What does sustainable travel mean to you?
Sustainable travel means quite a bit to me. It is why I have worked at AndBeyond for the past 24 years. Before joining the organisation I had never travelled outside South Africa. I used my passport for the first time to travel to Tanzania in 1999. My first time on safari, despite growing up in South Africa, was in 1998 when I was hosted at one of AndBeyond’s lodges on Phinda Private Game Reserve. It was that visit that opened my eyes to how travel could be a force for good. 

What are your top tips on sustainable travel?
I look for travel experiences that either leave their places and people better or leave me better...In terms of leaving me better I look for destinations and experiences where I can learn more about other cultures and nature. I try as much as possible to connect with local cultures, learn about their history, and try their food—it’s about pushing myself out of my comfort zone. 

In terms of getting the most learning out of a destination in the short travel windows we have, I always look to engage a local guide who can interpret what we are experiencing. I look for companies that invest in their guides and employ locally.

How can we reduce our carbon footprint?
I recall being given this advice by the Principal Scientist of Oceans without Borders, our marine conservation program in partnership with Africa Foundation: Be aware of your habits and choose 3 small things that you can focus on and change (recycling, switching off lights, composting wet waste, cycling to work instead of driving); be forgiving of yourself when you break one of them; and share this approach with others.

Can you share your experiences reducing your carbon footprint while travelling?
Reducing your carbon footprint while travelling is tricky as there are often tradeoffs between the benefits of travel to yourself and the places you are visiting and the costs of carbon emissions to the climate. Given that we work in some of the world’s precious places, places that sequester carbon, and that their protection is dependent on the economic inflows from tourism it would be detrimental to these places if travellers rejected long-haul flights completely.

[It’s important] to consider your destination carefully, ensuring that long-haul flights are reserved for those destinations that need to be preserved and are operated responsibly. Look for carbon offsets that transparently benefit the destination and buy credits for your flights. 

What steps can travellers take to ensure sustainable travel?
We recently hosted a live event with experts addressing this question. [Some important takeaways from the event include] asking ‘What is the place I’m planning on visiting doing for nature, culture & community? What is it doing to help protect nature, safeguard cultural heritage, and uplift and empower indigenous communities?’

The right line of questioning coupled with genuine care can lead to shifting mindsets and operations which monumental long-term positive impacts. At the end of the day, we as consumers have a strong voice to demand and catalyse change within the travel industry.

Sustainable travel can start at home, such as emphasising and encouraging local travel in which people can experience their own backyard. This fosters a sense of responsibility and stewardship, and local or indigenous stakeholder-driven change is one of the most powerful, resilient forms of growth. 

What are your must haves while travelling?
A water bottle that I can refill, An excellent expert guide, family or friends to share my experiences, a good Esim app, and a few great books. 

How do you hope travel will change in terms of sustainability?
My hope is that travellers start to ask more and more questions of the suppliers in the travel eco-system (airlines, transfer companies, hotels) and hopefully one day we have an army of sustainability reviewers and auditors rating travel companies’ sustainability practises the same way we rate cleanliness and hospitality.

The answers and solutions are out there, consumer pressure is a sure catalyst for change so that all travel can be a force for good.

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