In September 2017, I presented my ideas for a sustainable travel solution at the ITC (WTO/UN) She Trades Conference for female tourism entrepreneurs in Kampala (Uganda) and Kigali (Rwanda). At the time, we had just launched KiliGATE, our pilot project focused on ethical Kilimanjaro climbs, and were about to launch Fair Voyage as a platform connecting responsible local companies with conscious travellers globally.
We discussed the need for independent sustainable travel audits to help us screen and select the most responsible companies, and how this would help them position themselves as sustainability leaders. The participating women entrepreneurs and tourism stakeholders in both Uganda and Rwanda were overwhelmingly supportive and immediately started to engaged into discussions with Travelife in order to introduce a globally recognized responsible travel certification scheme and position their countries as regional leaders in sustainability.