parayil

Founder at The Blue Yonder

Claire Bennett
Claire Bennett

Learning Service at PEPY Tours

Ayako Ezaki
Ayako Ezaki

Director of Training Strategy and Development at TrainingAid

About This Live Session

How can responsible tourism operators successfully adopt the social enterprise model?

Social enterprises focus on investing in the local community and consider the social, environmental and cultural benefits they create as a critical part of the “return on investment”, rather measuring business success only by financial returns. This inclusive and community-oriented business model offers a relevant framework for responsible tourism, but how does it work in practice?

In this free Live Session, we’ll hear from responsible tourism leaders who have successfully implemented the social business approach, achieving growth both in terms of business success and positive community impact. Join our live conversations on:

  • Turning responsible tourism vision into marketable products.
  • Lessons on working with and engaging stakeholders: from community members to travelers.
  • Practical business insights for those interested in starting tourism social enterprises.

This Live Session is co-hosted by Wild Asia as part of the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Leaders series, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards.

More About PEPY Tours

PEPY Tours – an acronym that stands for "Promoting Education emPowering Youth" – was established in 2005 by Daniela Papi and her friends, who traveled to Cambodia, and moved and inspired by the travel experience, set out to raise funds to build the first-ever secondary school in Chanleas Dai Commune. To raise money for the project, they planned subsequent bicycle tours around Cambodia.

Since then, PEPY has evolved from a small informal group into a legal educational development organization working in rural Cambodia to reach children and youth through a variety of education and leadership programs. PEPY Tours place emphasis on hands-on experiences that let travellers get to the heart of how they can make a difference to rural communities. PEPY engages travellers in insightful and thought-provoking activities as a means of demonstrating the social and environmental impact of tourism, with the goal helping travellers find a transformed view and attitude of how they should live, travel and give.

PEPY Tours was the Finalist (Tour Operators Category) for the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards in 2010.

PEPY Tours - Bike Group
Photo: PEPY Tours

More About The Blue Yonder

The Blue Yonder develops travel encounters that reveal truths about the places you visit, by creating meaningful connections to local people, ensuring that the trip is beneficial to both the travellers and the local residents, and brining out what is special about that community – its original flavours and practices. Each travel experience that The Blue Yonder designs is strongly rooted in an initiative aimed at fixing a social conundrum and reviving, preserving and encouraging the continued sustenance of a destination’s age-old heritage.

The only way to ensure the authenticity of a destination is to ensure the active participation and empowerment of local stakeholders. The Blue Yonder's many initiatives, therefore, are aimed at empowering local communities with an alternate source of income and generating a sense of pride amongst them.

Gopinath Parayil (Gopi), the founder of The Blue Yonder, has served as a judge for the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards.

The Blue Yonder - Traveler Group
Photo: The Blue Yonder