Can This New Global Community Tourism Network Shift Business Models?
Photo Caption: Community tourism focused Planeterra, founded by Bruce Poon Tip in 2003, is launching a groundbreaking new Global Community Tourism Network tomorrow. Courtesy of G Adventures
Skift Take
The industry is clamoring for ways to "build back better." Planeterra, created by the founder of G Adventures, is expanding its community tourism model to do just that. Now the ball is in the court of destinations, resorts and tour companies — will they commit to partnering with their communities?
The concept of community-based tourism, in which businesses are owned and operated by local communities with revenue, in turn, targeting rural development, dates back to the 1970s. Pre-pandemic, a greater number of community enterprises were entering the tourism value chain as travelers increasingly sought culturally immersive experiences with travel dollars going directly to local communities.
But this model wasn’t as widespread nor as prioritized by mainstream tour companies. Communities lacked access to training and resources to set up their own businesses to compete, while governments and for-profit travel companies focused on selling established mainstream tours over the more complicated task of doing commerce with local communities.
Now that’s all about to change. Planeterra — a community tourism focused non-profit organization founded in 2003 by small-group tour operator G Adventures' founder Bruce Poon Tip — is launching a first-ever Global Community Tourism Netwo
