Giving Back
All of us at Remote Lands take travel very seriously. The founders of the Company left the technology and telecommunications industries after decades of building high-tech companies, and they now spend their days (and nights) planning wonderful holidays for their clients to Asia. This may sound like a lot of fun, but in fact we have much more profound intentions than just giving Americans and Europeans a good time in sybaritic places like Bali, Galle and Phuket.
We, as travelers, clearly derive tremendous benefit from the beautiful Asian countries we visit. Remote Lands feels passionately that it is imperative to give back to the local communities of the places we travel to. Our philosophy is based on the strong belief that travel to developing nations can have an equally positive impact on the local residents as on the visitor who is welcomed to their home.
There are a number of humanitarian aid organizations in Asia that we help support, and we humbly request that our clients take a small amount of time to visit some of these important charities and their beneficiaries, and consider giving a small donation.
By spending time with local people in their homes, schools and places of worship, our clients interact with and immerse themselves in their cultures, instead of just passing through as tourist spectators. In learning about foreign cultures and achieving some level of understanding of their people and values, our clients are in a much better position to actively help those people who are in need.
Remote Lands actively promotes socially responsible tourism that strives to generate cross-cultural understanding and preserve the diversity of our world's many unique ways of life. 10% of our profits go directly to local charities in developing countries for sustainable development tourism projects. The goal is to provide long-term assistance through a variety of self-sustaining programs (as opposed to just providing immediate relief) that empower people to help themselves by engaging in economically beneficial activities.
We also provide assistance for the hosting of pre- or post-travel benefit events. Please contact us for more information on how to donate.
You can find more information on the principles of socially and environmentally responsible tourism, or Geotourism, at National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations.